We are in the second half of 2019 and the heat of summer has some taking a break while others are preparing for a vacation. Most series are in the second half of their seasons and we are starting to envision who will be the champions for this year. It is getting to be the sad time of the year. The days are get shorter, the races are becoming fewer and far between and soon it will stop and we will have to wait again.
But enough with that; there is still plenty of races ahead of us and we should look to what is happening in 2019 while 2020 is starting to appear on the horizon.
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.
Formula One is having fun again. Let's start there...
Brawn: Vietnam circuit designed to create great racing
There was a time when circuits were just created and great racing happened. I am sure there were some things taken into consideration when designing circuits in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s but modern circuits, such as Vietnam, can be meticulously designed using years of data.
Circuit of the Americas was designed taking into consideration Silverstone, Hockenheim and Istanbul. Vietnam is being handled the same way with bits of the Nürburgring, Monaco, Suzuka and Sepang blended into one circuit. It is kind of kitsch to just take a handful of the best corners from three or four circuits and forming one circuit. It is kind of like trying to build the best human possible except that is not possible and doing the same for a circuit is not necessarily going to work.
The one thing Vietnam will have on its side is a straightaway that is nearly a mile long, another straightaway about a half-mile long and a third straightaway that is just under 700km long. The one thing contemporary Formula One has fallen in love with is long straightaway. Formula One knows something is going to happen when the cars exceed 200 MPH.
The problem is the circuits become predictable. Baku is predictable. Vietnam will likely be predictable. Add to that the lack of life around the circuit and all the overtaking in the world isn't going to make anyone fall in love.
London F1 race would need to "go past Buckingham Palace"
What a posh thing to say! It has to past Buckingham Palace. It is kind of like any street circuit in Rome would have to go past the Colosseum, any street circuit in Athens would have to circle the Parthenon and any street circuit in Egypt would have to go past the pyramids in Giza.
For the last five years Formula One seems obsessed with a London street race. I am not sure if the series is irked Formula E won that battle and got to London in year one but it would be an unnecessary race. For starters, Silverstone is magnificent and I know a few weeks ago at the British Grand Prix people were saying with the size of Silverstone both races could co-exist and that might be true. I do not think a London race would shrink the crowd at Silverstone. I think you can argue the United Kingdom should host a second race but I don't think it has to be a London street course.
Brands Hatch might be a little too tight in the paddock area and Donington Park might need too much work. Circuit of Wales does not exist. Snetterton lacks the infrastructure. There might not be a ready to go second circuit for Formula One in the United Kingdom but a London street race isn't necessarily the answer.
Seidl: McLaren needs to build up risk-taking "culture"
I think McLaren has a risk-taking culture.
It took a risk taking on Honda, floundered for a few seasons with the pricey Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button on the books, proceeded to bash Honda at every chance it could get for three years while running the Honda engines, left Honda for Renault because it could not take the inefficiency anymore and simultaneously made an attempt at the Indianapolis 500 with a backup car that was in the paint shop because it was not the correct shade of orange.
McLaren takes plenty of risks; those risks just haven't paid off or been that smart.
On to two wheels...
MotoGP title fight ended "four races ago," says Crutchlow
Cal Crutchlow is probably right. He said this after Germany and four races ago would have been after France, where Marc Márquez picked up his third victory of the season and he had finished first or second in four of the first five races. Through nine races, Márquez has finished first or second in eight of them with the lone blemish being a fall in Austin of all places.
The real nail in the coffin for this championship was Barcelona where Jorge Lorenzo took Maverick Viñales, Andrea Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi in one fell swoop. There are ten races to go, Márquez's championship lead is 58 points over Dovizioso. If Dovizioso wins the final ten races and Márquez finishes second in all ten races, Márquez wins the title with 385 points to 377 points. Dovizioso isn't going to win every race but Márquez very well could finish first or second in the ten remaining races.
Barring injury, the final four months of the season are all a formality.
Bradl backs Lorenzo to take Honda in "new direction"
Down would be a new direction.
First off, Lorenzo is going to miss the next two races. Second, as long as Marc Márquez is at Honda, Lorenzo isn't taking Honda anywhere. That team lives on Márquez's back.
It has been a surprise that Lorenzo has been this far off Márquez considering how he looked to turn it around in 2018 and he looked revived on the Ducati in a lame duck season. His results this year are far worse than his first year at Ducati.
Lorenzo had three MotoGP championships and finished in the top three of the championship eight consecutive years before he joined Ducati in 2017. It is perplexing looking back on the previous two and a half years and trying to figure out why his ability has these periods of dormancy.
Meanwhile, in Germany...
Wittmann says DTM needs "more international" name
Does the Premier League need a more international name? Does La Liga need a more international name? Does the National Basketball Association need a more international name?
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is a quasi-domestic championship. It is German-based, with German-based teams and it ventures out into Europe for just under half of its rounds but that is what makes it a quasi-domestic, quasi-European championship.
DTM tried a more international name almost 25 years ago, International Touring Car Championship and that was when the series ran Helsinki Thunder, Silverstone, Estoril and ventured to São Paulo and Suzuka.
Growing up, DTM was a niche series. It was somewhat underground in the sense there was no live television coverage of it, you didn't consider finding a live stream of it online but you heard stories of these monster machines with an impressive list of drivers with Formula One and sports car connections.
I don't think re-branding DTM to something less German all of a sudden means more people will tune in. For the record, there aren't that many better names out there. We had a European Touring Car Championship and it was a B-level series and European Touring Masters sounds like a knockoff. You can't call it World Touring Car Championship.
The problem with a more international name is they all sound generic. There is no pop to them. DTM is different. It is explanatory. What is it? German touring cars. People can get that.
The issue is not in the name but DTM has to find an identity on the racetrack. It needs to put on great races that catch the eye of the masses and part of it is also having recognizable names. The one thing about DTM growing up that made it a series of interest is it was a place where Jean Alesi, Mika Häkkinen, Heinz-Herald Frentzen and other recent Formula One drivers went after Formula One. DTM hasn't had that in a while other than Paul di Resta returning and Timo Glock. If Nico Rosberg wasn't such a pompous punk and acted like he was so busy and participated in the series, maybe more people would tune in. If Mark Webber was in the series I think that would draw some attention. Fernando Alonso, need I say any more?
Right now, DTM is lacking a massively exciting name. It is full of talented drivers but it is a bunch of drivers who were single-seater drivers but those drivers were never getting a sniff of Formula One or sports car drivers but not the LMP1 drivers but GT drivers.
I think a name change is a bit of a red herring for DTM.
Berger chasing "dream" Monaco DTM date in future
That's the dream?
This kind of relates to Wittmann's thought that DTM is not broad enough for international appeal. Monaco is the dream because it is a name people know. Monaco is the race people gravitate to whether they are race fans or not because it is a location of luxury. It is also a spectacle in seeing these multi-million dollar machines speed around roads where the top speeds for a daily commuter can't be any higher than 30 MPH.
Gerhard Berger wants a race in Monaco because it is a layup to promote. He knows people will tune in just because it is Monaco, not because the race will be any good, we see that with the grand prix all the time. Unfortunately, the audience is not critical enough to realize while the name on the marquee is fabulous the actual production is far from spellbinding.
The same would be true for DTM at Monaco. It would actually probably be worse. Berger isn't looking for a great race but for attention for the series and there is nothing wrong with wanting attention but it is the old what you want is not what you need circumstance.
If DTM really wants attention, run the Nordschleife, run Monza without the chicanes, go to some other bonkers racetracks, places where the 21st century fan cannot fathomed because it has been an era of sterilized racetracks with limited risks. DTM raced at Misano and Assen this year and those are two circuits not great for automobile racing, both are great for bikes but not automobiles. You are only as good as the racetracks you go to.
Monaco will get you attention but it will be another processional race around yachts and women in bikinis. Go, put on a race that scares people and leaves them wanting more.
Heading to the United States...
Hamlin keeps it clean in last-lap New Hampshire duel
Keeping it clean as in running into the back of Kevin Harvick into turn one and then running into the side of Harvick again in turn four. Other than the two times Denny Hamlin made contact with Harvick it was completely clean.
I know what the headline is getting at. Hamlin didn't drill Harvick and try to end his race in the process of taking the victory. Hamlin tried to move Harvick out of the way but not end his race, which some drivers in NASCAR don't know how to do.
It was clean as in it could have been much dirtier.
Staying in the United States while bridging the Pacific to Japan and putting a left hand in Mexico and straddling the globe like it is a Twister mat...
Mugen hails O'Ward's "very high learning ability"
What does that mean? And I cannot feel like it is a slight to Dan Ticktum, who Patricio O'Ward replaced in the Super Formula seat.
The entire Red Bull development program has been a mess since day one but when you have a half-dozen drivers in the pipeline all the time, power in numbers is on Red Bull's side and it can pluck out a few winners.
The immediate divorce from Ticktum and marriage to O'Ward leaves a sour taste in my mouth. First, Ticktum likely was not going to get the necessary FIA Super License points in Super Formula this year, meaning another year lost, but at the same time, O'Ward isn't going to get Super License points either from this year. Add to that O'Ward didn't get Super License points from Indy Lights even though Indy Lights is a recognized series because the 2018 Indy Lights season didn't meet the minimum criteria for drivers entered in the championship (and we need to talk about that at some point).
I guess it makes sense to get O'Ward in the car and under the Red Bull umbrella, especially if Red Bull doesn't want O'Ward to run IndyCar because it doesn't view IndyCar as a great preparation for Formula One but O'Ward has no Super License points for 2018, he will have no Super License points for 2019 and he probably doesn't have any Super License points for 2017 because he ran in IMSA's Prototype Challenge class, which got mostly three entries a race and isn't even on the list of recognized series.
At best, O'Ward isn't getting to Formula One until 2022. Red Bull gave up on a driver born on June 8, 1999 with 35 Super License points, five away from the 40 required to be allowed to enter Formula One, for a driver born on May 9, 1999 with zero Super License points. More had to be in play for Ticktum to get sacked but the team is going to have to wait a year longer for O'Ward to be eligible than it would take Ticktum to be eligible unless O'Ward finishes in the top three of the Formula Two championship next year, which could be a stretch.
I feel like I have seen this play out before and O'Ward will be on the curb in three years. It is just how Red Bull works.
And back to O'Ward first home for 2019, IndyCar...
MILLER: An IndyCar return to the Glen? If Only...
It is kind of amazing how quick we are back on the Watkins Glen bandwagon. For starters, I would love IndyCar to return there but IndyCar had to wait seven years for a return to Fontana, more than a decade for returns to Portland and Road America and 15 years for a return to Laguna Seca. Add to it Richmond has risen to the top of the pile after over a decade off the schedule.
It has been two years since Watkins Glen fell off after a two-year filler on Labor Day weekend after the failure of the Boston street race and I am trying to figure out how this is going to work after multiple failed attempts.
Failed is a strong word, how about unsuccessful attempts? Or under-fulfilling attempts?
We always hear from Watkins Glen that the race can't be on a holiday weekend and yet it took Labor Day weekend and didn't get the crowd it desired and it still holds the 6 Hours of the Glen around July 4th and gets a crowd that is comparable to the IndyCar crowds.
Robin Miller says IMSA and IndyCar should run together but IMSA doesn't want to share weekends other than the street courses because IMSA doesn't want to be the B-Show. I can understand that and combining the 6 Hours of the Glen and an IndyCar race is tough.
Both IMSA and IndyCar have their own support series. Both series need there own amount of desired track time. Not everyone can fit. It has been done before but I am not sure IMSA wants to move the 6 Hours of the Glen to Saturday and I am not sure IndyCar wants to run Saturday and they can't both be Sunday.
I have already thrown out that if IndyCar wants to run Watkins Glen and if NBC wants a IndyCar/NASCAR doubleheader then just add IndyCar to the Watkins Glen NASCAR weekend. It is already a successful Sunday for Watkins Glen when NASCAR is up there and if anything IndyCar's presence would bolster the Friday and Saturday crowd and IndyCar should just take that Saturday and run in the evening or IndyCar, they can conceivable run until 8:00 p.m. ET in August, or IndyCar could be on noon on Sunday before the Cup race, which already doesn't start until after 3:00 p.m. ET.
I would love Watkins Glen to return to the IndyCar schedule. I would also love Richmond, Fontana, Milwaukee, Michigan and Loudon to come back but those do not seem likely as IndyCar thinks it has reached its domestic limit of 16 race weekends from the middle of March to the middle of September, the end of winter to the end of summer. IndyCar is not in position for a 22-race calendar, not now and likely never again.
We are going to have to live with the schedule always feeling a little incomplete and that is ok because it leaves us wanting more and down the road, Watkins Glen might be back on the schedule but it could be because Iowa is gone or St. Petersburg went away or Eddie Gossage had enough or Austin couldn't get the desired crowd.
I have reached a point where the worst thing that can happen when a track goes away is it can return again someday. Some of these tracks might not be yearly spectacles and annual signature events for IndyCar but something that happens two or three years every decade. It is not ideal but it is the best we got in some cases.
August always feels like the end of summer and yet we are only in the middle of it. The beginning of the end, not only for the season but also for a handful of championships, as fewer races await than are behind us for 2019.
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