Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
Álex Palou won again. IndyCar announced its regulations for its new chassis and engine, which are basically unchanged from the regulations announced in 2020, so we are getting what we were told about six or seven years late. Maybe that is enough time to attract some other manufacturers. Elsewhere, there was an endurance race that was not won on the road. There was another endurance race that went to the final lap. The power went out. There was some rain. It appeared to be hot no matter where in the world you stood. Fuel mileage was a common thread across a number of series. NASCAR could be heading to San Diego and Philadelphia. However..., "Let's all go to the lobby. Let's all go to the lobby. Let's all go to the lobby and get ourselves a treat."
The Unanswerable Questions From F1 The Movie
It is premiere week for one of the most anticipated motorsports movies in recent memory.
For years we have heard about this ambitious project of a Formula One feature film with Apple Studios, and Lewis Hamilton as a producer. There were many skeptics, but after two years of filming, it is here and F1 The Movie is about to be released in the United States.
This film comes during the boom Formula One has experienced over the last half-decade. Never has Formula One been more popular in the United States, and a feature film was the next step along with the docuseries, three grand prix, live flag-to-flag race coverage and even commercial appearances for a number of the teams. Formula One has never been more exposed and recognized. To top it all off, it has Brad Pitt in the leading role.
Many are still skeptical, this time over the quality of the film. You aren't going to please everyone, but motorsports fans are some of the hardest people to please. Because they are snooty and will not admit it. They also do not accept creative license. Plenty are writing this film off before even going to the box office.
"Let's judge a book by its cover! It saves time!"
Do as you please, but let's see how it goes. Will it push reality? Probably. It is a movie. Will it live up to what Formula One actually is? To some level it will, but again, movie!
I am not that interested in how the film portrays Formula One. I don't really care how it does with the lingo or the presentation of races or we get the scene where a car is in second-place and then all it needed to pass was to shift into the next gear and we get that stereotypical car movie trope. That is coming and I can live with that.
I am here to pick some knits.
If you listen to The Rewatchables, every film has some loose threads. Some are glaring! Others you need to ponder.
This film has a few knits before it has even hit the screen. We know it. To the average viewer with no knowledge or a passing knowledge of Formula One, they aren't thinking about it. To me, I am focus on those.
Without further ado, let's get to picking.
How can a 60-ish-year-old driver make it to Formula One?
Pitt's main character is Sonny Hayes, a "New York City cab driver, professional gambler and nomadic racer-for-hire who was a Formula One driver in his youth" according to Wikipedia. In another character description, Hayes is said to have suffered a significant accident that took him out of the sport.
That's nice. Let's cut to the chase, Brad Pitt is 61 years old. He was born in 1963. The last driver born in 1963 to compete in a Formula One weekend was Ukyo Katayama in the 1997 European Grand Prix from Jerez. Literally the day Jacques Villeneuve became world champion! Hell, Villeneuve is still only 54 years old!
How can a 60-ish-year-old person make it to Formula One?
This isn't a late-30s-something driver who was a star junior driver, had a bad accident in his early 20s, was out of the sport and started rebuilding after years of recovery and now is getting his chance. He is 60-ish years old.
The oldest driver to ever start a race was Louis Chiron in the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix at 55 years and 292 days old. This film started filming when Pitt was 59 years old, but still, how does a driver who has been out of Formula One for almost 30 years, comeback at an age that is nearly four years older than the current record for oldest race starter?
There hasn't even been a driver over the age of 45 since Graham Hill ran the 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Which brings us to our next point...
How does Sonny Hayes have a Super License if he was competing IMSA's GT Daytona class?
On regulations alone, I don't see how Hayes could have been allowed in a Formula One car.
Let's just start with driver rankings that the FIA uses for sports cars. There are four categories, from highest to lowest, platinum, gold, silver and bronze.
A platinum ranking includes those who are a "current or past Super License holder." But Hayes would have been downgraded a grade to gold when he turned 50 and he would have been downgraded again to silver when he turned 55.
If it had been 30-ish years since he ran in Formula One, and he is now "a racer-for-hire" competing in the GT Daytona class at the 24 Hours of Daytona (as we know from the filming two years ago and from the shots in trailer), I don't think he could just show back up and get a ride.
This guy got a Super License waiver and Colton Herta couldn't?!?!?!
Yeah! In what world would an at-best silver-rated, part-time driver competing in a pro-am class as the amateur get a Super License waiver to return directly into Formula One? And this would be an American driver by the way if you want to believe that kind of thing matters.
Herta couldn't get a waiver and was at least competitive in IndyCar. In no world would Hayes be allowed.
There was not other driver out there?
The team hiring Hayes, APX GP, couldn't find a more capable solution? I know the plot is Hayes is brought in to mentor APX's young talent, but there isn't another more suitable driver out there?
I know Hayes is friends with the APX team owner (team principal?) played by Javier Bardem. That is how he gets the ride, but in what world would Bardem's character throw Hayes a bone? This is like Christian Horner (who is ten years younger than Pitt) being fed up with the driver situation at Red Bull and after running through Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, Horner decides to bring in former British Formula Three teammate Warren Hughes in to be Max Verstappen's teammate, or Zak Brown needing a new driver at McLaren and calling up his former British Formula Three teammate Johnny Mowlem.
Of all the drivers in the world, there are no other options to be the second driver in this team?
Hayes could be a driver's coach. He doesn't have to be the other race driver. We see plenty of drivers work as coaches.
How in the world can Sonny Hayes be competitive?
He is descried as a "racer-for-hire."
I am not sure what that means. He is getting hired to race, but he was competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona in the GTD class and he is at best a silver-rated driver. Is he the equivalent of the old driver that other silver-rated drivers or bronze-rated drivers watched growing up and now that they are gentlemen drivers and are funding a seat they can hire whomever they want as their co-driver, and Hayes is the driver they grew up watching they can now pay him to round out their lineup?
He isn't even competing in IMSA's top class. He is going from GT3 competition to Formula One. At least if he was in a GTP car it could be a little more plausible. If he was driving for Proton Competition or Action Express Racing, we could at least acknowledge it is possible. Kevin Magnussen went from GTP back to Formula One.
We saw Jimmie Johnson jump into an IndyCar after almost 20 years in the NASCAR Cup Series and he couldn't finish above 16th on a road or street course. Hayes has been competing less than that in mostly GT competition and he is just going to get into a Formula One car and be competitive?
I don't think so.
How bad is APX GP?
During one of the trailers, Hayes is out of the car and when celebrating finishing the race the character who is the team... something or another played by Kerry Condon comments he finished last.
Some of that could be the driver, and Hayes being 30 years removed from racing Formula One and competing in a grand prix at 60 years old, but is APX GP bad?
If the team was any good, it wouldn't be relying on Hayes. It would have a development program of some sort or a partnership and could have a Mercedes junior driver or Ferrari junior driver on call that could fill that opening. If APX GP needed a veteran driver for mentorship, Mercedes could have given them Stoffel Vandoorne at that time. There were better options out there.
I don't think this is a competitive team. Now, it is a movie. APX GP will be competitive. It would be funny if they made this movie and the plot point is APX trying to get sixth in the constructors' champion and that extra $10 million. I think there is an audience that would appreciate that.
Who is Hayes Replacing?
If APX GP is relying on a 60-something who is basically done driving, who the hell was its second driver before Hayes? What is that guy doing afterward? Is he getting another shot in Formula One and Williams is thinking they got a steal or is this guy off to sports cars after realizing APX GP is simultaneously the mountaintop and rock-bottom of his Formula One career?
Who is paying for this?
Is APX GP that settled on sponsorship that it can hire this guy?
Where is its funding coming from? This isn't an actual automobile manufacturer. It doesn't appear to be Red Bull where it is selling another product through Formula One. This is a pure private team. Is this is all Javier Bardem's character's team and he funds it to a points where he can hire whomever he wants or he has signed all the sponsors and they have trusted him to hire any driver without getting any say? He obviously gets the only say in who the drivers are. No boardroom would allow Hayes to be hired.
I think if we are getting into how the fictional race team in a Formula One movie has its funding, that is a place to wrap it up. The runtime for this film is over two hours and 30 minutes in length. Maybe there is a five-minute or 15-minute scene going over the Super License waiver process with the FIA. There is going to be plenty of time for it.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Álex Palou, but did you know...
Marc Márquez won MotoGP's Italian Grand Prix, his sixth victory of the season, and Márquez also won the sprint race. Manuel González won the Moto2 race, his fourth victory of the season. Máximo Quiles won in Moto3, his first career victory in his fifth career start.
The #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura of Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun won 6 Hours of the Glen. The #22 United Autosports Oreca-Gibson of Paul di Resta, Rasmus Lindh and Dan Goldburg won in LMP2. The #48 Paul Miller Racing BMW of Max Hesse and Dan Harper won in GTD Pro. The #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin of Zacharie Robichon, Tom Gamble and Casper Stevenson won in GTD.
Chase Briscoe won the NASCAR Cup race from Pocono. Connor Zilisch won the Grand National Series race, his second victory of the season. Layne Riggs won the Truck race.
Caio Collet won the Indy Lights race from Road America. Max Garcia (race one & two) and Max Taylor (race three) split the USF Pro 2000 races. Thomas Schrage and Teddy Musella split the U.S. F2000 races.
The #98 Rowe Racing BMW of Augusto Farfus, Jesse Krohn, Kelvin van der Linde and Raffaele Marciello won the Nürburgring 24 Hour.
Dan Ticktum won the Jakarta ePrix.
Broc Feeney swept the Supercars races from Hidden Valley Raceway.
Coming Up This Weekend
Formula One is in Austria.
MotoGP runs the Dutch TT.
NASCAR opens its in-season tournament in Atlanta.
IMSA has the 6 Hours of the Glen.
The 24 Hours of Spa closes out a three-week run of 24-hour endurance races.
The Acropolis Rally will take place.
