Man, where did this month go? How is May already gone? Every year it seems to go quicker and it sucks. If you are 21 years old or younger and love the Indianapolis 500, qualifying weekend and everything that comes along with it from daily Trackside shows and The Talk of Gasoline Alley to concerts on Carb Day my only advice to you is to soak it in while you can. Enjoy the nights that last three hours longer than expected because you fell down the rabbit hole of watching Indianapolis 500 highlights from the 1980s on YouTube. Enjoy it while you can because you will not have nearly as much time when you get older.
Monologue aside let's go over what was a busy month of May in the news department. Besides Indianapolis you had Formula One start the European portion of its season, NASCAR reached its halfway point of the first 13/18ths of the season, sports cars are getting ready for Le Mans and a handful of series finally got underway.
Once again, this is just for fun. In case you are new, this is my gut reaction to headlines without reading the article. Of course, the gripes I have may be answered in the article.
We have got way too many headlines this month from way too many series but surprisingly IndyCar isn't one of them somehow. This will be a quick hit version, organized by series. Enjoy.
NFL Draft Prompts F1 Off-Season Rethink
I got to admit that I read this one but all I can remember from it is Formula One wants a major event in the offseason to get the attention of race fans. I got bad news for them; it isn't going to work. What does Liberty Media have in mind? Preseason testing is boring and it is tough to make a day of ten cars making installation laps all morning with teams doing various runs on different fuel levels and different tire compounds with varying degrees of wear into an event worth a damn.
Do you really think a video game competition with all the drivers will work? It probably would knowing the current generation we have but even that will probably not be as good as Formula One thinks it will be.
And this goes to all motorsport series, stop trying to copy the NFL. A lot of people watch the draft but most don't and most don't care. Great, my team got a new cornerback. It doesn't matter until training camp in August. It is a bullshit event. It gets people to believe bullshit. Either their team is going to the promised land or it is doomed. It is an injection of hype for almost four months. Formula One can't do that. We know how the season will play out and maybe we are slightly surprised but there is nothing that will take Sauber from the back to championship contender in one offseason.
Hamilton Offers to Help Redesign Miami GP Track
How is he going to help? Does he know the roads of Miami that well? It is very easy to look at a map and draw a street course in any city but the issue with looking at Google Maps is it doesn't tell you how wide a street is or that there is a light rail line that runs perpendicular or there are potholes deeper than swimming pools.
Maybe Hamilton has been in Miami more than I realize and maybe he has a deep understanding of the infrastructural issues around the city and that downtown area where the proposed course is located. I doubt it but perhaps he does.
The one thing about Miami that a buddy of mine brought up is if this race is in October it is bound to have a hurricane disrupt the festivities. Then what? It sounds great and it makes sense to pair it with Austin but American Formula One events have collapsed every possible way. A natural disaster sinking an event just seems inevitable.
Is Kubica the Answer for Williams?
No.
Latifi: Dad's McLaren investment paints wrong picture
But it didn't stop him from making the investment. Nicholas Latifi isn't Lance Stroll. Young drivers have money; a lot of them do at least. It is the state of motorsports and it has always been the state of motorsports. Upper-class aristocrats have been making up grids for over a century. Yes, there have been plenty of gear heads who came from nothing and scratched for everything and became legends but everyone needs money to make it at some point.
Do I think McLaren is putting Latifi in the car next year when Fernando Alonso sprints to IndyCar? No, because Lando Norris is in waiting. Daddy Latifi knows racing is a business and while his son may never race in Formula One he sees a chance to make a buck and reap something from this. I can't blame the man and I don't think we should crucify him or Nicholas Latifi nor should we discredit all the hard work and any future accomplishments of Nicholas Latifi because of his father's decision or his family's wealth. Not every kid with financial backing should be automatically disqualified.
Hamilton calls for "different format" for Monaco GP
What do you have in mind? And why was this year the breaking point? Monaco has been shit for 50 years. It is more of a street exhibition than a race. It is a fuck you to the rest of the motorsports world that Formula One can close down a principality and a Mediterranean harbor.
Take off the wings, get rid of all the downforce, make these cars dance around and Monaco could be an interesting race. It sounds pretentious but look at what IndyCar did. Force these guys to drive the car. Force these guys to work. That will improve Monaco. Not some crappy split race or inverse grid or whatever. Maybe even extend the race. Make it 100 laps again. Make it the one race that requires a fuel stop and make it so it isn't a safety concern and require re-fueling prior to the tires being changed. Try something different but not completely radical.
On to Formula E.
Agag makes €600m bid for full FE ownership
This guy is either a genius or steering the thing into the iceberg and I think he is closer to the latter. He comes off as confident but I think he doesn't have a clue how larger is following is and while he thinks he has the future of motorsports in his hand I think he is bound to be crushed by the masses and be remembered as a loudmouth while everyone else passes him by.
I could be wrong and Formula E is drawing manufactures but give it time before some type of major technical regulation has to be decided and regardless of the decision two or three manufactures will throw up their hands and walk away. That is when we find out how strong a series is but we will have to wait and see.
Why Formula E is racing in Saudi Arabia
Because Saudi Arabia could throw a shit load of money at Formula E because it is constantly printing money from oil sales and this event allows the country to be seen as progressive but it is really moving at a glacial pace when it comes to societal change.
Speaking of glacial pace to societal changes, NASCAR...
Truex says Fords have "an unfair advantage" as Harvick wins again
And which manufacture went 1-2-3 and led 386 of 400 laps (96.5% of the laps)? Toyota. How about Kevin Harvick is just that damn good? How about when you were kicking ass Mr. Truex you were just that damn good? How about when Kyle Busch wins three consecutive races it is because he is that damn good?
It isn't always the manufacture. A lot of it comes down to drivers and right now the best drivers are winning in NASCAR. Ford drivers aren't just stumbling into victories. It is not like everyone is getting a victory and even Matt DiBenedetto is pulling into victory lane while leading a Ford sweep of the top ten at Chicagoland. Ford hit the nail on the head early in the season and Stewart-Haas Racing in particular got it right the most. It is a long season. Toyota is going to have momentum swing into its favor. Chevrolet might even have blips of success. NASCAR isn't favoring anyone.
Penalties make fans "think everyone is cheating" - Truex
I also think we fans are idiots at times. Not every violation is blatant cheating. If James Neal gets a tripping penalty in game two of the Stanley Cup Final because he was reaching for the puck and it got caught up in the skates of Alexander Ovechkin doesn't mean he is cheating. Shit happens and the same goes into NASCAR.
I can't believe all these cars pass inspection and then teams are trying to skate under the line for a minor advantage. Yes, I know that is the lore of motorsports but eventually the penalty is not worth the crime. Minor things happen. Contact with another car or a barrier could through a car off; the wear and tear of a 500-mile race could be another reason for failing technical inspection. There is a difference between blatant cheating and accidentally not being in compliance of the rules and it is not clear to determine that but assuming everyone is trying to get away with something is a terrible way to go through life.
Bowman feels disrespected after All-Star Race
Tough. What do you want me to say? And, it was the All-Star Race. It doesn't matter. Get over it. Move on.
I got one FIA World Endurance Championship headline...
Stoneman dropped from Manor LMP1 line-up for Le Mans
Don't worry Dean, the team is either not going to make it or it would be lucky to get either car through more than two hours of the race. It was unlikely you would get in the car during the race any way. It sucks for Dean Stoneman and I hope he gets some type of opportunity in a major series soon.
And we are heading to Germany.
Glock defends expletive-filled Mercedes radio message
Good because it was the best thing DTM has had in probably a decade. And I don't want people to get upset about this because it is probably the same group of people who complain that drivers don't show enough emotion. Emotion isn't going to meet the censors. It isn't always going to be clean and kid-friendly. It is raw. It may make you uncomfortable and that is good thing. That is what speaking your mind looks like at times. What else could you ask for?
Zanardi to join DTM grid for Misano one-off
Great! Alex Zanardi never amazes me and he probably won't win either race and he likely will not even contest for points. It is an unfamiliar car, these drivers will have thousands of more miles behind the wheel than Zanardi who will likely have next to no testing and I doubt BMW is going to give him one of the best cars on the grid and potentially take points from a driver in the championship fight.
But, I kind of wish the DTM manufactures did this more and each had a guest driver at every round or every other round. I want to see Lucas di Grassi run an Audi. I would love to see Nico Rosberg run a race with Mercedes-Benz. Why couldn't BMW give long-time driver Bill Auberlen a shot?
Let's get creative people. Let's make each race something you can only see once. You do that and you will draw more people out because it will be one weekend only and you will never see that grid ever again and I think that is what motorsports is missing. The consistent grids do not give fans enough of a reason to show up. Get a few big names that turn heads and force people out. The manufactures should call Jeff Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie Whincup and get these guys into cars for one event because it will make it an event fans will want to be at to say they were there and saw it first hand. Give those guest drivers cars without weight restrictions and let them go. Let them mix it up with the big boys of DTM. Make it something people will be talking about for decades.
I end May hopefully giving you goosebumps over the thought of a DTM grid that had Nico Rosberg in a Mercedes-Benz, Jeff Gordon in an Audi and Alex Zanardi in a BMW. If June is anything like May it will feel like I am recapping that month in week's time.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
