Dirty Side Deckchair

  Coming to a track near you in 2026 The F1 news cycle was busy filling it's pages with the announcement that Audi will partner with Sauber from 2026 onwards.  There was much excitement despite it being so far away and the internet was awash with images like the one above of a concept livery for the team. This got us thinking over at Dirty Side headquarters. What liveries would we like to see on F1 cars? Being men of a certain age we were instantly drawn to the idea of what if 1980 TV & film replaced all the constructors?   What would that grid look like?    We sat down and came up with our favorite 10 shows and films from the 1980s and have created a livery based on each. If you are a child of the 80s maybe just look at the pictures first and try to spot all the elements within each one.   For those of you not familiar with them, we've got a little write up on them and a cheat sheet for the elements.  Here, in no order other than alphabe...

So we all saw that Max Verstappen secured the 2022 World Drivers Title in Japan last time out. In doing so he wrapped up the title with four races left to spare. But where does that put him on the list of earliest title wins? Well the answer, as with everything in F1, is a little complicated. You have to decide if you want to measure this in terms of absolute number of races left in the season or in relative terms to what percentage of the season had been completed. Why? Well as we covered in an earlier blog about the calendar, things are not the same from season to season in F1.  Not only are there way more races now than back when it all started in 1950 but also the number of points awarded has changed down the years. As the points one it too hard to wrap our heads around let's just take a look at the leaderboards for "Most Races Left" and "Earliest in Season Percentage" terms We'll start off with the one most folk jump to I think, most races left. We all ...

As American as apple pie America loves motorsport. It just does. If you can make it go fast and race it then America seems to have an audience for it. Whether it's NASCAR, Indy Car, Truck Racing, Demolition Derbies, Drag Racing, Monster Trucks, and even Tractor Pulling. Lawn mower racing....yes, it's real So why is F1 not automatically in that list? Formula 1 feels like it has been loitering around the edges of the US motorsport scene like the awkward new kid at the disco who wants to dance but isn't sure the others will let them.  The one who has spent a lot of money on their outfit to look flashy but still isn't sure they are doing it right. Miami's fake waterfront was the equivalent of wearing sunglasses indoors and everyone is just conjuring up mental images of what over-the-top fashion horrors await us all in Vegas. But this is very unfair on America's relationship with F1. It's not a recent gimmicky interest in the sport. F1 has a long history with the...

So many lost treasures for Stefano  The 2023 calendar has been the topic of many conversations recently, not just due to the number of races but also concerning tracks that were retained as well as those that didn't make it. It got me thinking about tracks that used to hold races but are no longer a part of the F1 scene. While I knew there would be a large number of tracks to have held a World Championship Grand Prix down the years, I was surprised by the number. Since F1 started in 1950, seventy six circuits have held at least one race.  Seventy six! This will become seventy seven next year as Las Vegas hosts it's first race at it's new street circuit after having held one in the past at Caesar's Palace. There are a large number that only ever held a single race so rather than look at them all, here is a quick review of the 14 circuits that held 10 or more races in their time but now find themselves on the F1 cutting room floor.   The most on the discarded list held...