2023 Canadian Grand Prix - Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve - June 16 - 18

[cplchanb]

On a semi related note... i just got my renewal notice... grandstand prices have SPIKED.
this year grandstand 24 was $445 a pop... today I found out its now $610!!!! And they didnt even include the free Lance Stroll Cap this year as in previous years...

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY FROM FOM and the promoters

[Zynerji]

On a semi related note... i just got my renewal notice... grandstand prices have SPIKED.
this year grandstand 24 was $445 a pop... today I found out its now $610!!!! And they didnt even include the free Lance Stroll Cap this year as in previous years...

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY FROM FOM and the promoters

I get a ton more enjoyment from the F1TV app for $90/yr

If they keep jacking these process, they will need regional blackouts to drive attendance.

[vanburin]

On a semi related note... i just got my renewal notice... grandstand prices have SPIKED.
this year grandstand 24 was $445 a pop... today I found out its now $610!!!! And they didnt even include the free Lance Stroll Cap this year as in previous years...

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY FROM FOM and the promoters

Not surprising, unfortunately. General Admission tickets were in the $300 range. Only 5-6 years ago they were around $100 for the weekend. It's a tough go for the average fan.

[Just_a_fan]

I wish Alex gets a chance to be back in the Red bull team. I think he would be a good number 2 to Max.

Why would he want to go to Red Bull again and play very-second fiddle to Max when he can be elsewhere and perhaps lead a team?

That depends on the driver. Would you rather be the lead guy of a midfield team, or have some podiums and a race win here and there?

A team leader has more chance of getting a decent drive elsewhere. Being a dedicated P2 to Max isn't going to be a career-advancing position for a young driver. Heck, look at the grief Albon got when he was last in RBR. Compare with the plaudits he regularly gets now. Which is going to help a young driver's career? Does anyone think that Perez is going to be offered a prime seat when he leaves Red Bull?

[Just_a_fan]

On a semi related note... i just got my renewal notice... grandstand prices have SPIKED.
this year grandstand 24 was $445 a pop... today I found out its now $610!!!! And they didnt even include the free Lance Stroll Cap this year as in previous years...

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY FROM FOM and the promoters

Not surprising, unfortunately. General Admission tickets were in the $300 range. Only 5-6 years ago they were around $100 for the weekend. It's a tough go for the average fan.

For the British GP, a 3-day general admission ticket is £499 - or about $800 Canadian.

[organic]

Why would he want to go to Red Bull again and play very-second fiddle to Max when he can be elsewhere and perhaps lead a team?

That depends on the driver. Would you rather be the lead guy of a midfield team, or have some podiums and a race win here and there?

A team leader has more chance of getting a decent drive elsewhere. Being a dedicated P2 to Max isn't going to be a career-advancing position for a young driver. Heck, look at the grief Albon got when he was last in RBR. Compare with the plaudits he regularly gets now. Which is going to help a young driver's career? Does anyone think that Perez is going to be offered a prime seat when he leaves Red Bull?

And yet without his RB stint Albon wouldn't be on the grid.. for many it is the only option to get in bed with Marko/RB Junior if they wish to join/stay in F1, as was the case with Perez/Albon. I don't think many drivers choose the RB programme as their first option, if any. Max was headed to Merc before RB used Toro rosso to lure him to RB.

They can get talented drivers for the 2nd RB seat but they need to be in a position of leverage and this isn't always possible

[Just_a_fan]

That depends on the driver. Would you rather be the lead guy of a midfield team, or have some podiums and a race win here and there?

A team leader has more chance of getting a decent drive elsewhere. Being a dedicated P2 to Max isn't going to be a career-advancing position for a young driver. Heck, look at the grief Albon got when he was last in RBR. Compare with the plaudits he regularly gets now. Which is going to help a young driver's career? Does anyone think that Perez is going to be offered a prime seat when he leaves Red Bull?

And yet without his RB stint Albon wouldn't be on the grid.. for many it is the only option to get in bed with Marko/RB Junior if they wish to join/stay in F1, as was the case with Perez/Albon. I don't think many drivers choose the RB programme as their first option, if any. Max was headed to Merc before RB used Toro rosso to lure him to RB.

They can get talented drivers for the 2nd RB seat but they need to be in a position of leverage and this isn't always possible

Yes, but having been in RB next to Max, Albon has now freed himself of the Marko Junior set up and is setting his own course. Red Bull only want a second driver to be there "just in case" their current star has an issue on the day. Albon was never going to be allowed to star. Max is the star, just as Seb was before him. Ask Webber how that went for him, even when he was beating Seb on merit.

[chrisc90]

On a semi related note... i just got my renewal notice... grandstand prices have SPIKED.
this year grandstand 24 was $445 a pop... today I found out its now $610!!!! And they didnt even include the free Lance Stroll Cap this year as in previous years...

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY FROM FOM and the promoters

Not surprising, unfortunately. General Admission tickets were in the $300 range. Only 5-6 years ago they were around $100 for the weekend. It's a tough go for the average fan.

For the British GP, a 3-day general admission ticket is £499 - or about $800 Canadian.

Even dearer now I think for Silverstone.

I'm doing Austria in 2 weeks time. Red Bull grandstand Blocks LMN, coach travel to/from the track from vienna for sat/sun, and 3 nights in a 5* Intercontinental Vienna. Oh and airport transfers. £900 each. From Memory when I did Silverstone in 2020 (I think - just as the covid areas opened back up?) it was about £700 to camp and General admission for the 4 days.

Apologies for the little Off Topic sway.

[Just_a_fan]

Not surprising, unfortunately. General Admission tickets were in the $300 range. Only 5-6 years ago they were around $100 for the weekend. It's a tough go for the average fan.

For the British GP, a 3-day general admission ticket is £499 - or about $800 Canadian.

Even dearer now I think for Silverstone.

https://www.silverstone.co.uk/events/fo ... rix/prices

3-day Gen Admission is £499.

[AR3-GP]

A team leader has more chance of getting a decent drive elsewhere. Being a dedicated P2 to Max isn't going to be a career-advancing position for a young driver. Heck, look at the grief Albon got when he was last in RBR. Compare with the plaudits he regularly gets now. Which is going to help a young driver's career? Does anyone think that Perez is going to be offered a prime seat when he leaves Red Bull?

And yet without his RB stint Albon wouldn't be on the grid.. for many it is the only option to get in bed with Marko/RB Junior if they wish to join/stay in F1, as was the case with Perez/Albon. I don't think many drivers choose the RB programme as their first option, if any. Max was headed to Merc before RB used Toro rosso to lure him to RB.

They can get talented drivers for the 2nd RB seat but they need to be in a position of leverage and this isn't always possible

Yes, but having been in RB next to Max, Albon has now freed himself of the Marko Junior set up and is setting his own course. Red Bull only want a second driver to be there "just in case" their current star has an issue on the day. Albon was never going to be allowed to star. Max is the star, just as Seb was before him. Ask Webber how that went for him, even when he was beating Seb on merit.

Maybe Mercedes will take Albon. He's clearly the worthy successor to Lewis Hamilton. Evil Marko is just holding all that talent back. I reckon Merc would start winning championships immediately once Albon is onboard.

lol.

Or maybe Albon just isn't good enough to be the star of a big team and it's time to give it a rest...

[chrisc90]

For the British GP, a 3-day general admission ticket is £499 - or about $800 Canadian.

Even dearer now I think for Silverstone.

https://www.silverstone.co.uk/events/fo ... rix/prices

3-day Gen Admission is £499.

Yet 3 days at the RB Ring is £153 for G/A tickets. £163 extra if you want the main grandstand.

[Mogster]

Why would he want to go to Red Bull again and play very-second fiddle to Max when he can be elsewhere and perhaps lead a team?

That depends on the driver. Would you rather be the lead guy of a midfield team, or have some podiums and a race win here and there?

A team leader has more chance of getting a decent drive elsewhere. Being a dedicated P2 to Max isn't going to be a career-advancing position for a young driver. Heck, look at the grief Albon got when he was last in RBR. Compare with the plaudits he regularly gets now. Which is going to help a young driver's career? Does anyone think that Perez is going to be offered a prime seat when he leaves Red Bull?

Not a prime seat but probably a seat, if he wants it. Also, Perez does bring money.

[Just_a_fan]

Even dearer now I think for Silverstone.

https://www.silverstone.co.uk/events/fo ... rix/prices

3-day Gen Admission is £499.

Yet 3 days at the RB Ring is £153 for G/A tickets. £163 extra if you want the main grandstand.

Austria and Britain pay the same hosting fee, I think. I do wonder whether Red Bull's ownership of the track means they can effectively subsidise the cost (and no doubt it's a tax write-off of some form), whereas Silverstone is owned by the BRDC who likely can't do that - so they have to charge a lot to recoup the costs. Silverstone is possibly also still paying for the huge amount of work done to the track and new pits a few years ago. All expensive stuff.

I just know that I don't consider the current prices at Silverstone to be good VfM.

[Just_a_fan]

And yet without his RB stint Albon wouldn't be on the grid.. for many it is the only option to get in bed with Marko/RB Junior if they wish to join/stay in F1, as was the case with Perez/Albon. I don't think many drivers choose the RB programme as their first option, if any. Max was headed to Merc before RB used Toro rosso to lure him to RB.

They can get talented drivers for the 2nd RB seat but they need to be in a position of leverage and this isn't always possible

Yes, but having been in RB next to Max, Albon has now freed himself of the Marko Junior set up and is setting his own course. Red Bull only want a second driver to be there "just in case" their current star has an issue on the day. Albon was never going to be allowed to star. Max is the star, just as Seb was before him. Ask Webber how that went for him, even when he was beating Seb on merit.

Maybe Mercedes will take Albon. He's clearly the worthy successor to Lewis Hamilton. Evil Marko is just holding all that talent back. I reckon Merc would start winning championships immediately once Albon is onboard.

lol.

Or maybe Albon just isn't good enough to be the star of a big team and it's time to give it a rest...

RBR run the team as a single-driver focused operation. That's their way of doing things. They did it with Seb and they're doing it with Max. If Fernando or Lewis was available, would they put them in the other car? No. Why not? Because that would cause huge issues in the team. So they use youngsters or journeymen in the second seat because that enables them to manage the team as they see fit. That's fine. But don't dress it up as being anything else.

Is Albon as good as Max? No, he probably isn't. But they were never going to get the best from him the way they used him. Albon's career is better suited elsewhere because being second driver in Red Bull is not going to lead to a long and glorious career.

[Juzh]

Ask Webber how that went for him, even when he was beating Seb on merit.

lol, this has been debated to death but yeah, webber nuked himself by throwing the team under the bus, crashing out of races when it mattered most (korea) and then just being slow, exactly the same as perez was doing at times last year and also in australia this year with the fictional brake problem that didn't exist. another example is jerk barichelo going to town on his team brawn as a complete and total idiot when he didn't win in germany, crying to media like a kid - carbon copy of webber, perez... this is what 2nd rate drivers do, nothing to do "how it went for them" when they were supposedly beating their teammates on merit (they weren't, only in their minds).
Funny enough, Perez can't talk trash about RB anymore as he said numerous times in early races how 2023 RB is very nice to drive and he finally likes the car.

Anyway, I looked at full alonso's onboard and it's very possible without the lift & coast he'd right up there with verstappen. He was doing it from like lap ~25 and it really did cost him quite some time, also with his driving, as he was very much more error prone in a few corners before and after (saying error, but actually just sub-optimal). Apart from T9 excursion, T10 was particularly not optimal from there on after. While chasing Hamilton without LC he was hitting the apex more or less every time even in dirty air. After he overtook him and started LC it was a rarity to see him do an optimal apex. T13 was also causing some troubles. Add to that extra time lost with the coast and you can see how gaps in pace can quickly emerge.

I'm also of the opinion Verstappen wasn't holding all that much back (checked him out as well). Certainly nothing on the hard tyre, and if anything on medium in last stint it was very very little.