#british gp 2000

[maranello]

SILVERSTONE, 2000 — Michael Schumacher with a hot drink. (Photo by Pierre Verdy/AFP)  

[agendabymooner]

MASTERLIST: A-N F1 DRIVERS by agendabymooner

LINK TO MASTERLIST: O-Z F1 DRIVERS by agendabymooner

LINK TO SOMETHING SINFUL (SMUT) MASTERLIST by agendabymooner (MINORS DNI)

note: I CANNOT OFFICIALLY FIT MY WORKS IN ONE POST 😭 so here is my alphabetical f1 masterlist!!!

legends/genre:

a = angst g = general fic hc = hurt/comfort h = humour

s = smut (minors, dni) mc = mature content (minors, dni) f = fluff

★ - newly added ♡ - favourite piece

ALSO CHECK OUT:

MOONY'S CHARACTER DIRECTORY

MOONY'S FILIPINO CHARACTERS DIRECTORY

alex albon (aa23)

front page lover (thai!kpop idol!ofc)

keeper, smau: polly berkshire has obscure interactions with her thirsty boyfriend and it's safe to say that they love each other.

fashion week, smau: the williams driver and polly always got something for everyone to talk about.

double aa, socmed snapshot: a series of instagram stories in which alex is a dad to alice albon

own it, smau: alex's hidden talent is being a good boyfriend with a dash of photographer. ★

fernando alonso (fa14)

the breakup and makeup series (pro wrestler!ofc)

time to rock and roll, fic: the first time beatrice staedtlander and fernando alonso had broken up. (hc) ♡

heaven, smau: back in 2000s, fernando alonso and beatrice anastasia 'trish' staedtlander were every racing and wrestling fans' couple. years after, trish alonso became a mother and a wife... and the grid's crush of the season. fernando was certainly not happy so what's a better way to remind everyone that he was hers? (f, g, h)

from the ground up, smau: tino and tiago alonso were the twins that trish had given birth to at the age of 40, and everyone understood now why she didn't make it to the 2024 canadian gp. (f)

look what god gave her, smau: beatrice 'trish' alonso survived fernando's messy image better than anybody did. (f, g, h)

bonnie and the fame

maneater, smau: bonnie catherine sutton was carlos sainz's ex-girlfriend who returned to the f1 scene as a different woman. turns out, she's fernando alonso's fiancée (f)

ego, smau: never underestimate a woman's self-esteem, it might end up wounding you more than it would her.

oliver bearman (ob8)

ice ice baby, smau: kimi raikkonen's daughter romania raikkonen debuted in formula one with her friends AND it's safe to say that the iceman doesn't like ollie that much.

icy in saudi, smau: aroma raikkonen was ollie's biggest supporter in his f1 debut. plus, she also had her personal 'reverse harem' consisting of her best friends in the f2 grid. ★

ollie on thin ice(man), scenario: kimi raikkonen had proven himself to be oliver bearman's biggest hater at some point. ★

jenson button (jb22)

pride and pettiness (x british!actress!ofc)

one, 2004: in which, ada and jenson met for the first time.

the mr. darcy type, smau: much like the popular love interest, jenson should have known better than to say things that wouldn't impress a woman he grew interested in. OR ada abbott made sure that he worked hard for her time and attention. (f) ♡

shunt the hell up! (x hunt!driver!ofc)

shunt your lovers, kiss your enemies. smau: it was funny how enemies can be your teammate AND your lover at the same time. OR jj hunt, the daughter of the late james hunt, was jenson's biggest rival until a certain baby predicament cost her her entire racing career. (g) ♡

better enemies than strangers, smau: the brawn gp docuseries discussed jj hunt and the surprising turn of events in her rivalry/partnership with jenson in 2009. ★

other works

affection, blurb: in which, jenson learned that he should just say it without being a little too drunk.

pierre gasly (pg10)

newsflash, smau: ensley soleil doesn’t like playboys. too bad, pierre gasly’s down bad for her (attention and love). (f, g, h)

odds, fic: their timing was always wrong, maybe that's why pierre should consider making it even for the two of them as she writes songs about him and their courtship.

lowkey, smau: fans thought that pierre moved on from ensley four months after publicly declaring his (love?) for her. funnily enough... (f, g, h)

indigo, chatfic + smau: there's really no reason for pierre gasly to be jealous over some man that ensley wrote 'high school in jakarta' about. not when she wrote one or more songs about the frenchman. (f) ♡

high school in jakarta, fic: meeting ensley’s close friends would also mean that he’d have to meet her high school sweetheart, who he believed he couldn’t compete against until ensley ensured that his two-day attendance wouldn’t be spoiled by some guy who couldn’t let go of some memories she couldn’t even remember. ♡ 

dancing with the devil, smau: ensley soleil doesn't care about what people are saying about her relationship with pierre especially now that she's married to him. (f)

vintage, smau: pierre gasly is a husband and a fanboy of ensley soleil gasly amongst other things. (f)

hot dad era, socmed snapshot: pierre gasly. 30% f1 driver 70% dilf.

other works

do i make you nervous, blurb: lesson learned: just date her first rather than being friendly in the bed.

lewis hamilton (lh44)

stevie and lewis (hearth sister!ofc)

thick and thin, smau + fic: lewis should know better than underestimating her and her capabilities to yearn for him for years. (hc)

hands on and paws on, socmed snapshot: lewis is a stay-at-home dad to lottie hamilton and his best boy, roscoe, happens to watch his mummys everywhere she goes as she carries baby hamilton #2.

the hamilton daycare, fic: lewis is already a stay-at-home dad so what makes his day out in monaco with his two kids any different? (f) (2/3 of daddy, debriefed!)

where the bad girls are (kpop idol!ofc)

lifted, smau: lewis is married to a kpop idol who happened to be one of the girls to shape the image of female groups in the korean pop community.

crowned couple (x miss universe!ofc)

the couple of the universe, smau: lewis is a careless being this season and everyone's wondering why.

melody series (x performer!ofc)

summary: with her sharp eyes focused on her audience, a burlesque performer who went under the name of melody returned to rythme romantique, an entertainment lounge which exclusively caters to the wealthiest people of monaco — or in this case, to the people with a status that are recognized by all. her three exclusive performances were meant to be a closure for her connections in the principality. still, a certain formula one driver saw it as an opportunity to reconnect with his former flame after two years of her absence. felicity vos learned that this was a rich man’s world and that he could do whatever he wanted, but she also realized that the agreement they settled on years ago was corrupted the moment he expressed his love for her. 

one, million dollar man: monaco was a world of glitz and glamour that she left two years ago. returning to the principality clearly was a huge mistake as she found herself talking to the man who swore to nothing but his love for her.

two, this is what makes us girls: "decorum isn't something you can buy with money or fame." or what did lewis really want from her and why did he show up on the second night of her performance?

arthur leclerc (al12)

the scheming schumachers, smau: sunny schumacher is mick's cousin and what does a family do? they attract arthur leclerc to get him away from his best friend, who happens to be mick's girlfriend. thankfully, the schumacher cousin is something of a welcome distraction for the monegasque.

charles leclerc (cl16)

the leclerc boys series (x hearth sister!ofc)

debunking drama, smau: prequel to of long lines and names; aimee hearth, the mclaren media manager and one of the famous hearth sisters, was rumoured to be dating lando norris. a certain monegasque's baffled reaction became a trending topic in twitter as he counteracts the rumour with an instagram post of his lover. (f, h)

many kids with many names, smau: everyone found out that aimee and charles were having not only one but two babies. turned out, those two babies have at least a million name. (h) ★

of long lines and names, fic: five kids with (almost) five names under six years. OR the three pregnancies that charles had witnessed told him how motherhood and memories could come in two sets of twins and a boy that looked so much like him. (f)

the leclerc daycare, fic: before his last set of twins were born, charles had to watch his boys on his own- not exactly by himself when he's got esteban and pierre acting as his right hand men. (f) (1/3 of daddy, debriefed!) ♡

about names, scenario fics

summary: extension to of long lines and names and the leclerc daycare; charles and aimee's boys and their names go hand in hand OR times when the couple had to tell their kids that their names were signs of love and respect for their namesakes.

one, an amazing boy with an amazing name: hervé's anger left his parents confused after he refused to be called by his first name. thankfully, his mamé pascale had an easy access to his heart that eventually led to an answer to his sadness.

two, the wingman of maranello: jules leclerc learned two things as he travelled to italy with his father: he had an uncle named uncle teague and uncle teague had a best friend that was once charles' godfather.

other pieces

"slut", smau: charles' ex trashed his new girlfriend a while ago, but too bad he wasn't really into the thought of making music with anyone but lou villar.

breaking curses not hearts, smau: frankie bardot atkinson was also known for her curse in the film industry. after breaking her long streaked curse and finally won an oscar, was it finally charles' time to break his curse at monza gp?

kevin magnussen (km20)

family ties, smau: lando norris forgot that his brother-in-law is in the grid with him and lola norris magnussen couldn't help but make of her brother for it.

lando norris (ln4)

lover era (x alessandro sister!writer!ofc)

london boy, smau: nicola 'cola' alessandro moved to britain and what's a better way to introduce yourself to england than taking a trip around with a certain mclaren driver? (f, g, h)

i think he knows, smau: grazia nichols published her debut novel based off formula one, and a fan could have sworn that the the book bf - nolan langford - was based off of lando's character as a driver altogether. (f, g, h)

✿ honey, honey! series masterlist - lando norris x ofc (honey-sue lewis) ft. sidemen

other pieces

too good to be true, smau: just a brief overview of lando’s relationship with a countryside girl who, beyond her introverted tendencies, was an unhinged, unserious yet amazing mother and girlfriend. ★

f1 drivers (general)

✿ 9 to 5 series masterlist - f1 grid x ofc (lester alessandro) ft. fictional wolff kids

✿ f1 voicemail blurbs - series of blurbs with voicemails left by the drivers. ★

too much caring, smau, sv5 + jb22: kpop idol juno was assumed to have cheated on retired driver jenson button with his best mate sebastian vettel. oh how wrong those people were...

[coimbrabertone]

A History of Formula One Grand Prix in the United States

After a near month long hiatus following the Singapore Grand Prix, Formula One returns this weekend with the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. This is the second of three races in the United States this season, and a lot of people attribute the increase of American GPs to Drive to Survive and the peak in popularity that caused over here.

That may be true, however, two things complicate this fact:

One is that this is not the first time there have been three American F1 races in a season.

Two is that Grand Prix racing in the United States goes back further than in any country other than France.

So, today...let's talk about the history of the United States Grand Prix, and Formula One races in the United States more broadly.

The first race that could be considered a Grand Prix in the US was the Vanderbilt Cup, held on Long Island in the early 1900s. The initial 1904, 1905, and 1906 races were held on dirt roads, however, in response to the success of the 1906 French Grand Prix, William Kissam Vanderbult II financed the construction of the Long Island Motor Parkway.

This would not just provide a paved, modern road to Long Island, but it would also serve as the setting for the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup, won by American George Robertson in an American-made car called the Locomobile. An American victory in an American race governed by the American AAA.

But this is open wheel racing in America, so of fucking course there was a governing dispute already.

The AAA raised their membership dues in 1908, that was strike one, and then strike two was when they refused to adopt the Grand Prix regulations drafted by the AIACR - the FIA under its initial name - which paved the way for the Automobile Club of America to emerge as a competitor to the AAA.

And their showpiece event? the American Grand Prize.

Yup, the ACA went down to Georgia, found a stock car race run by the Savannah Automobile Club, and decided to turn that into the very first proper Grand Prix in America. The state of Georgia authorized the use of convict labor to lengthen the stock car track to 25.1 miles for the Grand Prize.

It was held in 1909 and won by Frenchman Louis Wagner...who in 1926 would go on to win the first British Grand Prix as well. An impressive resume.

The tea drinkers can write their own blog though, more on the US now!

Come 1911, and both the Vanderbilt Cup - aimed at American talent - and the American Grand Prize - aimed at international drivers - would both be held together in Savannah, Georgia. They would once again be hosted together in Milwaukee in 1912, in Santa Monica in 1914 and 1916, and in San Francisco in 1915.

World War I would kill off European participation however, and after 1916, the American Grand Prize went away.

The Vanderbilt Cup would briefly return in 1936 and 1937, back at Long Island, this time at the Roosevelt Raceway. However, with Tazio Nuvolari winning in an Enzo Ferrari-run Alfa Romeo winning in 1936 and then Bernd Rosemeyer winning in an Auto Union next year, the American audiences weren't convinced.

The 1930s version of the Vanderbilt Cup just served as a big money race for the Europeans to win.

So the American Grand Prize and the Vanderbilt Cup didn't work out, but what was working in America at that time was oval racing on board tracks.

The Astor Cup, held on the two-mile Sheepshead Bay Speedway in Brooklyn won over the Long Island audience instead.

If the names of these trophies sound familiar, it's because in 1996, during the CART-IRL split, CART revived the name Vanderbilt Cup and built a replica trophy as the prize for the US 500. Yup, the history of the Vanderbilt Cup was used to go up against the Borg-Warner Trophy of the Indianapolis 500.

Well, after four years of the US 500, in 2000, the Vanderbilt Cup became the trophy for the CART championship instead. The Champ Car World Series continued this tradition.

When Champ Car and the IRL Indycar Series merged, the Astor Cup name was revived instead. From 2011 onwards, the Indycar series champion receives the Astor Cup.

Anyway, back to the F1 in the US.

Initially the World Championship for Drivers, in 1950, gave the US date to the Indianapolis 500, seeing it as the biggest and most important race in the United States.

This was in spite of the fact that the Indianapolis 500 was governed by the AAA - and later USAC - and once the World Championship went to F2 regulations in 1952, Indy and the rest of the championship weren't even run under the same regulations.

In fact, the only time a World Championship driver came over to Indy was in 1952 (the first year of those F2 regulations) when Ferrari took Alberto Ascari and a 4.5L V12 Ferrari 375 to Indy in an attempt to win the biggest race in America. Alberto would retire, and Indy would be the only stain on an otherwise perfect 1952 season for Ascari.

Meanwhile, road racing was returning to prominence in the United States as permanent venues like Riverside and Sebring began to emerge.

In 1958, Riverside hosted a United States Grand Prix as part of the USAC championship.

In 1959, the II United States Grand Prix was held at Sebring, and this time, it was part of the Formula One World Championship. This race was won by Bruce McLaren in a Cooper.

In 1960, the race moved to Riverside, where it was won by Stirling Moss in a Lotus. This was also the last year in which the Indianapolis 500 counted for the World Championship.

And in 1961, the United States Grand Prix finally settled on its first permanent home, when Watkins Glen was chosen as the venue. From 1961 to 1980, Watkins Glen was the home of the USGP, a stint that lasted so long that the first winner was Innes Ireland in a Lotus and the last was Alan Jones in a Williams.

It was not the only USGP though.

I'd like to welcome everybody to the wild wild west.

Yup, from 1976 to 1983, F1 came to the LBC, the Long Beach Grand Prix joining the calendar under the title of United States Grand Prix West. The 1976 race was won by Clay Regazzoni in a Ferrari, while the last four races were won by Cosworth DFV powered cars, giving Long Beach a reputation as the race that the turbo powered cars couldn't win.

Indeed, the first win for a turbo car at Long Beach was 1984, when it was a CART race. The winner? Mario Andretti.

The next race on our list came in 1981, to replace Watkins Glen.

It was the Caesar's Palace Grand Prix, held in the parking lot of the casino for two years before it too was shifted off to the CART series - which itself only lasted two years before going away entirely.

The 1981 race went to Alan Jones in a Williams, picking up where he left off at Watkins Glen.

1982, meanwhile, went to Michele Alboreto in a Tyrrell.

1982 had a third US F1 round - like I said, the current era isn't the first time this has happened - being the Detroit Grand Prix in the downtown of the motor city.

A tight, twisty track swerving through the heart of the Motor City, the first Detroit Grand Prix was won by John Watson in a McLaren, while the last three were all won by Ayrton Senna. 1986 in a Lotus-Renault, 1987 in a Lotus-Honda, and 1988 in the all-conquering McLaren-Honda.

In 1989, Detroit too became a CART race, but unlike Caesar's Palace, it was actually successful.

In 2023, the Indycar Detroit GP returned to the streets of downtown, racing around the Renaissance Center in a layout best described as "bleh."

In any case, 1982 marked three American F1 rounds, but funnily enough...none of them were actually called the United States Grand Prix.

Long Beach was the USGP West, which was a rather clunky title given that there was no USGP to be west of.

Detroit was Detroit and Caesar's Palace was just Caesar's Palace.

Is Caesar's Palace the smallest geographic unit to get a Grand Prix named after it? It's gotta be up there, right?

1984 was a similar story, as there were two American F1 races back-to-back: the Detroit Grand Prix won by Nelson Piquet, and the one and only Dallas Grand Prix, won by Keke Rosberg.

Dallas was a mid-summer race held in the high heat of central Texas and that was only the start of the problems. The track surface was crumbling, the fans were in constant fear of the event being cancelled from out from under them, and the drivers felt the track was narrow and lacking in runoff areas.

CART passed on this one, instead, it was briefly brought back as a Trans Am race before fading into obscurity.

Dallas didn't work out, Detroit and Long Beach went to Indycar, and the less said about Caesar's Palace, the better.

Was Formula One in the US dead after 1988?

Not if anything to say about it, Phoenix has.

Yup, Phoenix of all places stepped in to host the USGP - returning to that name - in 1989. This event actually lasted three years despite triple digit summer heat, a disintegrating track surface, and an uninspired layout threatening to confine the track to the same fate as Dallas.

Alain Prost won in 1989, Senna won in 1990 and 1991.

Ecclestone initially promised the promoters the Phoenix Grand Prix would be held again on March 15th, 1992, but instead, the race was cancelled.

Formula One would not return to the US until 2000.

Tony George, in his quest to make the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the top racing venue in the country, brought NASCAR to IMS in 1994, and in 2000, he created an infield road course. This infield road course has become the home of sports car racing at Indianapolis, hosts an Indycar race ahead of the 500, and has in the past hosted MotoGP, NASCAR, and F1.

This was great, right? Formula One was back in the US and it was at the same place which hosted all those world championship rounds in the 1950s. F1 had finally reconciled Indianapolis with its road racing nature. Could this finally be how the USGP finds a stable home in the United States?

Well, it was going pretty good...up until 2005.

The oval had been diamond ground when it was repaved ahead of 2005. Bridgestone - the tyre supplier of Ferrari, Jordan, and Minardi - knew this, as they owned Firestone, which supplied the IRL Indycar Series with tyres, as it does with Indycar now.

Michelin, who supplied the rest of the grid...did not.

And Ralf Schumacher crashed in practice for the second time in two years. On a Michelin-clad Toyota.

Then Ricardo Zonta stepped in to replace Ralf...and he crashed as well.

The Michelin tyres couldn't take the oval corners, which formed the big final corner of the IMS Road Course. The Michelin teams tried to find a solution - whether that be a chicane, allowing pitstops, or using a different specification of tyre.

In the end, the FIA and Michelin could not come up with a compromise.

And in Indiana State Law, if Michelin let its teams race and something happened, they could be held criminally liable.

Thus, the Michelin teams pulled out of the race.

A six-car farce of a race then occurred between the Bridgestone teams as the fans booed and jeered.

All of IMS's good will in F1 evaporated.

After 2006 and 2007, the USGP disappeared.

An attempt was made to create an American Grand Prix in Port Imperial, New Jersey with the cars racing under the shadow of the New York skyline, but after years of trying this never got off the ground.

Instead, in 2012, the USGP found its modern home in COTA. Circuit of the Americas weathered the storm of some truly awful attendances in the mid-2010s - including a soggy and awful 2015 where the teams hardly got any running ahead of the race - to rebound and become one of the most highly attended races in history by the 2020s.

In 2022, the USGP at Austin was joined by the Miami Grand Prix in Miami Gardens, Florida. A flashy, exclusive race around the Hard Rock Stadium where the Dolphins play. This race saw Lando Norris take his maiden Grand Prix victory in 2024, kicking off a return to form for McLaren.

2023 added the Las Vegas Grand Prix, taking the idea of the Caesar's Palace Grand Prix to the next level. Rather than racing around a parking lot in the day, they raced down the strip at night under the lights of fabulous Las Vegas.

Miami and Las Vegas are considered grossly expensive and exclusive races meant to milk the US market, and maybe they are, but as an F1 fan in the United States, I used to dream of times like this.

We have three races, all hundreds of miles apart to give some decent coverage throughout the country, and I'd argue each one brings a different vibe.

Miami is all pastel colors and white awnings.

Las Vegas is the neon lights with the cars ripping down the Strip.

Austin is the larger than life red, white, and blue Americana that suits the main race.

I have many, many, many, many, many problems with the state of Formula One nowadays. I have many weeks of negative blogposts to prove that, but I'll never say that Formula One has too many races in the United States.

Las Vegas is as far from Miami as Madrid is from Moscow.

I know Europe is the home of Grand Prix racing, but as this has shown...the US has plenty of history too.

So onto Austin for the 2024 United States Grand Prix, with Formula One looking to be in a more competitive place than it was at this time a year ago.

[gryphon1232]

DRS Universe Info Post

Hey all! This is going to be a long post, and it's going to break down a lot of my work on the universe!

🛑What is the DRS Universe?

The DRS Universe is a connected fictional Formula One-centric universe. The history of the sport generally follows the real world counterpart, and for the most part, the world is kept as similar to the real world as possible, but things such as sponsors, drivers, teams, wins and events throughout the history of the sport are brand new.

🛑General Info/Q&A:

🛑Why does the DRS Universe Exist? I'm a very big fan of F1 and of Writing, and I wanted to mix those things together and write an F1-Based novel. I'm also a fan of creating OC's and having more control over what I write, so it was only natural that I'd make my own teams and drivers. That expanded to stuff like sponsors and some brands and companies in the universe, etc. I tried to keep the broader strokes of the sports history accurate to the real world as well, but I made new, fictional historic drivers, events, dates, etc. 🛑What is the current season? The current season as of the novel I'm currently working on (shunted) is 2023! 🛑What is Shunted about? Shunted focuses Lance Adams and Alexandre Lareaux, enemies-and-rivals turned teammates. It follows them as they navigate the 2023 season, and even worse for both of them depending on how you look at it, their newfound friendship and possible romance. 🛑Why are there 11 teams? Because more teams + more drivers + more cars on track = more fun. Also, because I wanted 11 teams, and it's my universe.

🛑What are the teams?

(This is a list based vaguely on each teams' performance throughout the 2022 season.)

Delphi Voltage Racing

Aurelia ABM F1 Team

Scuderia Rossetti

McGrath Racing

Hayworth Moore F1 Team

Cautiline-Aimé

Reinvoire GP

Pearsons Racing

Scuderia AltairShock

Modena-Roth

Hurst F1 Team

🛑Who are the drivers for the 2023 season?

(Drivers names are listed, followed by their driver number, nationality, age, birthdate, height, and first season in F1. If something hasn't been decided yet, there will be a "TBD" in that section, if a driver has won a WDC, there will be an "🏆" following their name.)

Delphi Voltage Racing:

Felix Akerson 20 • Swedish • 23 • TBD • TBD • 2020 Kennedy Grant 14 • American • 20 • TBD • TBD • 2023

Aurelia ABM F1 Team:

Annika Becker 🏆 33 • German • 37 • TBD • TBD • 2006 Émilien Rousseau 6 • French • 41 • TBD • TBD • 2001

Scuderia Rossetti:

Alexandre Lareaux 11 • Monégasque • 25 • 8/26/1998 • 5'9 • 2017 Lance Adams - 🏆 5 • British • 25 • 12/29/1998 • 5'11 • 2016

McGrath Racing:

Noah Landvin 8 • Belgian • 23 • 6/4/2000 • 5'7 • 2019 Jack Palmer 47 • Kiwi • 21 • TBD • TBD • 2022

Hayworth Moore F1 Team

Scarlette LaRosa 50 • Spanish • 22 • TBD • TBD • 2022 Beatrice Camelio 88 • Italian • 21 • TBD • TBD • 2022

Cautiline-Aimé

Connor O’Riley 77 • Irish • 26 • TBD • TBD • 2016 Owen Lancaster 76 • American • 20 • TBD • TBD • 2023

Reinvoire GP

Benjamin Accardi 4 • Australian • 32 • 5/24/1991 • 6'0 • 2013 Mateo Vassallo 44 • Mexican • 24 • 5/17/1999 • 5'8 • 2017

Pearsons Racing

Giang Mai Linh 99 • Vietnamese • 25 • TBD • TBD • 2018 Vincent Fortin 28 • Canadian • 25 • TBD • TBD • 2017

Scuderia AltairShock

Matthew Coleman 16 • British • 19 • TBD • TBD • 2022 Toru Kajima 81 • Japanese • 18 • TBD • TBD • 2023

Modena-Roth

Cláudio Amaral - 🏆 21 • Brazilian • 43 • 8/17/1980 • 5'7 • 2000 Marco De Caro 61 • Italian • 24 • 1/19/1999 • 6'0 • 2018

Hurst F1 Team

Martijn Van Hall 24 • Dutch • 36 • TBD • TBD • 2009 Charles Stafford 58 • British • 42 • TBD • TBD • 2001

🛑What about some of the drivers not on the 2023 F1 Grid in DRS?

Well I definitely have plenty of them too! (Drivers will be grouped by their Racing Series. Their names will be listed, followed by their nationality, age, birthdate, height, and Team. If something hasn't been decided yet, there will be a "TBD" in that section.)

Formula Two:

Willem Van Hall Dutch • 19 • TBD • TBD • Van Eyck Racing Theo Vermund Danish • 17 • TBD • TBD • Corsa Vesuvio Dante Elia Bianco Sammarinese • 18 • 7/28/2005 • 5'7 • Corsa Vesuvio Andreas Castellanos Greek • 20 • TBD • TBD • Gladiolus Motorsport Paige Rosenberg American • 21 • 10/8/2002 • 5'4 • Apex Astra Ronan Fitzgerald American • 19 • 6/15/2004 • 5'8 • Apricus Racing

F1 Academy:

Natalie Durand French • 22 • TBD • TBD • TBD Ava Martin American • 18 • TBD • TBD • TBD Leora Stavriani Greek • 20 • TBD • TBD • TBD

Formula E:

Colin Tremblay Canadian • 31 • TBD • TBD • TBD Carlos Vergara Ecuadorian • 25 • TBD • TBD • TBD

IndyCar:

Daniel Aimé American • 29 • TBD • TBD • Aimé Motorsports Michael Lancaster American • 22 • TBD • TBD • Aimé Motorsports Diego Rivera Mexican • 25 • TBD • TBD • TBD Oscar Elgaard Danish • 27 • TBD • TBD • TBD

I leave you with this little piece of art/graphic design I did to introduce my drivers!

The Results of the 2023 Formula 1 Chronex Australian Grand Prix:

[gaiassecretsportsdiary]

Logan Sargeant: What Went Wrong? Part 1

{Another multi-part series }

Today, let's talk about Logan Sargeant. The only American driver on the grid right now. Possibly the most disappointing performance for a driver in a while. So, what happened?

Logan Hunter Sargeant, born Decemeber 31, 2000, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Mallika Sarabhai & Daniel Sargeant. He has one older brother Dalton Sargeant.

Karting

Logan began his motorsport career in karting in 2008. In his first year of karting, Logan had competed in the Rotax Micro Max class in the regional & national championships. He finished third in the Florida Winter Tour & the Rotax Max Challenge USA. In 2012, Logan & his family would move to Europe, where he would go on to compete in the ROK Cup International Final, the Trofeo Delle Industrie & the WSK Euro Series, where he competed in the OK class.

Formula 4

In the winter of 2016-2017, Sargeant made his Formula 4 debut in the Formula 4 UAE Championship with Team Motopark. While he didn't win, he was on the podium in 15 of the 18 official races & finished second in the standings behind his teammate Jonathan Aberdein. In 2017, Logan joined the racing team Carlin to compete in the F4 British Championship. He had amassed 10 podium finishes in 30 races, with two race wins at Rockingham & Silverstone, even finishing third in standings behind Oscar Piastri & his teammate & champion Jamie Caroline.

Formula Renault Eurocup

In 2018, Logan made a full-time switch to the Formula Renault Eurocup with R-ace GP. He won the season-opening race at Circuit Paul Ricard & he would later add victories at the Nürburgring & the season finale at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. With 218 points, Logan finished fourth in the championship behind Yifei Ye, Christian Lundgaard & his teammate & champion Max Fewtrell, yet he finished ahead of his teammates Victor Martin & Charles Milesi. Logan was the second-highest placed rookie that season, behind Christian Lundgaard.

[toasttt11]

oscar bedard

Oscar Leo Bedard

Number: 98

Season: Sixith

Position: C

Height: 6”3

Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia

S/C: R

NHL: NJD

Prev Team: VAN

NHL

The first overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft to the New Jersey Devils.

International

Team Canada

•2023 World Championship- Gold, 11 G, 11 A, 8 GP

•2022 World Championship- Silver, 8 G, 13 A, 8 GP

•2022 World Junior Championship- Gold, 10 G, 12 A, 8 GP

•2021 World Championship- Gold, 12 G, 11 A, 8 GP

•2019 World Championship- Silver, 9 G, 10 A, 8 GP

•2018 World Junior Championship- Gold, 9 G, 10 A, 8 GP

•2017 World Junior Championship- Silver, 8 G, 9 A, 7 GP

•2016 World U-18 Hockey Challenge-Gold Medal, 8 G, 9 A, 7 GP

•2015 World U-17 Hockey Challenge- Gold Medal, 8 G, 8 A, 6 GP

Sixth Season (2023-2024)

New Jersey Devils

60 G, 72 A, 132 P, 72 GP

Alternative Captain.

Fifth Season (2022-2023)

New Jersey Devils

55 G, 70 A, 125 P, 82 GP

Alternative Captain.

Fourth Season (2021-2022)

New Jersey Devils

45 G, 69 A, 114 P, 82 GP

Signed a 88 million dollar contract for 8 years

Alternative Captain.

Third Season (2020-2021)

New Jersey Devils

32 G, 50 A, 82 P, 70 GP

Alternative Captain.

Second Season (2019-2020)

New Jersey Devils

30 G, 40 A, 70 P, 56 GP

Rookie Season (2018-2019)

New Jersey Devils

27 G, 25 A, 52 P, 68 GP

Received the Rookie of the Year award.

Signed a Contract for 12 Million dollars for three years.

WHL

Vancouver Giants

(2017-2018)

72 G, 71 A, 143 P, 55 GP

Four Broncos Trophy.

Bob Clarke Trophy.

CHL Player of the year.

Draft Year.

Vancouver Giants

(2016-2017)

65 G, 70 A, 135 P, 54 GP

Four Broncos Trophy.

Bob Clarke Trophy.

CHL Player of the year.

Vancouver Giants

(2015-2016)

50 G, 65 A, 115 P, 54 GP

Exceptional status.

Jim Piggot Memorial Trophy.

Bob Clarke Trophy.

Rookie of the Year.

Personal

• Born August 9, 2000

• Son of Melanie and Tom

• Has a sister Madi and a brother Connor

[wigglesforonce]

continueing my spreadsheet research from yesterday, but pre 2000s edition (which means much harder info to find rip)

micheal schumacher standing in the middle of some grass (??), 1998 spanish gp

beautiful photo of a williams apparently (i didnt know they ran a red livery), 1998 monaco gp

i think ive seen this situation before, 1998 monaco gp

mika hakkinen doing.. something, 1998 spanish gp

corinna schumacher being a darling, 1998 german gp

beautiful picture of a pitstop, 1999 malaysian gp

damon hill (wearing a white plastic overall for somerason?) on a dodgem, 1999 british gp

a baby jenson button spotted, 1999 post season barcelona testing

the fashion legend himself michael schumacher, 1999 australian gp

its very weird seeing merc and and rbr on the same car, 1999 sauber illustration

[scotianostra]

On July 30th 2003 Multi race winning Motorcyclist, Robert Steven ‘Hizzy’ Hislop died.

Hislop was from a close knit, Scottish Borders family. He grew up in the village of Chesters near the town of Hawick with his father Sandy, mother Margaret and younger brother Garry [his best friend]. Sandy encouraged his boys to be enthusiastic about competitive motorcycling and take up racing.

However his father died when Steve was 17, then Garry was killed in a racing accident at Silloth circuit in 1982 aged 19, Steve’s enthusiasm waned and he slumped into an alcohol fuelled depression.

However, a trip to the TT races in 1983 inspired him, and he decided to compete there, with his first win in the 1987 TT Formula 2 Race on a Yamaha.

He went on to become the fourth most successful TT rider of all time with a total of 11 wins, including four victories in the senior race - the TT’s premier event. In total, he took the podium an incredible 19 times. But for many domestic fans, the victory held most dear is his win on the rotary-engined Norton in 1992 - the last time an all-British machine won a TT.

Unlike a lot of TT specialists, Hislop was also extremely good on conventional racing circuits and was tipped by many for world championship success. When he won the British 250cc Supercup for Honda in 1990, everything looked set for a glittering career in grand prix, following his countryman Niall Mackenzie.

But promise was never turned into reality, and he never marketed himself in a way which would secure a GP ride. Later, he expressed regret that he had not contracted a personal manager, who could have directed his talents on the bike into a career off it.

He was twice British superbike champion and also won in world superbike and world endurance racing. Hislop excelled at endurance racing and was world champion in 1993 - but again didn’t capitalise on this success.

Much of the problem lay with his dual personality. With race fans he was often the most charming, accessible and easy-going of all his generation of riders. However, he was often difficult for teams - despite his astonishing skill on the track.

Even after winning the 2002 British superbike championship, Monster Mob Ducati team owner Paul Bird did not renew his contract, and Hislop was fired from the Virgin Mobile Yamaha team in July of this year - and mid-season sackings of a team’s lead rider are rare occurrences.

Injuries did not help his career either. In a miraculous escape, he broke his neck at the 2000 world superbike round at Brands Hatch and then, unaware of the seriousness of his injuries, discharged himself from hospital. In 2002, he suffered horrendous injuries when a safety fence lifted and he hit a solid barrier behind it. Despite this enormous setback, he went on to win the 2002 British superbike championship.

Conscious of the fact that his racing career was coming to a close, Hislop had been taking helicopter flying lessons with the aim of becoming a commercial helicopter pilot.

On July 30th 2003 Hislop crashed his hewlicopter just eight minutes after leaving a friend’s home in Hawick to fly solo back to Buckinghamshire.

Steve has two statues in his memory, one on The Isle of Man, the other at Wilton Lodge Park in Hawick. He has two, £2 coins that were struck by the royal mint in 2019 to mhonour him.

There is a cairn near Teviothead close tothe scene of the helicopter crash, it reads……

The last pic is a cairn near Teviothead, the scene of the helicopter crash, it reads……

'Hizzy’ This cairn was built by a few friends of Steve Hislop, British Superbike Champion, who was tragically killed in a helicopter accident near this site, on July 30th 2003.

Kind permission was granted by His Grace The Duke of Buccleuch.

[whoregaylorenzo]

hey friends :) we are about to do a rewatch of the british gp 2000 in the server, if anyone wants to join x

[charlenasaxen]

Favorite Quotes - Total Competition by Ross Brawn

“come up against the powerful new Ferrari organization which includes Michael Schumacher and a new technical team led by Brawn”

“theoretically that, at that speed, they could drive along upside down and stick to the ceiling”

“an F1 driver who lifts his foot off the throttle will decelerate as quickly as a Porsche 911 driver doing an emergency brake”

“If anyone can claim to have created and mastered ‘Total Formula One’, it is Ross Brawn”

“Imagine if you are the fifth fastest runner in the world and someone comes up with the idea of cloning Usain Bolt a few times”

“the first race win for Williams since 2004 and coinciding with Frank Williams’ 70th birthday.”

“then at Benetton in the mid-1990s, Ferrari through the early 2000s and finally with his own team, Brawn GP, in 2009. So, Ross has won 24 Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles”

“sure enough, the team he put together has been untouchable since”

“With the notable exception of Adrian Newey, other technical directors and Team Principals have not been able to keep up as well”

“I thought I would do a year in motor racing and see how it goes.”

“and I said, ‘Well, it’s more professional than putting the ratios in wrong.”

“It was a great year, Monaco, Austria, Monza, plus the British championship. It was pretty busy”

“we got married in that year. She came to some of the races. Great fun.”

“I went back, saw Jean and calmed down and then ended up staying for seven years.”

“A Not bad. Has anyone done better?

R I don’t know. I never added them up.”

“rode a horse and cart through the rules and came up with a car that was three or four seconds quicker”

“In ’91 we’d been very aware of this hot little German driver who we were battling with”

“he was the only one who ever gave us any trouble. So Tom and I knew Michael Schumacher very well.”

“because Michael was our boy.”

“We had this complete commitment to Michael winning the championship. We considered him to be our best opportunity and that proved to be the case.”

“Luca, Ross’s poodle, who is of course named after Luca di Montezemolo”

“Michael was extremely well rewarded because he was the best at what he did, but I’m convinced he would have done it for a fraction of what he was being paid”

“I remember when Jos Verstappen, Max’s dad, was the hot number in Formula One”

“We told Flavio that we were not going to accept his deal. So Flavio backed off and we went into battle”

“Michael had a blind spot, he was so competitive he didn’t see things the way you or I would”

“And I said, ‘Calm down Michael and have a look at the TV.’ And he calmed down and had a look”

“If you were racing Michael Schumacher, you knew you’ve got no quarter. If he saw a gap, if you left an inch, he would take a foot”

“And he said, ‘No, it wasn’t too close because he got through.”

“’95 was the year Michael announced he was leaving. That was a pretty bitter blow to me. I had been very close to Michael”

“I didn’t speak to Tom for quite a long time after that. It wasn’t until he was very ill, before he died”

“they had had some quality issues so they had taken the head of quality control from Fiat and put him in”

“We really established what could be done with a Formula One car. We had, I think, 53 consecutive podiums.”

“Years ago, if Ferrari won, I would be out on the town, celebrating with my friends. Now you’ve made it normal.”

“For five years we won every race and it was predictable”

“Michael charged up the field, because he was so much faster than anyone else…he set off from the pits, and unlapped himself from everyone, and he finished fourth”

“they included the 2007 car, because they said very graciously that it was mine.”

“our mindset was not to have much sympathy when the perpetrators of the one-race tyre had a problem”

“There are three religions in Italy, of which football and Ferrari are two”

“When I went back in 2014, Luca put on a royal tour for all my friends. There were tears flowing and fabulous memories.”

“And I said, ‘Richard, our relationship has just taken a step back.’ ‘Who’s that?’ he said. ‘It’s Ross, I’m here.”

“they are the ones for whom the battle was so easy that no one even remembers them”

“I would ring Michael up and say, ‘Can you be here tomorrow?’ ‘Yep. What time?’ Never any hesitation”

“And Michael was in the lead and he was setting the fastest times, lap after lap”

“it was like the two of you were in a couple of armchairs in front of the fire just chatting. Meanwhile, he is driving at a level that most people couldn’t imagine. Purple, purple, purple.”

“It didn’t really physically strain him. We would be having a conversation the same way that we are now”

“they would be very breathless, trying to get the words out in between pants of breath. He never did that. He also never seemed to sweat that much”

“you would go on the podium and there would be two drivers there almost unable to stand up and Michael would be jumping around”

“God, what on earth is this creature we’re competing with?”

“two fingers up to the other drivers. ‘Not only am I testing, I am going in the gym at night and working out.”

“I would be lucky if Ralf and Juan Pablo spend together as much time in a gym in a week as Michael does in a day.’”

“very few of them actually push it to the level that Schumacher did”

“eventually all the holes line up somewhere and the arrow shoots through them”

“the intention of the regulation and the application of the regulation may be different things”

“I would think, ‘Great, how are we going to take advantage of this?”

“The perception from the outside is that with Jean, Rory, Michael, you had a bulletproof team”

“It is not your name on the tin because you aren’t there – which is very galling”

“I met them together to have it out with them. And they both pointed to each other . . .”

“Now they are suing each other.”

“Yes. At least we didn’t get to that!”

“if you want to be ultimately successful you have to build trusting relationships”

“however everyone felt, people would have known that you were the architect”

“Going for a meal with Niki and Toto was good fun. Then knowing that you couldn’t trust them, you couldn’t lean on them, was a problem.”

“But one is the alliances that you described. I had a reputation for being close to the FIA”

“Was it intelligence or instinct? I was stunned that anyone has the capacity to decide that they are going to park their car during qualifying in Monaco”

“we were pretty straight up with him: ‘Bernie, we don’t want to work for you.’”

“Dead simple to get round it. Instead, Dieter got Niki Lauda involved because Bernie suggested Niki.”

“But neither Niki nor Bodo had much of an idea what to do. So they would keep leaving the meeting and ringing me.”

“Bernie never imagined in a million years that Mercedes would earn it – but they achieved it”

“He will go and meet his maker one day, but no one has managed to depose him. There is no higher authority.”

“I couldn’t feel comfortable not to at least raise it. When it was raised everyone said, ‘Up yours.’ I thought, ‘Thank God for that.”

“you have a track record of getting out there and quietly doing it.”

“if we’d all said, ‘Right, you can have half an hour in my garage’, it would be a lot more efficient”

“Toyota had the double diffuser. Would they have won that case if they were fighting it by themselves?”

“You want a highly paid technical guy working on the car, not trying to figure out how to get his furniture from Italy”

“just that process of sitting down with everyone on a regular basis helped to drive things along.”

“one of the greatest gifts I could give someone was to ask them to represent the team on the podium”

“The only one I ever wanted to definitely do for myself in latter years was Monaco in my last year”

“I knew I was leaving by then. It was a special race with Nico. I’d been there when his dad had won it with Williams”

“To enjoy success with people. To enjoy it as a team meant much more to me than individual success”

“Michael Schumacher was very much the same. He wanted to enjoy that victory as a group.”

“even extended to him organizing football matches on a Thursday night, a five-a-side game with all the team”

“you all know Matt, we’ve all relied on him for years. He’s made one mistake. Support him while he gets over it”

“Pat wouldn’t have done that just for the sake of winning a race. It’s not worth it. So there must have been other circumstances”

“after Michael and I won our first race together”

“He was very good with the drivers. He was very close to Michael.”

“Tom and I had a serious fallout, but we made up in the end. Jean Todt would never have spoken to Tom for the rest of his life.”

“I wouldn’t use a calculator, I would just ask Jean what XYZ × B was, and he would give me an answer”

“Jean was very successful at Ferrari, because he was determined to get the best people. He got Michael for a start.”

“He would come to me and say, ‘You know, Michael’s a little bit upset about this”

“And I would think at first, ‘Why didn’t Michael tell me?’ But then you realize that sometimes people find it difficult”

“the various elements, all the subterfuge in the teams – it’s just a great cocktail.”

“The men choose their machines. They have put themselves in a position to win”

“Put it into Formula One and five months later they have got an answer.”

“or (on one occasion) a helicopter flight from Nice airport to Monte Carlo. Ross just made the effort to be friendly and good company.”

“Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death”

“not to pursue quantity at the expense of quality. Scale creates additional challenges.”

“Intelligence is the ability to shape the world around us and strategy is how we go about it”

“Total competition requires a complete, integrated and inclusive process”

“Michael Schumacher is a very special person to me on a professional and human level. We pray for his recovery.”

[backupherewego]

WORKING AT BRAWN GP (James part)

2/14, 2011

Name: James Vowles Job Title: Race Strategy Engineer Age: 30 Lives: Oxford Hobbies: Motorbikes, Motorsport, Mountain Biking

Q. What studies did you complete before you worked in Formula One?

A. I wasn't entirely sure where I wanted to go in life when I was younger. I can say I was studious as most of my school reports stated James is clearly very intelligent, when he applies himself! I completed most of my education in Geneva at an International School and at about 16 years old, I started to dedicate myself a bit more, particularly enjoying Maths, Physics and Computing. This led me to return to the UK to study Computer Science at the University Of East Anglia as a stepping stone until I figured out where I was destined. I had done my fair share of karting to this point and loved motorsport. When I was growing up Sundays were mostly spent watching Formula One races with a friend who truly was like a brother to me. Until that point I considered motorsport a far fetched dream and after sending out CVs to all the F1 teams, with zero positive results (including one CV actually sent back to me!), I decided to dedicate my life to both getting into and then being successful in F1. I started working weekends at Snetterton Race Circuit, which was near my University, with Formula Ford and GT teams, building up both experience and contacts, until I finished my degree in 2000. From there, I was one of 20 students lucky enough to be selected for the first Cranfield University MSc in Motorsport Engineering course. The course was a baptism of fire, with the other 19 students being of extremely high calibre, all with Engineering backgrounds, most of who now work in either F1 or GP2. In September 2001 I graduated with a distinction, picking up a Prodrive award for the design of a school racing car.

Q. Where did you work before Brawn GP?

A. In terms of motorsport, I started where all budding engineers should – scrapping rubber from GT racing slicks in a cold garage on a Sunday morning! When I was still doing my MSc in 201, Ray Rowan, who ran successful FIA Sportcars and F3 teams, gave me my first engineering role. I started as the Data Engineer for the F3 team and after a few months Ray felt comfortable enough to let me run the programme and engineer the car

from then onwards. That same year I became the Senior Race Engineer on their Le Mans programme, taking the Pilbeam LM675 car to Le Mans. In 2001, I applied for an Assistant Race Engineer position with British American Racing, and whilst I wasn抰 accepted for that role, I made enough of an impression for a new role to be created, and my first goal of entering Formula One was achieved. In 2002, I started work on a Race Strategy system and shortly afterwards joined the Race Engineering department and started travelling to the races. My role has expanded over the years combining Race Engineering duties, Friday car running with Anthony Davidson as our third driver in 2004 and 2006 and of course Race Strategy. In 2008 I was privileged enough to start working with Ross Brawn and we haven looked back since.

Q. Describe your job on a day-to-day basis?

A. Prior to each race, I gather all the historical data, patterns (traffic, overtaking, track changes) and team performance data. Brawn GP has a number of custom simulation packages which we run to ensure that we gain a good understanding of the running plan for the weekend and the estimated tyre performance, highlighting any potential problems and considerations. During Friday we will build a picture on our competitors performance, tyre usage, weaknesses and strengths. I work closely with the senior race engineers to ensure we get the most out of our car and modify the run plans if required during sessions. The Friday data then allows us to determine a qualifying plan including which tyre compounds and in what order and just as importantly, the final qualifying fuel figure. We always create several plans, depending on where our competitors are relative to us in each qualifying session. On Sunday morning Ross and I sit down and discuss all of the potential race scenarios and plan actions for various events such as safety car deployment and accidents. This planning is the key to solid race strategy as we may only have a matter of seconds to react to incidents on track. During the race, the decisions we make are what order to run the tyre compounds, what the next stop lap will be, what to do in case on safety cars on every lap, who we are fighting, and what we can do to defend or beat them. We are continuously updating the driver with his targets, both lap time and position to allow them to manage their tyres and the gaps to other cars around and ultimately their pace. Following the race I will analyse all of the decisions and data gathered from the event, understand what we did right, and what we could have done differently and improved on. This analysis is then used to build a further understanding with regards to our competitors for the following event.

Q. What do you like about working in Formula One?

A. Formula One is unique – it's my passion, my hobby, my life. Outside of the race weekend, the entire team is trying to work harder, faster and better than the nine other teams to ensure that by the next race, we do a better job than them. The business solely

focuses on a single event, which lasts around two hours roughly every other week, where the result of hard work and dedication can be seen the world over. The other aspect is the reactivity of Brawn GP and how quickly we can react to other competitors, rule changes, and problems. We are able to draw, manufacture and run components that were first discussed only a few weeks ago.

Q. What's the best thing about working for Brawn GP?

A. For me, it's all about the people you work with, the team work, the development. The race engineering group has been together for a long time and is very close which makes for a great working environment. I think it抯 fair to say the engineers spend nearly as much time together as we do with our respective partners! The other reason is Ross Brawn who has changed the way we work together as a team. It's a privilege to work alongside him during a race weekend.

Q. What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?

A. The first challenge is making a strategic decision during qualifying or the race, sometimes in just a few seconds, based on as little or as much data you have available at that time. The difference between making a good or bad decision can be as much as several positions by the end of the race and therefore having the most accurate data possible at all times is key to this. The second is managing driver expectation and performance over a race weekend. During the race the goal is to work with the engineers to give the driver targets to hit, manage his pace, and keep an eye on your competitors to understand both their performance and usage of tyres.

Q. What has been the best moment of the 2009 season so far?

A. There have been several. The first would be when we took the BGP 001 car to Silverstone watching Jenson drive a few laps to ensure all was well before we shipped the car to its first test. The relief from where the team was just a few months ago was indescribable. However my best moment in 2009 was, without question, Monaco. A one- two result from Jenson and Rubens is an incredible achievement. More specifically from a strategic perspective, we had the right strategy, putting the cars first and third on the grid. We managed a difficult tyre situation and reacted quickly to the dynamic race to bring the cars home first and second. At the end of the race I was standing just next to the podium, Ross Brawn just behind me with his elbows on my shoulders watching Jenson running down the straight after leaving his car in Parc Ferme. It's a memory that will stay with me forever.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 5.2 (after 1960)

1963 – Berthold Seliger launches a rocket with three stages and a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) near Cuxhaven. It is the only sounding rocket developed in Germany. 1964 – Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the American aircraft carrier USNS Card while it is docked at Saigon. Two Viet Cong combat swimmers had placed explosives on the ship's hull. She is raised and returned to service less than seven months later. 1964 – First ascent of Shishapangma, the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the Eight-thousanders. 1969 – The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City. 1970 – ALM Flight 980 ditches in the Caribbean Sea near Saint Croix, killing 23. 1972 – In the early morning hours a fire breaks out at the Sunshine Mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho, killing 91 workers. 1982 – Falklands War: The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano. 1986 – Chernobyl disaster: The City of Chernobyl is evacuated six days after the disaster. 1989 – Cold War: Hungary begins dismantling its border fence with Austria, which allows a number of East Germans to defect. 1995 – During the Croatian War of Independence, the Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina fires cluster bombs at Zagreb, killing seven and wounding over 175 civilians. 1998 – The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy. 1999 – Panamanian general election: Mireya Moscoso becomes the first woman to be elected President of Panama. 2000 – President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military. 2004 – The Yelwa massacre concludes. It began on 4 February 2004 when armed Muslims killed 78 Christians at Yelwa, Nigeria. In response, about 630 Muslims were killed by Christians on May 2. 2008 – Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Burma killing over 138,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless. 2008 – Chaitén Volcano begins erupting in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people. 2011 – Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI's most wanted man, is killed by the United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. 2011 – An E. coli outbreak strikes Europe, mostly in Germany, leaving more than 30 people dead and many others are taken ill. 2012 – A pastel version of The Scream, by Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, sells for $120 million in a New York City auction, setting a new world record for a work of art at auction. 2014 – Two mudslides in Badakhshan, Afghanistan, leave up to 2,500 people missing.

[wildandmoody]

Seriously the way the press starting doing a complete 180 on him into Tabloid Hell post-Thriller is just so convenient. I mean before they were praising him for being a goody two-shoes, looking and dressing modestly, and generally were fine with cornering his music into the Black music market only. But once he reinvented the short film/music video as a medium AND pushed and pushed until he was the first Black artist to be featured and circulated on MTV (and I'm certain similar music channels around the world), starting breaking chart records that only white artists had held, and had a truly universal appeal by the time he started touring for Bad, all of a sudden up jumped the bullshit.

Suddenly here came the same "he's gay/childish/virginal" fingerpointing that he had to address since fucking 1976. Here comes "he's a deviant ew" just because he started dancing and dressing more provocatively in 1987 as if musicians that same decade and before weren't also wearing buckles, O-rings and shin guards and doing god knows what on stage. By the time he spoke up about having vitiligo universalis it was too late and ppl were already saying he wanted to be white and thought he was lying. To this day ppl think that including a lot of fellow Black ppl despite his autopsy report and plenty of pics of brown flecks and spots on his skin being available. Suddenly it's "he's weirdly obsessed with kids" when he had been donating his concert proceeds directly to and visiting orphanages and hospitals since he himself was a CHILD in the jackson 5 days, and literal radio silence on campaigns he directly funded for mandela's anti-apartheid campaign, AIDS research, women's rights, gang-related issues and hundreds of other causes. And that's just on the causes that i can think of off the top of my head that we know about, because he also gave millions of dollars anonymously and directly supported many individuals by buying food and appliances and covering travel costs for them. Radio silence from the news and gp.

Andthe most damning of all as far as I'm concerned is the fact that he swallowed his pride and gave up on his Reclusive Image in the 2000s specifically so that he could call out the racist soul-crushing tendencies of the music industry, in particular Tom Motolla and Sony as a whole, and how it affected him and his Black peers. Which of course media tried to spin as a personal beef and not a race-related one. THE EXACT DAY that he was set to release one last compilation album for them and finally walk free while owning 50% of their publishings and all of his own masters (and the masters of older Black artists which he sold back to them for $1) ,and free of an oppressive music deal, up jump the allegations and now he had to fly his ass to LA to get both of his shoulders dislocated and get manhandled by the LAPD. The same day. How fucking convenient.

And look. This is not me saying that what happened to Michael was a pattern. It most certainly was not and there are plenty of truly dangerous men in power, this is a fact. I am not trying to circulate conspiracy theories but i am pointing out the shit that happened to him because of the target painted on his back. What i say in defense of Michael Jackson i say in confidence because at one point I had read every transcript , testimony, legal document available including his autopsy not because i liked him but because i needed to truly understand what the hell was going on. And ive read old newspapers and tabloids that covered him and they treated this man worse than an animal just based on how he presented himself alone. Matter of fact the name "Jacko" stems from an old British slang name for a dancing and singing boxing monkey that was popular in the 19th century, so that was based in racism too. It's just rhe Everything. And I'm also not saying that he never made mistakes or was a human person. He didn't really seem to be able to always surround himself with and trust the right people. But man oh man. Oh the Convenience.

[cocoartistwrites]

just spent 2000 quid on british gp tickets next year 💔 hamilton better win this race 😭 are you into f1?

Holy shit bestie that’s spenny! I’m not but best of luck to Ar Lewis x

[hjohn3]

The Broken System

Why Talk of “NHS Reform” Needs to be Treated with Suspicion

By Honest John

TALK OF A “CRISIS” in healthcare in the United Kingdom has been such a feature of the British news cycle for so long, it can be difficult sometimes to take it seriously. The National Health Service is frequently being described as attempting to deal with “infinite demand”; that its model of service delivery is locked into a byegone world of the 1950s and, frequently on the political Right, that the £180bn system is “unaffordable”. The fact that “winter crises”, once predictable annual events of pressure on emergency services and capacity, have become a continual phenomenon within NHS hospitals; that obtaining GP appointments has become, in certain areas of the country, a virtual impossibility; that elective waiting lists have surged to over 18 months and that ambulance response times have deteriorated markedly, are all held as “proof” that the current model of delivery for the NHS is unsustainable and “reform” is required. There is little that the government of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer’s Labour opposition agree on, but there seems to be a growing consensus that “reform” is the solution to the perceived falling apart of our once cherished system of healthcare. All this is compelling stuff, but when politicians achieve an unexpected unanimity on an issue, the wise person should approach what masquerades as a debate, with caution, and even suspicion.

The fact is that these assessments of the state of the NHS by lazy journalists, self serving commentators and bewildered politicians are simply not correct. The lie that NHS demand is “infinite” goes back at least 40 years and is usually propagated by the political and academic Right, who dislike both the lack of profit mechanisms within the British health system, but also, and more strongly, the comprehensive nature of the system. Because the NHS seeks to provide the full range of health services from primary and preventative care all the way to highly specialist tertiary surgery to all its citizens, this all encompassing offer is often conflated with an alleged limitless demand. This is simply untrue. While new treatments and technologies are developed by the NHS, there nonetheless remains a quantum of elective and emergency need that has remained fundamentally unaltered in the course of the NHS’ history: the variable has been the generosity of its funding settlements, its bed capacity, the robustness of its workforce planning, and the resourcing and co-ordination of social and residential and nursing care. These variables have been subject since 1948, to political decisions. What has changed over the last twenty years is a growing elderly population, suffering from a variety of long term conditions. It has been the system’s inability, and the political and structural choices made by successive governments, to adapt to this altered demand, that has brought the NHS close to tipping point.

The notion that the NHS continues, in the 21st century, to run an inflexible model of delivery designed in 1948 and therefore remains a slow moving centrally directed bureaucracy, akin to the former nationalised industries, is another false trope. Since 1948, the NHS has been formally reorganised on at least four occasions (1974; 1980; 1989 and 2012) and implicitly reorganised on a further two occasions (the 1983 implementation of “general management” and 2000 NHS Plan which reintroduced the internal market) and this does not include countless changes to clinical guidance, financial regimes and local restructurings. The biggest break with the 1948 model was the introduction by then Health Secretary Ken Clark of the first experiment in internal markets in 1989 after the publication of a White Paper curiously entitled Working For Patients, which introduced the principles of “purchased” or commissioned healthcare provided by (mainly) hospital services competing for service contracts. After briefly being abolished in 1997, the internal market returned with a vengeance under uber Blairite Health Secretary Alan Milburn before descending into the utter chaos of Andrew Lansley’s Health and Social Care Act of 2012, which extended markets, further broke up health systems, and extended competition to an almost dysfunctional level. If the NHS is “over managed” as so many politicians and newspapers now claim, it is due to a thirty four year experiment in trying to run socialised medicine on market lines, and the resultant competitive and disaggregated structures that still scar the health and social care system. These structures, despite some recent amelioration, continue to maintain unnecessary transactional costs and present constant barriers to integrated clinical care.

The claim that the NHS is “unaffordable” is perhaps the most pernicious of all. The U.K. is currently estimated to spend approximately a fifth less on healthcare per citizen than the EU average - exacerbated by over eleven years of austerity funding which saw NHS budgets rise by between 2% and 3% per annum, against an annual health service inflation increase of 5% every year, while social care budgets were cut by 40% between 2010 and 2020. If the health and social care system is “unaffordable” it is not for the want of trying by a Tory government to continually squeeze its real term resourcing. But despite this, the siren calls for “reform” from the Right get louder - with the suggestion of the introduction of fees for certain services or the establishment of an insurance model to replace the existing system of funding through direct taxation. The Labour response is equally confused and inadequate, focusing on symptoms rather than causes (Wes Streeting’s extolling the use of private sector capacity for elective care and Starmer’s musings about renegotiating the position of GPs as independent contractors to improve the availability of emergency appointments) and miss the point of just how broken health and social care has become after thirteen years of underfunding, witless restructuring and neglect by the Conservative government.

The fundamentals of how we got to the current crisis of provision are not hard to discern.

NHS vacancies currently stand at over 130,000, of which nearly 48,000 are nursing staff and 36,000 are GPs: this represents a vacancy rate of over 10%; in social care, the vacancy rate is approximately 100,000. One of the main reason that patients are waiting in A&E; are failing to be discharged from hospital; cannot obtain a GP appointment, and cannot obtain admission to a care home is that there are simply not enough people to see, treat and accommodate them. Austerity cuts to clinical training places, an effective abandonment of any meaningful workforce planning by the Cameron and May governments, the criminally negligent ending of nursing and other health professional bursaries and the idiocies of Brexit, which has choked off a reliable source of European clinical workers who were plugging the gap, are symptomatic of a Tory government that is incapable of running public services or foreseeing the consequences of its spending obsessed short term decisions. Health and social care austerity chickens have come home to roost and no amount of fee for service, insurance models or sacking of “pen pushers” will address this accumulated workforce deficit.

Similarly, the privatised nursing and care home model, introduced by the Thatcher governments, has finally run out of road. It has been accepted for some time that the demographic reality of an ageing and increasingly sick population is behind the pressures on acute hospital beds in terms of admissions, but the reason for gridlock in A&E and patients lying in the back of ambulances waiting to simply get into that overcrowded emergency department, is due to the inability of the hospital system to discharge patients who no longer require hospital care. Currently 12,000 patients occupying acute beds daily are in that category, almost 10% of acute capacity; just 43% of patients who could be discharged are being so each day. This is a result of the devastating cuts to social care budgets and the vacancy rates of social workers mentioned above, meaning discharge assessments and the allocation of social services support to patients, are continually delayed. As significant, however, is the impact that these same cuts have had on the ability of local authorities to pay care homes a sufficiently high tariff for them to be able to stay in business. The result has been the closure of between 12% and 16% of residential and nursing home beds between 2010 and 2021. This twin financial assault on social care and the care home sector for over a decade has resulted in the the logjam at the front door of every hospital in the land and the consequent disappearance of ambulances from our streets which is so terrifying the public. Reductions in staff and capacity can only go on for so long. In 2022 and 2023, the bottom has finally dropped out.

If the politicians and commentators are agreed that “reform” is now essential, here are a couple of suggestions as to where to start:

Expand training places for health and social care staff and introduce funded, serious workforce plans to meet the demographic changes facing society and implement them;

Nationalise the care home sector, invest in it, increase its capacity and introduce the National Care Service the cross party select committee recommended to the Labour government in 2009, and so ensure all citizens receive the long term care they need without financial disresss;

Make good the astounding loss of funding experienced by social care over the last decade and enable local authorities to help unblock hospital beds and meet their statutory responsibilities instead of continually having to make compromises or unacceptable choices.

Abolish the remnants of the NHS internal market structures and replace them with an integrated management model with clear tiers of local, intermediate and national governance to ensure consistent and equitable implementation of health policy across the country.

Fund the NHS and social care in line with inflation and pay its workers fairly and so improve recruitment and reduce the loss of disillusioned and exhausted staff.

Drop any “radical” notions of insurance based models, fees for service, reheated internal markets or an “increased role for the private sector”: none of these so-called solutions will put a single additional healthcare professional on a ward or open a single additional acute or care home bed. They are cynical and ideological distractions masquerading as new thinking.

The above arguably only scratches the surface of the work of repair now required after 13 years of social vandalism by the Tories, but it will have a greater chance of rescuing our broken system than any of the meandering policy proposals put forward by either a hapless Sunak or a triangulating Starmer. Nothing less will do if the U.K.’ s health and social care system is to become, once more, something approaching the envy of the world.

15th January 2023

[alexnewsweek]

Allegations of money laundering at Trump properties surface in U.S. hearing transcript

A U.S. congressional committee investigating President Donald Trump's links to Russia has heard testimony alleging the Trump Organization may have engaged in money laundering via properties bearing Mr. Trump's name, including the former Trump International Hotel and Tower in downtown Toronto.

The testimony – given to the House intelligence committee by Glenn Simpson, co-founder of the commercial intelligence firm Fusion GPS – follows statements attributed to Mr. Trump's former chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, who predicted the Trump-Russia investigation headed by special counsel Robert Mueller would zero in on allegations of money laundering.

Mr. Simpson's testimony also puts new focus on Mr. Trump's partner in the Toronto project, Russian-Canadian billionaire Alex Shnaider. Mr. Simpson told the committee Russian organized crime was under the influence of the country's security services and that Mr. Shnaider's father-in-law, Toronto resident Boris Birshtein, "is a very important figure in the history of the KGB-Mafia alliance."

The House committee heard the testimony in November and voted on Thursday to make transcripts of the two-day hearing public. Mr. Simpson's separate testimony to the Senate judiciary committee was also made public this month, but did not delve into Mr. Trump's Canadian dealings.

Mr. Simpson was viewed as a key witness because of his firm's role in hiring former British spy Christopher Steele to write an opposition research report on Mr. Trump that concluded members of the then-president candidate's inner circle had colluded with the Russian government during the 2016 election campaign. Mr. Steele's report also stated the Kremlin possessed compromising information about Mr. Trump that could make the President susceptible to blackmail.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized the Steele dossier, calling it "discredited and phony." Both he and the Kremlin have denied there was any collusion during the 2016 campaign.

Mr. Simpson defended Mr. Steele's work and said his own research – conducted after his firm was hired in early 2016 by political opponents of the then-long-shot Republican candidate – found Mr. Trump had a long and tangled relationship with rich Russians whom Mr. Simpson described as members of organized crime.

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In the early 2000s, Mr. Trump was being routinely rejected for bank loans in the United States – a serious problem for any real-estate developer. He was rescued, Mr. Simpson said, by "alternate financing" in the form of cash from rich Russians who signed agreements to purchase condo units in Trump-branded buildings in Toronto and elsewhere.

While many of those presale agreements were never consummated, Mr. Simpson said, the appearance they gave of high demand for the properties allowed the Trump Organization to raise credit it might otherwise have been denied.

"The guys connected to the Toronto project are Russian Mafia, too. And, in fact, there's Toronto-based Russian Mafia guys who are involved in the Panama project," Mr. Simpson said in his testimony, referring to the Trump Ocean Club in Panama City.

Both Mr. Birshtein and Mr. Shnaider, via his lawyer, have declined to answer questions from The Globe and Mail about their dealings with Mr. Trump. The two men are now estranged.

Mr. Simpson said it was well-known that Russia's top businessmen and organized crime bosses alike answered in the end to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "If people who seem to be associated with the Russian Mafia are buying Trump properties or arranging for other people to buy Trump properties, it does raise a question about whether they're doing it on behalf of the government," he said.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower, which stands at the corner of Bay and Adelaide streets in Toronto's financial district, was plagued by controversies from the moment Mr. Trump and Mr. Shnaider wielded shovels side by side to break ground on the project in 2007.

The hotel, which finally opened in 2012, faced lower-than-expected occupancy rates and lawsuits from disgruntled shareholders. It came under new management last year, which decided to take Mr. Trump's name off the building and rebrand it the Adelaide Hotel Toronto.