JJ: God, I hope so. I hope we run side by side the whole race—it’d be a blast.
Let’s talk a bit about your old racing series. Jenson, critics have been saying that Formula 1 has become *__too __*uncompetitive this season, after yet another runaway victory from Max Verstappen. You’ve seen it all as a competitor and analyst. How does a lack of competition impact the sport?
JB: Well, first off, how does it impact you? If you’re a driver who’s had competitive years, those uncompetitive ones are really, really tough.
IndyCar driver Will Power even said last week that he “feels sorry” for F1 drivers because of the lack of competition.
JB: Never feel bad for Formula 1 drivers! They have the best job in the world, they travel the globe, and get spoiled. You don’t realize how lucky you are until you step away.
But I think Formula 1 is in a great place overall. Not all the races are exciting, but not all football matches are exciting. There’s a big fan base in the States now, finally, and viewing figures are good—though not quite as good as NASCAR! But I think there are also good numbers at the races. People love watching Formula 1 live, and they love the glamor of what it brings.
NASCAR, on the flip side of that, has seemingly had a new winner every week. Jimmie, are there things Formula 1 could learn from NASCAR in that department?
JJ: I think it’s a two-way street. NASCAR has great equality on track, which can actually be frustrating at times. There’s an argument now that the cars are too equal.
But you don’t have the glamor. You see how well Formula 1 puts on a race weekend, and NASCAR is trying to take a page from that book, trying to learn how to adapt more and respond to that series’ great success. I’m not sure Formula 1 is looking at NASCAR and thinking about more competitive racing. Culturally, there are some differences: In Europe, motorsports fans really respect the engineering, beauty, and speed, and it’s less about the show. But in America, it’s way more about the show than anything.
JB: Yeah, and the show on track in NASCAR is amazing. But one thing I must say that Formula 1 and European racing do very well is hospitality.
JJ: As we sit here in a huge, two-story hospitality unit.
JB: Exactly! And that’s what brings the sponsors in. That was one thing that was surprising to me in Austin. I’m sure it’s different at a race like Daytona, but the hospitality in Formula 1 is insane. People want to come because they know they can watch the race and be spoiled for the weekend. It brings in a very different clientele to the race.
Looking ahead to this weekend, the Garage 56 entry can’t *__win __*anything at Le Mans, at least officially, but how are you hoping the race goes?
JJ: We have all treated this with a level of seriousness, as if we have a point to prove and a race to win. We’ve been putting our car through the paces, and I was initially feeling like a four-minute lap was what we were hoping to get inside of. By the end of the first day, we were seven seconds under that and the fastest GT [Grand Touring] style car here.
Gregory Leporati
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