F1 Miami Saturday

Wearing McLaren for Saturday. Sunny in Miami, go figure!

On Saturday the F1 teams had practice session 3, and then later in the afternoon the all important qualifying. We headed out to the track a bit later than Friday, and still got to our parking lot with no troubles. OK, we had to park a bit further away, but still not a bad walk to get to the gate. Part of the fun was spotting a few Ferrari, Lamborghini, and even a Rolls Royce in the parking lot. Not sure I'd drive my rolls into a sandy/grass parking lot, but F1 has fans of all kinds! As it turned out, the qualifying ended with few surprises that would mix up the racing on Sunday. 

 

Recovery equipment at the end of the run-off at turn 18

Guess what? It was still on the warm side in Miami! After living in NY for the past 5 years, we had to load up on sunscreen again, drink a lot of refreshing beverages, and settle in to watch qualifying. Formula 1 Qualifying is broken up into 3 sessions, and the first session eliminates the slowest 5 cars, then the next session eliminates 5 more cars, and then the finale has the top ten cars going for fastest lap to determine where they start for the race. 

Haas garages. We were across from Aston Martin, and could also see the Alpha Tauri, Williams, and Alfa Romeo team garages too.

Typically in this last qualifying session, each driver will get two attempts, so the normal strategy is to head out early and get a clean run on the board to avoid getting shut out if something happens like a rain-out at the last minute, or a crash that ends the session. Well, we didn't have rain, but just as the 10 drivers were out on track for their 2nd and final shot at qualifying, Ferrari driver Charles LeClerc slid off track and into the wall, which at first brought out local yellow caution flag. With a yellow flag, drivers have to slow to be able to react to whatever hazard is on track, so that prevented any other driver from even setting a time. The yellow flag then quickly turned into a red flag, which tells all drivers to return to the pit, and that was the end of qualifying. 

Ferrari on track for qualifying

 The big drama was that 2 of the top 10 hadn't set ANY time yet, so Valtteri Bottas and defending champ Max Verstappen had NO time, and had to start the race in 9th and 10th. At least they got to stay in the top 10, but their example is a great lesson in the importance of getting out and setting a banker lap early in Q3. With Max in the Red Bull car having to start 9th, he would have to pass a lot of drivers to get near the front of the race the next day. Bottas is one of my favorite drivers too, maybe because he races with #77 too.

King Charles was crowned earlier in the day, but who would be crowned in qualifying? ON TO QUALIFYING!

So, with the quirky yellow/red flag in qualifying, we also had MoneyGram Haas F1 Team driver Kevin Magnussen way up in 4th place, which is the American team's best ever qualifying in a Sunday race! Ahead of him on the grid was 2 time champion Fernando Alonso,  the oldest driver in F1 in 2nd place, once again driving the Aston Martin car like a champ! On pole, crowd favorite Sergio Perez, who would be trying to finish 1st and take the points lead away from his fellow Red Bull Verstappen. 

 

Bottas #77 in qualifying

Further down the grid, the biggest surprises were from 7 time champ Lewis Hamilton in 13th after a poor qualifying, and Alonso's fellow Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll way down in 18th. If you didn't know, Lance's dad basically bought an F1 team and owns a major part of the Aston Martin company. I guess if I was rich enough I'd do that for my kids too! One big goal for F1 drivers is to beat your team mate, and since you both have identical cars, this is the easiest comparison between drivers to make. 

LeClerc in the wall in Q3, NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Sergio Perez of Mexico takes pole!

So it was a good bit of drama in qualifying, and that meant that the race would likely hold some surprises! Stay tuned and we'll review how things went on Sunday for race day!

Red flag: Drivers must return to the pit lane

 

Red Flag, session will not be started, not enough time for cars to do a warm up lap and set a time

 

F1 Miami Friday

Red Bull on track, team garages and pit lane on the other side, in front of the Miami Dolphins Hard Rock Stadium

 

Hello from Miami! It hit 90 degrees during practice 1 last Friday, so we were drinking water and putting on sun screen to keep as cool as possible. Overall, I’ve still got to say that going to an F1 race is like going to the State Fair. Big crowds, lots of food and drinks for sale (just pay the price and keep moving folks), and plenty to see just wandering around. 

The entire track was a new surface this year, so throughout the two practice sessions on Friday, the times kept getting faster. Somewhere I read that this is one of the hottest races of the year, so that plays a big role in how the tires and cars perform. With one hour practice, and approximately an hour and a half race, the cars need to be reliable.

Our video screen

We were allowed to bring in empty waters bottles, and it was easy to find the free water filling stations. As you can imagine, the many food and souvenir vendors had ridiculous prices, so a free bit of water was appreciated. OK, it wasn't as bad as the 18 dollar beer at Madison Square Garden for a Billy Joel concert, I think most beers were more like 9 dollars. Hey, we tried Heineken Silver, it was OK.

Looking straight into the Aston Martin garages of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso

Friday was the smallest crowd of the weekend, so not too bad walking around, even arriving when the gates opened. Before long the food areas inside big tents were packed, and there wasn't a lot of shade to be had in or out of the grandstands, so I'm still planning on winning the lottery so I can afford the fancy suites in the shade that come with catering!

Ferrari sales

Driving to and from the stadium was probably as good as it gets for a major sports event, and actually surprisingly easy. Our hotel was west of the stadium, so I can't speak for people coming from north and south, or the shuttle buses or trains. Our assigned parking (included with the ticket price!) was close to the stadium, so not a bad walk. Traffic (car) at the end of Friday was quickly out of the lot and back at our hotel. Our previous experience parking at Circuit of the Americas in Texas in 2019 was really terrible, but I think they've figured it out by now. Miami: No Problema!

Red Bull and World Champ Max Verstappen, very popular

There was a reasonable variety of food on the race "Campus," so like I said, you've just got to look at it like being at the State Fair and see what they have. The entire campus was cashless, so debit/credit card only. This mostly worked, but we did run into a beer seller whose machine wasn't working, so we found another seller right away.

Friday I wore Haas to support our USA based team

During the weekend there was a good mix of fans supporting different teams, maybe more Red Bull than others, but plenty of Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes, with smaller numbers of the other teams like Haas, Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Williams, and Alpine. Most of the team hats on sale were going for $90, and I saw an Aston Martin team polo shirt for $150. If you can afford an Aston Martin, those prices won't make you blink!

Our home straight grandstand. Some more shade would be nice!

On our walk through gate 8 to our grandstand, we passed some road cars on display, tons of signs and banners, and everything was looking good. A lot of our walk was also kind of behind the scenes, in between barriers, with just small glimpses of the track, and included one bridge over the track. The bridge was entirely covered in banners and fencing so there was no chance interfering or even really seeing the track, so maybe some day they can come up with a plexiglass bridge and you could stand over the race while it's going on. Just a thought!

Julie has entered the compound!

Waiting to enter when the gates open on Friday

BMW Ultimate Driving Experience

Here we go again!

The BMW folks did it again! They came to town with the Ultimate Driving Experience and begged me to drive their new cars as fast as possible. These events give you just a sample of the cars, but it's always free, and fun, which are two of my favorite "F" words. There were three events that everyone could try behind the wheel of various cars; a small autocross, a normal street drive with various models, and a short run to go flat out with 100% braking. To see if the BMW crew are coming close to YOU, check out their page: 

            BMW ULTIMATE DRIVING EXPERIENCE CITIES

Drove both of these cars

In the autocross I drove two different cars (not at the same time, and oh by the way, DON'T try THAT at home!) First, I was in the 330e xDrive, which is a 2.0L twin turbo 4-cylinder with an additional electric motor. This bad boy has a total 288 hp and goes 0-60 in 5.6 seconds. It was very nice! The xDrive in this car is BMW's way of saying all wheel drive. Oh, and if you think that was a powerful and quick car, hold that thought!

BMW 330e XDrive

Next, I drove an i4 M50, which has dual electric motors, 536 hp, and hits 0-60 in 3.7 seconds. Did I mention the 586 lb-ft of torque? That's a lot of power, and it was fun! The course was too short to hit 60, but you could tell it was way more powerful than the 330e. Unlike previous BMW events, they were not timing the autocross runs, so I can't confirm that I was the fastest or slowest in my group. Oh well, no prize money again! Oh, and if you think THAT was a powerful and quick car, hold that thought too!

BMW i4 M50

After the autocross, I jumped into the iX M60. This all electric SUV type of vehicle has 610 hp and goes 0-60 in 3.6 seconds. Torque? Glad you asked! This vehicle has a LOT of it. BMW says 811 lb-ft of torque. In English, EIGHT HUNDRED ELEVEN FOOT POUNDS OF TORQUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The focus of our driving was to use SOME of the torque, hammer the "gas" pedal, go in a straight line for about 3 seconds, and then hammer the brake pedal and halt. After that we steered through a very tight set of cones to feel the 4 wheel steering. The acceleration was awesome, and the braking was great. The steering was very light feeling and I'm sure it's very maneuverable. The control panels, buttons, and switches were all over the place since I'm not familiar with BMWs in general, much less electric ones. I had trouble getting out of the back seat since I'd never had to hold a button and then push the door open. Like any new technology I'm sure you would get used to it pretty quickly. I'm just thinking that if someone rents one of these they'll need some instructions on how to operate it for sure. The huge amount of torque from electric vehicles is amazing. Here's a video from the back seat: 

Overall, the BMW iX M60 is very nice, and you can pick one up starting at $111,000 or so.