A Look Back At F1 2023
In which I look back at a year of watching cars race around a variety of race tracks across the globe.
What am I going to do at the weekends now that this year's 22 Formula One race season is completed?
Maybe reflect on what a fascinating season we had?
Multiple Championship positions were not decided until the last lap of the last race
11 different drivers on the podium representing 6 teams
Some of the closest finishes throughout the field (see above).
The closest field in terms of overall qualifying performance for years (with often just over a second separating first to last)
A former champion, showing that he can still fight at the front of the grid and having his best season in 10 years, during which several drives were a masterclass in race craft.
An outstanding rookie who announced his arrival on the world stage in a big way
Teams and drivers that started strong falling off
Teams that started at the back made great strides forward including one of the strongest mid-season comebacks ever.
Witnessing a blink-and-you-miss-it world record pit stop of 1.8 seconds to change four wheels and tires
A new race venue that had a disastrous start but ended up putting on one of the best shows
Amazing tactical on-track thinking from various drivers, notably the two Ferrari drivers.
Some of the best on-track overtaking moves I’ve seen in a long time
Record numbers of on-track passes at some venues
Every type of weather condition you can think of (barring snow)
And of course, ahead of all this was the all-conquering, record-breaking season by Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team - 21 wins from 22 races for the team, Max’s Remarkable achievements of setting new records for most wins in a season (19), most consecutive wins (10), and highest win percentage in a season ( 86.3%), a record that had stood since 1952, will long be remembered
I’ve read and heard so many people say this season was boring because Max was winning all the time. Sure if all you did was focus on who crossed the line first. But to do so is a disservice to the other teams and drivers. As I highlighted, there was so much to enjoy about this just-completed season.
Next year will be my 50th year of following F1 (gulp) and I’m excited to see what comes next.
Other Stuff
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Brabazon Bits
Early in the week I completed the chapter on the Brabazon’s test flight program, and have now moved on to take a detailed look at how the Brabazon project was marketed, not just to the airlines, but the government and taxpaying public who were funding it. I’ll be looking at everything from airshow appearances to celebrity photo-ops, trading cards, and more.
Pages and Screens
Books Read in 2023 - “Supergods” by Grant Morrison.
There’s no denying that Grant Morrison is one of the most innovative, boundary-pushing, comics writers of the last few decades. His work always makes you think, and he is responsible for one of the greatest single pages of comics storytelling. We are around the same age and his career pretty much paralleled my post-college comics reading journey. I’ve been a reader of his work from the earliest days, so was expecting something special here.
The subtitle seemed to offer a different insightful look at the influence and place of the superhero genre in modern culture.
Boy was I disappointed. What starts strong with some interesting insights into the Golden and Silver Age of comics I was surprised to find gradually morphs into a self-indulgent, almost hallucinogenic autobiographical rambling.
I usually like reading about what inspires and informs the creative process, but in this case I’m not sure I wanted to peek behind the curtain after all.
Before They Were Beatles Updates
Want to know what I think about the new Beatles song, and the remixed Red & Blue greatest hits album releases in more detail? Well wonder no more for I reveal all in a new bonus episode of the Before They Were Beatles podcast out now
As you can see from the highlights below, it's been a pretty good year for our Before They Were Beatles podcast.
A few additional stats for 2023:
195% increase in streaming downloads
82% of new listeners found the podcast in 2023
30% of listeners are sharing links to the podcast
We have listeners in 55 countries - Top 5 are USA, Australia, Canada, UK, and New Zealand
Over 4,000 folks rank BTWB as one of their Top 5 listens and nearly 2,000 as their top listen.
Average rating of 4.8 / 5
I must admit I'm humbled by the continued interest and engagement.
Thanks to everyone who has tuned in along the way
The latest issue of the Before They Were Beatles newsletter is now out. In this month’s edition, we discuss how Elvis inspired John’s first attempts to learn the guitar. If you don’t want to miss out on the expanded story of the early Beatles history, you can sign up for a subscription below.
Podcast Procratinations
I had a great time recently on the Longbox Crusade’s LBC Irregulars show revisiting the classic Sherlock Holmes TV show featuring Jeremy Brett, when we discussed the episodes The Man With The Twisted Lip and The Priory School. You can check it out right HERE
Weekly Web Round-Up
Forest Comics & Books - Unsurprisingly, given the debut of the first of the 60th Anniversary specials, it’s been another strong week for Doctor Who related tie-in novels and comics over at our online store. We also had a bit of a run on Starbucks collectors mugs this week and are now down to our last few, so if you have ever visited Cardiff, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Atlanta, or the Twin Cities and would like a nice coffee mug to remind you of the occasion - stop on by the store.
Batman On The Cover -The journey through Batman’s comics publishing history continues this week as we move into August 1968 with foreign editions published in Australia and Brazil.
No standouts this week as all were straight reprints of existing US covers.
Where on the Web is Alan?
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See you next time
Alan J. Porter