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Thoughts on 2013 F1 Spanish Grand Prix

Thoughts from the NBC Sports Network Broadcast of the Formula 1 Gran Premio De España (Grand Prix of Spain), May 12, 2013.

‘Nando’s Day: Fernando Alonso won in his home country, so you can imagine the parties that are STILL going on. Nando had a fun-tastic start, rolling from P5 to P3 with a balls-of-steel move around the outside of both Kimi Räikkönen and Lewis Hamilton into turn 3. The move had the announcing posse of Steve Matchett, David Hobbs and Leigh Diffey frothing. Matchett: LOOK AT FERRARI GO … LOOK AT IT GO!!! Pretty sure we got about five Matchett WOWs as well.

Observations from the 2013 F1 Race in Bahrain

Observations made during the NBC Sports Network broadcast of the F1 race in Bahrain on April 21, 2011.

Sebastien Vettel took the lead on lap 3 and cruised to a victory, but as with all F1 races most of the interesting action was back in the pack.

Festival of Defensive Driving – whether you call it “defending” or “blocking,” there was a lot of swerving going on during race. Nico Rosberg set the tone early when he got defensive on the start and then made himself wide for Vettel, who eventually inhaled him on lap 3.

Uncle pressdog’s Fireside Chat – NASCAR Texas Super Belt Buckle, IndyCar ALL CAPS GERMAN & F1 Tyre Degradation Edition

Yo yo yo home skillets. How’d the weekend go? Kind of a weird one with NASCAR on Saturday night and no IndyCar a’tall. Grab some dark roast and DRINK, ye BASTARDS while we discuss …

NASCAR in the Lone Star with Gratuitous Danica Photo – So NASCAR went down to Texas and had themselves a festival of tire strategy. Yeeee haw. Kyle Busch is a big fan of Texas since he won both the Nationwide race on Friday night (where he started P2) and the Sprint Cup race on Saturday night, where he started from the pole.

Notes Taken During the 2012 F1 United States Grand Prix

Notes taken during the SPEED broadcast of the United States Grand Prix, Circuit of the Americas, Austin Texas on Nov. 18, 2012.

Welcome to the brand-spanking new Circuit of the Americas in Austin. Tons of scoffers thought this track would never happen, and I was all "believe-it-when-I-see-it." Well I'm seeing it, and the fans are packing it, so huge huge huge shout out to the fans who showed up for this race. Most of them dropped noticeable cash to come to the race, so massive respect from the pdog.

Uncle pressdog's Fireside Chat -- F1 Kimi and NASCAR Edition

Welcome to Monday, peeps. Everyone (in the U.S.) "fall back" properly? Anybody watch any irascible Finns on TV at all? "Yes yes yes, I know what I am doing." Kimi .. NEVER CHANGE. So let's discuss those funny-looking F1 cars and NASCAR at the Mild Asphalt Circus in Texas, 'kay? Dark roast is all I got, no room for cream.

Monaco F1 Notes Cancelled by Nap

I watched the F1 race from Monaco live but abandoned my note-taking efforts after drifting off to sleep twice. I never enjoy Monaco (or Valencia) and usually don't watch for that reason, but gave it a try for the first time in three years. Mistake. This doesn't bode well for my viewership for Valencia either.

Rather than just rag on about how boring I found it (as I did, regrettably, on Twitter), I'm going with the "if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all" deal.

I think the upshot is this: since changing the track appreciably in Monaco is out of the question, the continuing evolution of today's cars have made overtaking on the track at speed virtually impossible. So the race broadcast becomes a discussion of the history, sights and beauty of Monoco.

Discuss ...

Notes from the 2012 F1 Race at Spain

Notes taken during the SPEED broadcast of FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA SANTANDER 2012 (Spanish Grand Prix), Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain on May 13, 2012.

Happy Mother's Day. pressdog® DRINK, ye BASTARDS™ Beer of the Race is Flanders Dirty Bastard Scotish Ale ...8.5% alcohol. Label says "Not for the wee lads." Get your opdog DRINK, ye BASTARDS drinkware HERE.

F1 Notes from Bahrain Cancelled Due to Tear Gas

I think it only fair to tell you that I didn't do notes on the F1 race in Bahrain, because I didn't watch the race in protest of the goofiness going on over there.

Certainly, F1 has the right to race wherever it wants. And just as certainly, I have the right to watch or not watch. Aren't rights and freedoms awesome? The situation in Bahrain makes me thankful for our American democracy. Flawed as it is, the alternatives to democracy suck mightily.

Here's a New York Times article on the situation.

Feel free to discuss .. (calmly and respectfully, please).

Notes Taken During the 2012 F1 Race in China

Notes taken during the SPEED broadcast of 2012 Formula 1 USB Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai, China, April 15, 2012.

Word to your 2 a.m. race-watching posse. I almost always watch F1 races via DVR replay. The DVR, by the way, is among the top five inventions of all time, right up there with the USB port.

pressdog® DRINK, ye BASTARDS™ Beer of the Race (beer of the notes, actually) is Ayinger Brau-Weisse Authentic Bavarian Hefe Weizen. Get your DRINK, ye BASTARDS drinkware HERE.

Notes Taken During the 2012 Malaysia Grand Prix

Notes taken during the SPEED broadcast of the 2012 F1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix, Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 25, 2012.

Welcome to Malaysia where it's always hot and it's either raining or about to. pressdog® DRINK, ye BASTARDS™ Beer of the Race is Cyclone American Ale, brewed by Olde Main Brewing Company, Ames, Iowa. Get your DRINK, ye BASTARDS drinkware HERE.

Starting lineup: Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel, Roman Grosjean, Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Kimi Räikkönen, Pastor Maldonado, Felipe Massa, Bruno Senna, Paul di Resta, Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Hulkenberg, Kamui Kobayashi, Jean-Eric Vergne, Vitaly Petrov, Pedro de la Rosa, Narain Karthikeyan, Heikki Kovalainen

Räikkönen took a five-spot grid penalty for a changed gearbox. Kovalainen took a five-spot grid penalty for a passing violation at Australia. I think it was for passing during a safety car period, BUT DON'T QUOTE ME. The STEWARDS ARE CRACKING DOWN.