#by people who’ve worked in f1 for decades | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

formulatrash · 4 years ago

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feeling meh can you scream about jev aka cat.exe put in a human body/Sam/any electric child

Just cus I’ve been thinking about him this week I’m gonna talk about Really Great Bloke Alex Sims.

It frustrates me to no end that everyone seemed to have forgotten by race 3 in Berlin that Alex

a) won a race this season b) led the championship this season c) was only very narrowly behind Mitch and Antonio in the points after Marrakech

Alex Sims, like is Formula E. The first time I interviewed him was at like, Season 4 testing and he’d been trying to get into FE for YEARS and he was so much like you know it’s cool just to get to drive these cars, I’m a massive EV nerd, I run a green tech charity and I was like wait I fuckin recognise you from my past life as a charity data wrangler.

Anyway, he’s this like massively unassuming dude. He doesn’t come across haughty or ego-driven like some other drivers and he’s very keen to self-deprecate or deflect his achievements. So you wouldn’t know the bloke’s won in basically everything he’s ever competed in (I think WEC is the only one he didn’t, with Big M8′s tough Super Season) and is one of the most respected drivers among his peers.

He was never really on an F1 trajectory cus like a lot of the others who’ve ended up in Formula E (Alex Lynn, Olivers Turvey and Rowland) he was a Racing Steps Foundation kid as a junior driver so didn’t have the cash for extra testing and multiple series at once to shoot up the ladder. And he’s beavered away in sports cars for most of his career but also been such a reliable and agreeable driver that him and Max Guenther, who’s a decade younger than him, actually crossed paths in F3 because he was called in as a super-substitute.

There’re very few people as genuinely nice as Alex, he’s incredibly honest and earnest and everyone he works with has nothing but really high praise for him. He’s an unbelievably rapid and competitive driver and absolutely not unassuming or a pushover on-track but he’s really thoughtful and considered about things, genuinely left wing, genuinely earnest about wanting to improve the world. His corporate partnerships are with, say, glasses manufacturers that make their frames out of recycling reclaimed ocean plastic and he lives his values off-track, as well as talking about them when he’s at races.

He’s such a nice guy he bought me an Uber home from the Autosport Awards when I was verrrrrrry shitfaced (it had been a long week of compound hangovers) and has never let me give him the money back.

Also this clip of him eating biscuits is one of my favourite things ever. Coffee and a chocolate biscuit, nothing wrong with that.

#alex sims #formula e #fe asks

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losingluckynumbers · 6 years ago

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Asking the Real Questions: How Am I Going to Use Social Media in the Future?

It might seem silly to some, but I’ve really been struggling with this a lot lately. What platforms do I want to use and how? Do I want to engage in anything remotely “social” at all, or simply just scream into a void when I feel like it? What am I willing to share? Do I even want to use social media that much?

I started using various forms of social media in the age of LiveJournal, online chats, fan forums and omg-do-not-tell-anyone-your-real-name-or-they’ll-kill-you -mentality when I was about 11-13 years old. So, my approach is very different to those much younger than me who’ve been on social media using their own name and face – something that took me a long time to feel comfortable with – since they were fetuses. I’ve deliberately kept tumblr away from my social media presence elsewhere because I enjoy the good-old-days kind of (semi) anonymity here, where I don’t have to consider what I share as myself with my family, irl friends, co-workers, potential employees, people I went to middle school with but haven’t seen in over a decade and so on – you get the idea. Only a few of my mutuals here know me irl.

So, here’s some stuff I’ve been thinking about regarding different platforms:

(I’d love to hear your thoughts about this stuff, so conversation is most welcome!)

Facebook: Does anyone under 40 even use this site anymore, except for those with kids? (Srsly, sometimes Facebook seems like a huge Moms Club, what’s up with that?). In Finland it’s still easily the most popular some platform so I pop by every now and then, so I can like pictures of my godchildren, but I rarely – if ever – post anything. I can’t imagine returning to Facebook, it’s just boring.

Twitter: Ok so you need to know this: Twitter still isn’t very popular in Finland and the Finnish Twitter can honestly be an extremely toxic environment (sometimes even more so than Twitter in general, as hard as it probably is to believe). I just kill time there and don’t engage in any debates cos’ it’ll just attract a bunch of trolls so what’s the point. I have like five people there who follow me and actually use twitter more or less actively, who also know me irl. So, this isn’t really my go-to some platform.

Instagram: I don’t post pics very often – although I’ve recently started using stories more and that’s actually a lot of fun. I like Instagram, for me it’s just a light-hearted place to occasionally post pics of my dog and like stuff, and I feel no pressure to post more often than I do atm – also, selfies can be fun too. I’ve noticed a lot of people emigrating from Facebook to Instagram, so I mostly follow people I know irl, F1 drivers and teams, and random celebrities. I know Instagram can be horrible cos’ it often portrays a very unrealistic Pinterest-lifestyle, but it’s pretty easy to manage your feed so it doesn’t give you major anxiety – especially when you know that people only post the good stuff while that isn’t the whole truth. However, when the baby boomers from Facebook come to Instagram it can easily turn into Facebook 2.0. and then I’ll have to find another place for my dog pics.

Snapchat: Lmao I’ve never even used this, I’m old you guys.

Youtube: I’ve only started following a few (American) youtubers very recently. Until then I just watched music videos, movie trailers and interviews. I’m never going to be a youtuber or anything, so this is more like a tv channel for me, not so much a some platform since I never even comment on anything.

A Real Blog: I’ve tried to start an irl blog sooooo many times, but it never lasts for very long (coming from a person who can’t even stick to a diary routine this shouldn’t be surprising). I’ve been revisiting the idea that I might have to start a blog cos’ it’s getting kinda difficult to get any work in writing/communications without one – professional bloggers get all the good jobs and book deals and so on. It’s a small country. (“If you say you’re good at writing and enjoy it, why don’t you have a blog to show for it??” fuck this culture, honestly.) The problem here is that my life really isn’t interesting enough to keep an entire blog running. Also, I don’t want to share my life with the Internet as openly as the popular bloggers do (even though that’s the key to their success). I really don’t. I might give it a go again at some point, even if I hate the idea, but keep it really light and talk about, idk, tv shows? We’ll see.

Now, all the platforms I’ve discussed so far are the ones where I use my real name etc. But then there’s…

…Tumblr: Like I said before, I enjoy the semi-anonymity and, therefore, don’t share my Instagram or Twitter here. I feel much more comfortable sharing stuff about my life here than, say, Facebook. I feel that people who follow me do that because of the blog content and similar interests (and idk, maybe some of you might actually like me? I follow a lot of blogs just because I like the person running it and I’ve been following them for a long time, even if we don’t necessarily share the same fandoms anymore) which means you’re not just some random relative/acquaintance that I’m obligated to connect with on social media. I actually like sharing stuff with you, even if no one’s reading these – I have myself to blame for that, I’m horrible at talking to people, sorry guys, I still love you! Tumblr is also a place where I can be creative by making gifs – I can’t draw or anything, so gifs really are my only artistic outlet atm (one day I’ll get back to writing, one day, one day dammit…). But tumblr’s not such an active place as it used to be and something in the culture has changed – I can’t really put my finger on what it is, but something has definitely changed and not for the better. Not to mention this super heavy site barely even functions on my laptop anymore, which makes scrolling down my dash super frustrating – that’s why I keep missing out on stuff here all the time and haven’t posted gifs in a while. But what could be the alternative?

Pillowfort: I’ve noticed a lot of people starting accounts there (link), getting ready to move away from tumblr if/when this becomes impossible to use especially for gif makers. Even I ordered a registration key – and even PAID for it omg. I figured $5 (4,50€) isn’t too much if it’s used to support a really promising new start-up site even if it eventually falls flat. I really need a place like tumblr to keep me sane by enjoying the fandoms with other fans, and maybe even get back to making more gifs again. So, if you have an account on Pillowfort, let me know and we can follow each other when I get my key! (This applies to everyone, not just mutuals, and I’ll be yelling about this on my blog a lot when I actually get my account up and running, you have been warned. :D)

Some other exciting platforms I don’t even know about: Tell me, if you know any good ones!

The point is, I want to keep the good parts of social media in my life, and not feel pressured into using it just because everyone else is. However, I’m still trying to figure out the right balance to achieve that in a way that feels comfortable to me and doesn’t require all my time and energy. I’ve always been more of an observer than an active participant (I am, after all, a historian), but I’d love to be more active here where there are people I actually like. :D

My goal in social media these days is quality over quantity – or at least that’s what I’m aspiring to achieve. Let’s see how that’ll work out.

#jo:unscripted #I needed to get this out of my system #social media

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eddiejpoplar · 7 years ago

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Rolex and Motorsports: Partners in Speed

LOS ANGELES, California — “Rolexes are indestructible,” says Hurley Haywood, one of America’s most successful endurance racers, as he stands on the terrace during a private reception at a mansion deep in the Hollywood Hills. Haywood pulls back his shirt cuff, gives a small smile—which, if you’ve spent any time with the laconic race car driver, you know a smile means high praise—and starts to tap on the watch’s sapphire crystal as lights from the Sunset Strip below cast a pinkish glow on his grin. “I’m rough on a watch. It’s got to withstand all of the rigors of racing, all the tax I put it through.” Haywood should know about the watch’s durability—he owns nearly every model of Rolex Daytona ever made, most of them hard won from time in a race car.

Rolex employs official spokespeople to talk up the brand, including Formula 1 champion Jackie Stewart and nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, but Haywood, crooked grin and all, isn’t on the watchmaker’s payroll. He’s a genuine fan, converted from the moment in 1970 when he bought his first Rolex for $260 at a U.S. Army post exchange while stationed in Vietnam. “Since then, I always had Rolexes. It’s just the watch I want to wear.”

Haywood isn’t the only race-car driver who has had a love affair with the brand, of course. Rolex and motorsports have been inextricably linked since British racer Malcolm Campbell wore a Rolex Oyster while breaking the 300-mph speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1935. Campbell is said to have mailed Rolex letters extolling the virtues of its products. But when you think of racing and watches, Rolex and the now iconic Daytona comes to mind. The relationship with Florida’s Daytona International Speedway predates the famous endurance race held at the track. It began when Rolex Watch U.S.A.’s then-president, Rene P. Dentan, forged a friendship with NASCAR founder Bill France Sr.

In 1964, Rolex started to award the chronograph to the winning drivers of the Daytona Continental—then an FIA-sanctioned, three-hour endurance race—and added the word “Daytona” to the dial, altering the watch world forever. (The race’s familiar 24-hour format made its debut in 1966.) “It’s all about the watch,” says Scott Pruett, the American racer who has won 15 Rolex watches, including five for overall wins at the Rolex 24, during a career that spans more than three decades. “Every one is sacred, and there are stories behind every one of these watches. It becomes more than a timepiece, it becomes an heirloom and even more so if it says ‘Winner of the Rolex 24’ on the back.”

Aside from its ties to American sports-car racing, Rolex is also the official timepiece of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Formula 1. Vintage racing is also high on its priority list—it is the title sponsor of the annual Monterey Motorsports Reunion and is also heavily involved with the U.K.’s Goodwood Revival.

Like a Porsche 911, the Rolex Daytona is instantly recognizable, and over the years the changes to both have been incremental rather than evolutionary. It’s these minor changes—and the obsessive nature of collectors of both products—that add to the lore and start to drive collectors crazy as they obsess over the smallest details. Although Rolex is tight-lipped about most of the changes, it’s not too hard to find a hardcore fan to opine about the tiny tweaks to the dial, bezels, pushers, and significantly, the movements.

“With the Daytona, you had this idea that you were going to market these things to people,” says Benjamin Clymer, founder of the watch website, Hodinkee. “Before, chronographs were really ‘tool’ watches for those in the racing industry, and that’s about it. And Rolex said, ‘OK, we’re going to make this the racer’s watch.’ There’s a history of these watches going on the wrists of great racers. And when you have these famous racers wearing this watch because they’ve actually won at Daytona, it creates a secondary level of appreciation and understanding from the motorsports community.”

A paul Newman Daytona sold at Christie’s for $1.1 million. Not too shabby an investment for a watch that cost only $210 in 1963.

If the racing world wasn’t enamored with the Daytona before, it certainly was after Paul Newman, who was just starting his professional racing career, wore a Reference 6239 on his wrist in 1972. Given to him as a gift by his wife, actress Joanne Woodward, these Daytonas are set apart by subtle but important differences, such as an art-deco font for the numerals on the subdials and small squares at the end of the hash marks.

Although never officially named after the actor, the “Paul Newman” Daytona is one of the rarest and most sought-out variants of the timepiece. You can pick one up in good condition starting around $75,000 and, depending on the year, the prices can skyrocket from there. In May, 2017 at Philips Geneva Watch Auction, a Daytona Ref 6263 dubbed “The Legend” and one of three known yellow gold Paul Newman Daytonas sold for $3,717,906. In 2013, a 1969 stainless-steel Paul Newman Daytona sold at Christie’s for $1.1 million. Not too shabby an investment for a watch that cost only $210 in 1963.

“I never really gravitated to the Daytona, and I passed on many when they were ‘cheap,’ but I’ve learned to appreciate them and like them aesthetically,” says Matt Hranek, author of the new book, “A Man and His Watch” (see page 105). In the book, Hranek weaves the stories of 70 one-of-a-kind timepieces from the men who’ve owned these watches via personal anecdotes.

This steel Daytona belongs to Automobile contributor Andy Pilgrim, awarded for his overall win at the 2004 24 Hours of Daytona.

“Rolex makes real tool watches, and I love the fact that they specialize,” Hranek says. “The Submariner for divers, the GMT for pilots. It’s hard not to love the Daytona in terms of its design and because of its iconic status. A lot of that is due to the famous owners. When I visited Mario Andretti for my book, he pulled out every watch he had ever owned and placed them all on a big table. In the middle was an older Daytona, and I said to him, ‘Wow, look at the Daytona,’ and Mario looked at me, shrugged, and said, ‘Yeah, I did win that race a couple times.’ I just sighed and said, ‘Oh yeah, of course you did.’”

Rolex introduced a new Daytona with a black ceramic bezel during the 2016 edition of Baselworld, the watch industry’s top expo, and the news excited even the most jaded watch insiders. The New York Times called it the hottest watch money can’t buy. a waiting list, if you don’t know the right people, can stretch into a yearslong proposition. A few months after its release, we asked Haywood if he had one. “Not yet,” he says. “But I’m working on it.”

The first precision certificate ever issued for a wristwatch, commissioned by Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf.

Rolex SA, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, was founded in London in 1905 by Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis. Wilsdorf reportedly chose the Rolex name because it was short enough to fit on the face of a watch, consisted of symmetrical letters of the same size, and was easy to pronounce in many languages. Today it is the largest luxury watch brand by volume, producing some 2,000 watches a day. Forbes in 2016 ranked the company the 64th most valuable brand in the world with $4.7 billion in sales.

A classic Rolex Daytona Reference 6239 “Paul Newman” sits next to a brand-new, black-over- black Daytona with the very desirable ceramic bezel, courtesy of BobsWatches.com.

For a brand that revolves so much around wealth, Rolex is hesitant to talk about money. Sponsorship terms are not disclosed to the public, and company executives do not do interviews.

Ariel Adams, founder of seminal watch website aBlogtoWatch.com, says Rolex is secretive in most areas, including money matters. “It spends more than any other watch brand on marketing,” he says, “and it’s a key reason for the brand’s success. I’m not comfortable speculating an amount it spends since I have no idea, but I do know its strategy is to sponsor the top-tier events in each sport and to ensure no other watch brands take its place.”

At left, a trademark document for the Rolex name was signed by Wilsdorf himself in 1946.

Rolex in 2015 extended its title-sponsor contract for Daytona’s 24-hour race with IMSA, signing up through 2025. At the same time, Daytona International Speedway began an ambitious, $400 million remodel and expansion of a towering complex. Rolex announced itself as a partner in the undertaking and now has its name on the new luxury lounge along the front stretch. When asked about financial details on the Rolex partnership, a spokesperson for Daytona International Speedway declined to reveal the deal’s value. But it is not difficult to imagine the sums required to keep the brand front and center of a global audience. In 2012, when Rolex succeeded Hublot as the official timekeeper and official timepiece of F1, it was speculated to cost at least $20 million per year.

Rolex signage is inescapable at modern motorsports events. Look for branded clocks, hats, lanyards, advertisements, banners, and flags at the biggest circuits in the world.

Despite Rolex’s significant involvement in the world of motorsports, a spokesperson for the watchmaker told us that its timepieces have never been used to time the races, and the timing in early F1 years was done with Heuer chronographs. So why do so many get so excited about Rolex and its relationship with racing? You could say the connection is symbolic. A Rolex spokeswoman said, “Rolex is very much about individual achievement. We sponsor people, not teams. Think of a race-car driver. Sure, there is a team involved, but it’s just that one person out there on the track.”

Haywood sees a connection to velocity. “They’re really at the top of the line of motorsports,” he says, “but they also do a lot of other sports—tennis, riding, sports that involve speed and timing. So I think they like to have that identification.”

In addition to its connections with sports, Rolex actively supports music, culture, the arts, and scientific achievement with its Enterprise Awards. So what is the return on investment for all those sponsorship dollars? By some measures, Rolex is considered the most powerful luxury brand in the world, with a cachet no one else in the business has been able to replicate. What can’t be measured in dollars, however, can perhaps be measured in influence and the number of watches you see on the wrists of race fans and automotive enthusiasts alike.

“A Rolex is kind of like a Porsche,” says Haywood, who knows firsthand after spending so many years racing and winning for the German car manufacturer. “It’s a brand that’s got a great history to it. I like simplicity, and I like engineering. And that’s what I like about a Rolex. You look at it, and you know what time it is.”

The post Rolex and Motorsports: Partners in Speed appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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jesusvasser · 7 years ago