Long day of motor-racing. The Monaco GP was pretty good, as far as that race goes. Obviously there’s no overtaking there, but Leclerc and Verstappen kept it interesting, although disappointing neither of them got the result they deserved. We’re off to my favourite track in Canada in a couple of weeks, so happy about that. Feels like Ferrari are a lost cause and we need Red Bull now to bring the fight to Mercedes. That said, the straight line speed of the Ferrari should be significant in Montreal.
Tuned in for the Indy 500 afterwards, first time I’ve watched that race for a long time. It was exciting and fun, although the ratio of adverts to racing was insane, and that was even without having to watch the actual ads. Well most of them, as they still managed to fill most of the screen with ads whenever they could. Honestly, it was like looking at a web page without adblock, all around there were flashing and moving images, framing a tiny motor race in the middle. Makes the F1 Heineken stars and on track graphics look quant and wistful in comparison.
The main off putting thing was the insanely weird and almost unfathomable display of militaristic and nationalistic pride at the start. They had the track lined with soldiers, tons of nationalistic iconography, not to mention a priest/vicar/religious person saying a super long-ass prayer for the armed forces for a big part of it. Then they had a military parade and a flypast. Finally, after the race started, instead of cutting to replays of the start, they had replays of soldiers standing to attention. I mean, it felt like I was watching news footage of a North Korean political rally. I’ve never seen such an ostentatious display of militaristic might and patriotic fervor in my life. It was utterly bizarre and honestly a bit frightening.
Anyway, apparently, that’s ’murica for you.