Old Formula 1 video. Nearly an hour long so only watch if you are interested in fairly historic F1. May be spoiled for some by me being in it

[Trouble Maker]

The lead engineer at a test facility we use (in the US) is from the UK and they have this on their bookshelf as a sort of translation dictionary for others to understand him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger's_Profanisaurus

 

[Trouble Maker]

I've always thought the best racing is the shortest and longest. Top Fuel on one end, and endurance--Le Mans or the free for all Baja off road. A lot can happen over 24 hours

I really want to go see King of the Hammers at some point.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I saw a couple of those jet powered dragsters once. Pretty impressive sound and all. However, the top fuel cars were faster and when you consider that is all transferred from tires to pavement kind of crazy.

As for understanding English, try some fast talking Irish accents. I was working with a specialized all Irish installation crew once. I'd been around them a couple weeks. Got into an elevator with one of my co-workers and three of these guys. They were telling me what they were going to accomplish that day. When they got off on a lower floor my co-worker said, "I didn't know you could speak their language". "oh yeah sure I can." "What do you call that stuff they speak anyway?" I said, "they were speaking English." Then I walked away out of the elevator.

Those guys sounded a lot like this sheep farmer.

 

[Canuck57]

I saw a couple of those jet powered dragsters once. Pretty impressive sound and all. However, the top fuel cars were faster and when you consider that is all transferred from tires to pavement kind of crazy.

As for understanding English, try some fast talking Irish accents. I was working with a specialized all Irish installation crew once. I'd been around them a couple weeks. Got into an elevator with one of my co-workers and three of these guys. They were telling me what they were going to accomplish that day. When they got off on a lower floor my co-worker said, "I didn't know you could speak their language". "oh yeah sure I can." "What do you call that stuff they speak anyway?" I said, "they were speaking English." Then I walked away out of the elevator.

Those guys sounded a lot like this sheep farmer.

That video needs subtitles!

 

[GD Fan]

As a person who learnt English in school and later in UK (at the time the only English teached was British English and was usual to spend some time in England during the summer for learning purposes) when I went to the US for the first time I remember people looking at me in a strange way since it seemed that every word had a different meaning there, or different spelling. Even now that I write 50% of my work emails in English sometimes I need to stop to think: will it be recognise or recognize, color or colour, who am I writing to.

It should be noted though that Americans are more forgiving, they understand you no matter what and rarely make fuss about bad English or American-English, or accent or whatever which is not really the case in England where if you don't have a perfect pronunciation they will not understand you (or pretend to)

I like to say that business trips to London are easy because I "mostly speak the language." But sometimes I'm not so sure.

And your second point exactly captures my exasperation when speaking exceptionally poor French in France - somehow they don't understand it but I understand butchered English perfectly well!

 

[DChenery]

The fan was a lot more fun.

When I was slightly younger, there was a race series called the Can-Am cup. It was dominated by McLaren and Porsche, but there were some very interesting cars, as the rules were somewhat "relaxed". I never got to see this one live, but it was all anyone who was a Can-Am fan talked about, a
Chaparral 2J that was locally known as the Big Suck. At the time, we didn't release how great a show we were seeing at the old Edmonton International Speedway, which got to host the occasional race. Drivers I saw included Brue McLaren, Dennis Hulme, Jackie Oliver, and my favorite Mark Donohue driving a Penske Porshe. Jackie Ickx even drove for the original Haas team one year.

 

[Wombat]

As a person who learnt English in school and later in UK (at the time the only English teached was British English and was usual to spend some time in England during the summer for learning purposes) when I went to the US for the first time I remember people looking at me in a strange way since it seemed that every word had a different meaning there, or different spelling. Even now that I write 50% of my work emails in English sometimes I need to stop to think: will it be recognise or recognize, color or colour, who am I writing to.

It should be noted though that Americans are more forgiving, they understand you no matter what and rarely make fuss about bad English or American-English, or accent or whatever which is not really the case in England where if you don't have a perfect pronunciation they will not understand you (or pretend to)

In this age of multiculturalism I find that many individuals speak a form of English that I can't understand. I believe this is because the 'expression' is based on their primary language influence.
Overseas call centres are a case in point. One can get a person who is very clear in speaking English and yet another who is not comprehendible.

Familiarity probably helps but I don't call international call centres much and don't live in a big city. There are some UK accents that are just as indecipherable to me.

Of course the 'traditional' Aussie accent befuddles as well, e.g. emma chissit = how much is it = price.

 

[Vuki]

Nice video Frank!
Not so long ago I thought being in F1 was a dream job and fun but than I watched F1 on Netflix...afterwards being a dentist looked like fun job. Almost.
Some people can turn even a nicest hobby into a chore.

 

[Frank Dernie]

I think it's difficult for most folks in the US to understand just how popular Formula 1 is, around the globe. I guess in the world of auto racing, F1 is considered the pinnacle.

Yes.
I don't know if it is the same today but when I was involved the biggest world tv audience was for the Olympics, second was World Cup Football (soccer) and third was the F1 World Championship.
This made it the best sponsorship deal for a company marketing a world wide, rather than domestic, product.

 

[Frank Dernie]

I saw a couple of those jet powered dragsters once. Pretty impressive sound and all. However, the top fuel cars were faster and when you consider that is all transferred from tires to pavement kind of crazy.

As for understanding English, try some fast talking Irish accents. I was working with a specialized all Irish installation crew once. I'd been around them a couple weeks. Got into an elevator with one of my co-workers and three of these guys. They were telling me what they were going to accomplish that day. When they got off on a lower floor my co-worker said, "I didn't know you could speak their language". "oh yeah sure I can." "What do you call that stuff they speak anyway?" I said, "they were speaking English." Then I walked away out of the elevator.

Those guys sounded a lot like this sheep farmer.

Yes, it isn't just vocabulary. Accents vary a lot from place to place and can be very strong.
My wife is from the farming community around the Moray Firth coast of Scotland. There they not only have words rarely seen but the accent is very, very strong.
When I first visited I did not understand a word of what was said when she was chatting with friends, partly vocabulary partly accent.
She, being a musician, has a musical ear and basically ends up speaking like others around here fairly quickly but it is pretty obvious when she is on the 'phone to her best friend or brother!
A girl may be a "wee girlie" but much more likely a "Quine"
Likewise a boy would be a "loon"
Armpits are "ogsters or oxters" I have never seen it written just spoken.
And so forth.
Having travelled a lot I consider myself fairly good at following strong accents but I know lots of people who can't/don't.

 

[Frank Dernie]

When I was slightly younger, there was a race series called the Can-Am cup. It was dominated by McLaren and Porsche, but there were some very interesting cars, as the rules were somewhat "relaxed". I never got to see this one live, but it was all anyone who was a Can-Am fan talked about, a
Chaparral 2J that was locally known as the Big Suck. At the time, we didn't release how great a show we were seeing at the old Edmonton International Speedway, which got to host the occasional race. Drivers I saw included Brue McLaren, Dennis Hulme, Jackie Oliver, and my favorite Mark Donohue driving a Penske Porshe. Jackie Ickx even drove for the original Haas team one year.

View attachment 64734

I knew some of the guys who designed that. Amazing car. Sadly they are all gone now

 

[Frank Dernie]

Nice video Frank!
Not so long ago I thought being in F1 was a dream job and fun but than I watched F1 on Netflix...afterwards being a dentist looked like fun job. Almost.
Some people can turn even a nicest hobby into a chore.

I don't have a Netflix subscription so haven't seen their take.
I retired 10 years ago but I can attest that when I did it it was my dream job, to get paid to do my passion was fantastic.
I hear there is a lot of comment from people who are struggling and that is unlikely to be positive.

 

[DChenery]

I knew some of the guys who designed that. Amazing car. Sadly they are all gone now

I went to the original races with my Dad, also sadly gone, who wasn't really a race fan but capitulated under my encouragement. Being from a small town in Northern Alberta, THE racing sport was Stock Cars. Yep, old beaters on a circular dirt track. Some of my best memories are spending many late nights trying to keep our old junker of a '56 Ford going so we could race the next weekend. I remember a night when I imagined that I was one of the engineers working for Ferrari, when actually hammering out the bends in a torsion bar that was bent, as we didn't have the funds for a "new - from the auto wreckers" one.

I have had "discussions" with people that high end racing, audio, video, ... is just a waste of resources / money / time. From my rather humble experiences, I can definitely understand why people want to push the limits, no matter what the area of endeavor is.

 

[Jimbob54]

The lead engineer at a test facility we use (in the US) is from the UK and they have this on their bookshelf as a sort of translation dictionary for others to understand him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger's_Profanisaurus

The Profanisaurus is my bathroom read of choice

 

[anmpr1]

Having spent a lot of time in Canada and the USA I think the one big surprise I got was the difference in the use of "momentarily". Somebody explained the US meaning to me the next day.

My wife, at the time living in Shenzhen, learned her English from the British influence in and around Hong Kong. On one of my visits (before we were married) several of us were out to eat and I needed to excuse myself. Being an American I asked her where the 'bathroom' was? She had never head that term before, did a mental word calculation, then looked at me strangely, asking why I needed to take a bath? I used some universal hand gestures, and she replied, "Oh. You mean the water closet!--a term I'd never used in my life!"

 

[anmpr1]

When I was slightly younger, there was a race series called the Can-Am cup.

Can-AM was known to be pretty wild and wooley. Here's a link to an article w/pics of the legendary Porsche 917 that shut down the circuit.

https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/classic-cars/a32536626/donohue-porsche-917-30-flat-12-photos/

I don't know if it is the same today but when I was involved the biggest world tv audience was for the Olympics, second was World Cup Football (soccer) and third was the F1 World Championship.

Speaking of shut down, when I was in Germany, entire cities would close during the World Cup. Everyone gravitated to the local beer garden in order to watch the fun.

The thing with motor sports is that it is easy for the average cat to identify. In the US it was/is NASCAR. At least when I was growing up. Average Joe Six-Pack driving a used Plymouth Fury to work could almost imagine he had a bit of Richard Petty in him. After the race he had some pride in the fact that he was not just driving any old car. The year Petty switched to Ford created a lot of cognitive dissonance and bad blood among fans. Likewise, when Toyota entered NASCAR a lot of race fans were scratching their heads--in spite of Toyota being a huge success in America.

As far as F1 in America? Peugeot, Renault, McLaren, Alfa, and even Mercedes-Benz are not names that the average American can identify with. The driver's names are not well known. In Europe drivers are rock stars.

Internationality of motor sports? Below is a pic from the Shanghai GP. Typical Brits doing their typical thing!

 

[balletboy]

Frank is a well-known name to anyone who followed motorsport in the Mansell/Hill days, apparently also going back to Hesketh, probably one of the last private team owners. British dominance in FI and auto sport engineering is quite extraordinary, mainly around Frank's patch, but also over towards East Anglia with Lotus and Lola. Lola were based in Huntingdon, the world centre for great hifi (Quad, Cyrus, dCS, IAG, Meridian, probably several others).

 

[simbloke]

Internationality of motor sports? Below is a pic from the Shanghai GP. Typical Brits doing their typical thing!

They could be, but I suspect they are Chinese Hamilton fans, he's a megastar pretty much everywhere.

 

[simbloke]

This is what they get up to in the UK when one of their drivers finally wins the British GP, before we got one that keeps on winning
Sorry, correct me if I am wrong but I think this is a post-Frank car.

 

[balletboy]

They could be, but I suspect they are Chinese Hamilton fans, he's a megastar pretty much everywhere.

According to one chap in the programme, Hamilton is, like other drivers, as interchangeable as a lightbulb. He's quite popular in Stevenage as well, but probably takes second billing to Ian Poulter.

p.s. I used to have an office in Stevenage. The road system there would be ideal for an F1 street circuit. I can see Hamilton tearing down Gunnels Wood Road, left onto the A602, then up to ASDA.