What to watch this Cancelled F1 Season Kickoff Weekend (Mar 12th - Mar 18th)

• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Practice 2. Thursday @ 8:55pm - 10:30pm (ESPNNews) live
• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Practice 2. Friday @ 12:55am - 2:30am (ESPNNews) live
• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Practice 3. Friday @ 10:55pm - 12am (ESPNNews) live
• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Qualifying. Saturday @ 1:55am - 3am (ESPN2) live
• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Race. Sunday @ 1:05am - 3am (ESPN) live
• Indycar Series - Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, FL. Sunday @ 2:30pm - 6pm (NBCSN) live 
• Garage Squad. Tuesday @ 6pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrend) replay
• Chasing Classic Cars. Wednesday @ 5pm - 6pm (MotorTrend) replays
• Bitchin Rides. Wednesday @ 7pm - 8pm (MotorTrend)
• Vintage Voltage. Wednesday @ 10pm - 11pm (MotorTrend) premier

It just felt like the F1 season ended not long ago and winter testing brought us back in late Feb. After that concluded it appears we're in a similar configuration to last year, with some improvements among the mid-field. There's been some talking points heading into this first race, aside from the more notable discussion of the corona virus and sporting event planning, and they include Merc's DAS system and Ferrari's unspecified settlement with the FIA over their 2019 power unit's legality. Anyways, we'll see if anyone follows Merc into their FIA legal DAS system loophole pursuit during the season and what, if anything, will come of the paddock heat on the FIA to spill the beans.

3/13/20 - Sorry for the later update folks, but the Australian GP is cancelled. One of the members of the McLaren F1 team tested positive, they pulled out the race and the rest is history. Much like the rest of the sporting world, this may take a few weeks to sort out. 2020 has been a roller coaster so far.

Enjoy your weekends and be safe out there.

Video courtesy of Chainbear.


Video courtesy of Autosport.

Dope Vid. #261

Video courtesy of HartnettMedia.

What to watch this F1 Season Kickoff and 12hrs of Sebring Weekend (Mar 15th - Mar 20th)

• The Grand Tour. Season 3 Episode 10. Friday (Amazon Prime)  
• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Practice 2. Friday @ 12:55am - 2:30am (ESPNNews(HD)) live
• FIA WEC. 1000 miles of Sebring. Friday @ 3:30pm - 12:30am (MotorTrendHD) live
• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Practice 3. Friday @ 10:55pm - 12am (ESPNNews(HD)) live
• WSCC - 12 hours of Sebring (FL). 67th annual running of this historic race. Saturday @ 10:30am - 1pm (CNBC(HD)), 1pm - 3pm (NBCSportsLive), 10:30am - 10:40pm (IMSA.com webcast), 3pm - 11pm (NBCSN(HD)) live 
• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Qualifying. Saturday @ 1:55am - 3am (ESPN2(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Race. Sunday @ 1:05am - 3am (ESPN(HD)) live
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrendHD) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrendHD) replay
• Restoration Garage. Tuesday @ 10pm - 11pm (MotorTrendHD) new
• Chasing Classic Cars. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (MotorTrendHD) new

We've been waiting for this weekend all off-season -- the start of the 2019 F1 season. F1 testing sessions up 'til now show Ferrari with the edge, Merc getting things together and Red Bull ironing out kinks with its packaging in order to maximize the new Honda power plant. Haas and Renault look to battle it out in the mid-field and McLaren has some pace which they hope to prove is real this weekend. Meanwhile, the IMSA 12hrs of Sebring is also taking place this weekend, as well as a World Endurance Championship race on the same circuit. This should be a great start to the full motorsport season.

On a sadder note, our thoughts go out to Charlie Whiting's friends and family, as he passed away this week. Charlie went from a Brabum engineer in his younger days to becoming the F1 Race Director, overseeing high level motorsport for decades. He not only watched over races, but worked with teams and drivers on regulation nuances, requirements, safety regulations as well as working with the circuits themselves to ensure they were as safe as possible for each event. He'll be missed, to all of us motorsport fans as well as everyone in the motorsport world that relied on his technical acumen and effectiveness in his multiple roles.

Enjoy your motorsport weekends.

Video courtesy of Peterwindsor.

Dope Vid. #228

Video courtesy of The-Lowdown.

What to watch this F1 Season kickoff Weekend (Mar 23th - Mar 28th)

• The Grand Tour. Season 2 episodes available on demand. Friday (Amazon Prime)  
• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Practice #3(?). Friday @ 11pm - 12am (ESPNNews(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Qualifying. Saturday @ 2am - 3am (ESPN2(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Race. Sunday @ 12:55am - 3am (ESPN2(HD)) live
• Top Gear. Season 25 Episode 5. Sunday @ 8pm - 10pm (BBCAmerica(HD)) new
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Wheeler Dealers. Mini-marathon. Wednesday @ 3pm - 6pm (VelocityHD) replays
• Garage Squad. Wednesday @ 7pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) replays
• Restoration Garage. Wednesday @ 9pm - 9:30pm (VelocityHD) new

Busy week on this end, I'm moving as you read this (which will hopefully bring some car project posts back around), so no frills in this post for this first weekend of F1. All I have to say is...ESPN better not eff up F1 coverage.

Enjoy your motorsport weekends.

Video courtesy of Autocar.

What to watch this Weekend (Aug 11th - Aug 16th)

• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) replay 
• Virgin Australian Supercars. Ipswich. Wednesday @ 8pm - 9pm (CBSSN(HD)) delayed airing from 7/29
• RMD Garage. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of AMMONYC.

What to watch this F1 Kickoff Weekend (Mar 24th - Mar 29th)

• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Practice #1. Friday @ 12am - 1am (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Practice #2. Friday @ 1am - 3am (NBCSN(HD)) live
• The Grand Tour. All 13 episodes available on demand. Friday (Amazon Prime) replays
• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Qualifying. Saturday @ 2am - 3:30am (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - Australian Grand Prix; from Melbourne/Albert Park Circuit. Race. Sunday @ 12am - 3:30am (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Top Gear. Season 24 Episode 3. Sunday @ 8pm - 10pm (BBCAmerica(HD)) new
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) 
• Wheeler Dealers. Wednesday @ 8pm - 9pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Chasing Classic Cars. Season 9 Ep 3. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new

After 4 months off we're back at it again for the 2017 F1 season. Rosberg rode off into the sunset after winning the 2016 Driver's Championship crown. Massa came out of retirement and back to Williams primarily because of Bottas getting Rosberg's seat. The cars are all new this year with the latest regulations, sans the halo technology tested sporadically over the last two seasons. Wide tires, mechanical grip is up, along with improved aero despite a lower rear wing. From practice it looks like Ferrari has brought more to the table, Red Bull is still very fast, but is AMG Petronas Mercedes still holding an ace up their sleeve? This is going to be a great season.

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of JaumeSoler.


Video courtesy of Formula1.

What to watch this Weekend (Nov 11th - Nov 16th)

• Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil. Practice #1. Friday @ 11am - 12:30am (NBCSN(HD)) live
• Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil. Qualifying. Saturday @ 11am - 12:30pm (CNBC(HD)) live; replay @ 6:30pm
• Formula 1 - Brazilian Grand Prix; from Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace-Interlagos, San Paolo, Brazil.  Race. Sunday @ 10:30am - 1pm (NBCSN(HD)) live; replay Sunday @ 7:30pm 
• V8 Supercars. Goldcoast 600. Sunday @ 5pm - 6pm (CBSSN) delayed airing from 10/23
• Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (VelocityHD) replay 
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) 
• Garage Squad. Wednesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD)

The last few races of the season have been crazy, with Hams figuring out his launch method and taking Pole to Checkered flag twice, but Mexico was crazy for more reasons than the Driver's Championship. Controversy abounded, with Vettel chasing down Verstappen late in the race with fresher tires; Verstappen locked up and went through the grass, after the ultra high speed ending turn 1, exiting ahead of Vettel out of the grass and not yeilding the spot despite most folks on the wall thinking he gained an advantage. The Verstappen stayed in front of Vettel and had too much pace for Vettel to get by, and Ricciardo caught up to Vettel in the melee but was unable to make the move stick. Getting back to the Verstappen course cut, there wasn't an announcement from the stewards until another lap went by and it stated that they would figure it out after the race concluded, which didn't make a lot of sense. Scuderia pit wall was livid, only superseded by Vettel cursing FIA Director Charlie Whiting, also cursing Verstappen and everyone else involved. The top three finishers, Hams, Rosberg and Verstappen all park and go into the waiting room and suddenly the stewards announce that Verstappen was assessed a 5sec penalty which effectively moved him from 3rd to 5th because of the Red Bull sammich Vettel was in at the finish. Then the cameras shift and through the crowd of fans in front of the podium comes Vettel, escorted by his entire team, while Verstappen gets the news and is asked to leave by the FIA official. Then after the race and interviews were long over, the stewards decided on a 10sec penalty for Vettel for driving erratically in defense of Ricciardo's advances, resulting of Max running slower than Vettel but doing his best to maintain position. This pushed Ricciardo into 3rd for the race. Seems odd because Verstappen is the one who put Vettel in that position, but in the end Verstappen finished ahead of Vettel, in 4th. Possibly the most eventful and colorful race of this season; radio sound bites for days.

With the smoke cleared after the checkered flag the current Driver's standings are as follows: Rosberg, Hamilton (-19), Ricciardo (-107), Vettel (-162), Raikkonen (-171), Verstappen (-172). Brazil should be another tight battle; there's just about no way to pass an evenly matched car at Interlagos, which if you remember last year is what kept Hamilton from getting past Nico in the final laps. If Rosberg keeps coming in second with Hams winning he'll still win the championship by 5pts; he'll need Red Bull to bring it in the last two races after he gets out to the lead. Qualy will be a big deal in Brazil.

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of Gommeblog.it

What to watch this Weekend (Sept 11th - Sept 14th)

• DTM. From the Neurburgring GP Circuit. Sunday @ 1pm - 3pm (CBSSN(HD)) same-day delayed airing
• V8 Supercars. Sydney. Saturday @ 4pm - 5pm (CBSSN(HD)) delayed airing from 8/27-8/28
• Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD)
• Wheeler Dealers. Wednesday @ 8pm - 9pm (VelocityHD) replay

Enjoy your weekends.

Video courtesy of MrJWW.

Dope Vid. #8

Wörthersee 2014 | Escrow Team from Michael Peytrignet on Vimeo.

What to watch this Weekend (Feb 20th - Feb 26th)

• Pirelli World Challenge 2013. Sonoma. Thursday @ 1pm - 2pm (MAVTV) replay
• WRC. Rally action from Sweden. Thursday @ 4pm - 5pm (MAVTV) replay
• FIA European Rally Championship. Barum Czech Rally Zlin; from Zlin, Czech Republic. Saturday @ 2pm - 3pm (VelocityHD) replay
• Top Gear (UK). Season 21 Episode 3: Volkswagen Up. Monday @ 8:30pm - 10pm (BBCAmerica(HD)) new
• Motorweek. 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (VelocityHD) new
• Chasing Classic Cars. Getting Hot. Tuesday @ 10pm - 10:30pm (VelocityHD) new
• Wheeler Dealers. Lotus Elise. Wednesday @ 9pm - 10pm (VelocityHD) new 

New Top Gear, Motorweek, Chasing Classic Cars and Wheeler Dealers. We're a couple weeks away from the heart of the motorsport season beginning, but in case you weren't paying attention the Bathurst 12 hour was run a couple weeks ago. Check out the race finish and have a great Spring-preview weekend.

Video courtesy of RacingVolt.