Verstappen
 

Formula 1 fans educate me.

The races are relatively short and that is a good thing.

The courses don't seem to encourage passing. Once ahead the leader needs to make a mistake in order not to win.

I have walked the starting grid and portions of the course in Monaco.

I have successfully predicted the winner of a majority of the recent races.

I pick a driver whose name begins with V.

Verstappen

Verstappen

Verstappen

and Verstappen

His girl friend Kelly Piquet seems nice.

Am I missing something?

Does anybody collect Formula 1 cards

Should I be thrilled?

Why?

Oh My
 

Verstappen does not win today. It would have been a fender bender late in the race, but alas there are no fenders on the F1s.

I collect Formula 1 cards, and racing cards in general. Formula 1 has always been a series without much passing and is almost always dominated by one or two teams. F1 is a technology/money driven series where the best car almost always wins. F1 is a series of ungodly sums of money and drivers that are largely aloof/arrogant compared to the more fan friendly drivers of NASCAR (or even IndyCar). All of those are the reasons why F1 has never really caught on in the United States relative to the rest of the world.

The phenomenon of the dominant driver/team definitely has definitely gotten worse in F1 over the past 30 years. Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and now Max Verstappen have all enjoyed periods of dominance in which they were nearly unbeatable over the past 30 years. In the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, F1 was a lot more competitive than what it is now.

One additional note, the Monaco circuit is notoriously impossible to pass on, due to the size of the current cars. Monaco almost tops the list of the worst F1 circuits, and there has been a growing call in recent years to boot the circuit from the schedule.

The thing that keeps Monaco on the schedule is the history of the circuit, and it being F1's glamour race for decades.

Max Verstappen has been especially outspoken about Monaco being nothing but a single-file procession. In a pre-race interview before the 2022 race, Verstappen was asked how he planned to win the race from fourth starting spot. His answer that was he wasn't going to win the race because passing is impossible at Monaco.

I’m not a race fan - just a casual observer. My casual observation is Verstappen seems like he might be dominating his sport like no one has dominated their sport in history. I could be way off but the guy does not seem to lose.

The great wrestler Alexander Karelin went something like a decade without giving up a single point.

There's a racing section here that has some great info. I've just gotten into racing cards this last year or so. It's an interesting field, still relatively wide open as compared to a more established sport. The new stuff suffers from all the same nonsense as modern shiny baseball does. The older cards are a fun hunt. F1 cards go back to the interwar period and there are a lot of UK issues of consequence in the immediate postwar era. Lots of shiny too.

Here is a 2021 Topps Now F1 Hamilton-Verstappen:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...Verstappen.jpg

IndyCar is the same as F1, effectively, but more fun because the drivers and teams seem a lot more down to earth and it is an American circuit. F1 runs a few now in the USA. Drivers from F1 and Indy often cross over. Mario Andretti won at Indy and at F1.

Indy:

--1962 Marhoefer Meats Rodger Ward signed card:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...fer%20Ward.jpg

Lots of great Indy PCs and picture packs out there going back to the 1940s

--1969 IMSC Mario Andretti PC:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...dretti%201.jpg

NASCAR is the most fun of all--they are allowed to make contact. At 170-180 mph. Highly competitive with lots of different winners, lead changes, etc. NASCAR cards started around either 1962 (if you count postcards) or 1972:

--1962 Richard Petty (with his father Lee) 'rookie' postcard:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...62%20Petty.jpg

--1972 STP Richard Petty 'rookie card:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ed%20card.jpeg

--1979 Dale Earnhardt Sr. rookie PC:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...nhardt%201.jpg

--2023 Panini Kyle Larson signed card:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...%20of%2025.jpg

Yes that is the LA Coliseum; the last few years NASCAR has run a half-mile oval race in there.