I was in attendance at Austin's first Formula One race back in 2012. I was hired as the photographer for a three day corporate event for a multi-national tech company. They had an "owner's box" at the race grandstand for their 20 best customers and their spouses. There were chefs, full bars, all point passes, etc. The press leading up to the first event was non-stop and why not? Austin and the state of Texas were subsidizing the race, the acquisition of land, and construction of the racetrack, and associated facilities and the services of the police, EMS and fire departments. They wanted the rubes, the regular potential ticket holders, to think this was a big, big deal. And to be fair, in Europe and the middle east it might be... But really, why? Are they that bored?
After the taxpayers came out of pocket for hundreds of millions of dollars the project has more or less failed. In the first year the downtown was filled with pre and post parties, dinners, events and showcases. Every year after that the event shrank down further and further until all the downtown events vanished and the crowd that did wander downtown were mostly people from other countries who mostly wanted to argue with baristas in the downtown area coffee shops about why they should be allowed to smoke cigarettes wherever they wanted to. Oh, and they taught Austinites how much more alcohol people really could hold before passing out or grabbing the keys to their rental cars to go out for a spin...
So, ever declining footprint, year over year, for all downtown events, merchants, income and, surprise!!! the additional uses for the facility which the citizens were promised totally fell flat. Seems that with the exception of an F1 race no one wants to drive out to the middle of nowhere, 30 minutes out of town, to do anything else. Nobody.
When I went the racetrack area was packed, the executives who were guests of the company mostly sat in the owner's box and bragged to each other about who they knew, how successful they were and which, and how many, cool cars they owned. Filled up on great food and kept the bartenders non-stop busy. But the race? Very much secondary to these folks. Just another day of high end networking...and the semi-private enjoyment of privilege.
On the first year the parking was notoriously bad and ill-managed. Surrounding farmers, sensing an opportunity for some quick cash, opened up their fields and sold parking to thousands of people --- and that was pretty cool until we had a day of solid rain and all the cars got stuff in ten inches of slippery mud. Some cars from 2012 are still out stuck in the fields.
For those (lucky enough) who have never been to an F1 race let me give you the quick breakdown: Drive for a long time on two lane roads to get to the venue. Pay enormous amounts of money for entry tickets. These tickets don't buy you a seat, they buy you the right to sit in the dirt near the track, in the blazing sun, or occasional rain, with no shade or rain protection, pay $20 for a soft drink and watch the same cars go around the same track for hours and hours until they announce that someone won. You won't know who until they announce it because unless you paid thousands of dollars to sit in the grand stands you won't see the final outcome unless you are looking at a big video screen.
The race is quite loud. If you are close to the action you will lose some hearing and won't be able to hear your loved ones as well for the rest of the dinners you might have enjoyed over the rest of your life. You'll never be invited to drive the cars or test drive the track. Well, you can test drive the track with your own car but what you'll pay to do that for a half an hour would buy you another nice car instead...
At the very end of the race there will be a concert. Also outside. Also sitting in the dirt or mud. Shoulder to shoulder with the mosquitos. And still paying $20 for a Coke. Then you will make a very long march to your car --- because Texans don't do public transportation. Oh... I forgot to mention that you'll also pay an enormous amount for parking... and when you drive off the parking lot you will join an amazingly large number of fellow race "fans" in slow moving bumper-to-bumper traffic for, literally, hours in order to make it back to town.
It will become clear to you that F1 racing is not a sport in the traditional sense until some smug fan tells you the propaganda about how the drivers lose twenty pounds of water weight for every hour they roar around the (same and unchanging) track. And what great shape they must be in. You'll nod but in your normal person brain you'll deduce that they have been brain-washed by a malign English man who has sold everyone a bill of goods. And snickered off into the sunset.
So now, thirteen years later, we are going through this year's Austin F1 race this weekend. The photos here show pop-up shops in town selling "merch" (offensive amputation of the word, "merchandise") for exhilaratingly high prices to the rubes who've waited in line for hours for a chance to demolish their credit limits on shirts that emphasize every extra ounce of fat on the buyer's non-exercising body. And to do so in the most pitiless way.
I'd forgotten that the carbon footprint parade was in town when I grabbed a Leica CL and headed over to South Congress Avenue to grab a coffee and an apple tart at Jo's Coffee. But I sure was reminded quickly by the near endless flow of people wearing all manner of fan fashion. And to a person they looked like they were stressing hard to look happy. Like Germans trying to teach Italians how to line up correctly. Or to "queue."
I enjoyed getting a workout with the CL. It's really a fine little camera system and, coupled with the Sigma 56mm it works quite well for working in full sun but at slim apertures ( or: "Appies" as the UK contingent might say...). The colors out of the camera, either in Jpeg or raw, are neutral and look beautiful. The camera is slower to focus than newer cameras but generally, if you keep the camera awake, it can be quick enough.
the man closest to the camera was managing the line and allowing a handful into the pop-up shop at a time. I asked him what the event was and he told me. I laughed and questioned whether people were really stupid enough to wait in line for hours to buy bad, poorly designed and ill-fitting merchandise and he said "yeah" "But we're making a shitload of money." I guess, at the very base of all this, that's the only plan. The fans will reflexively tell you it's all about developing the tech to make better everyday cars. I'll ask the Chinese about that. I don't see many EVSs on track...
At least they line up well enough not to block access to the sidewalks for the people who have better things to do...
What greases the wheels at F1? Mostly alcohol. Getting ready to violate Texas open container laws with pop up vodka samplings. Complete with cheap "gimme" hats.
But at least people are buying cowboy boots and western style hats.
I guess they can take them home and wear them around. Sure to be
a hit in London or Berlin. Maybe even Paris.
On my way back to my legally parked car I had to turn around and snap one more of the same line --- just an hour later.
If you love F1 please don't feel the need to comment, rebut, or explain.
I know the addiction to American Football is equally horrible and
misplaced. That doesn't make F1 any better...
The cars go around and around in a big circle.
The same basic outcome at every race.
The very definition of insanity.
I hope the out of towners don't steal all of the towels from the hotels.
They can't steal the ashtrays. We don't have them anymore.
