u/Mr-Bradican

Fellow fans,

New fan here. (How many races before I can stop saying that? 😆)

In the name of positivity, I just wanted to show some appreciation for Checo and Bottas. What fantastic hires by Cadillac to help get this team off the ground.

They both come across as approachable, professional, genuinely likable, and like the kind of teammates you'd want to build a new team around. They feel like the perfect drivers for this moment in Cadillac's (short) history.

Maybe it's because I've been noticing some of the other teams drivers lately and seeing the contrast with drivers who seem to have very little personality or spend half their breath whining/complaining has made me appreciate these two even more.

Thanks Checo and Bottas!

Side Quest, I started giving other teams drivers nicknames. I'm trying to keep them PG-13. Please jump in and fill in the gaps if you're inclined.

George Russell - Scooby Dork

Kimi Antonelli - Pasta

Charles Leclerc - LeCrashy

Lewis Hamilton - Fashion Grandpa

Lando Norris - Lando Norizz.

Oscar Piastri -

Max Verstappen - The Autistic Avenger

Isack Hadjar - The Mole

Pierre Gasly - Scrat (from Ice Age)

Franco Colapinto

Liam Lawson -

Arvid Lindblad

Esteban Ocon

Oliver Bearman

Carlos Sainz

Alexander Albon

Nico Hülkenberg - The Hulk

Gabriel Bortoleto

Fernando Alonso - Javier Bardem

Lance Stroll - $troller

Fellow fans, new F1 fan here again, now with four races under my belt.

I had a slow Saturday and decided to see if Cadillac has been steadily improving from race to race this season. This comes off the heals of feeling like they're starting to stagnate, and reliability concerns in Canada and Monaco. This was just for fun, and I definitely don't claim to be a data scientist so take everything with a grain of salt.

For my comparison, I looked at Pérez/Bottas versus Hamilton/Antonelli, using fastest qualifying laps and fastest avg race laps as reference points. Here are the results.. ENJOY!

Race Day:

GP	Lead Driver	Lead Avg Lap	Best Cadillac	Cadillac Avg Lap	Delta/Lap	% Behind	Clean Cadillac Laps
Australia	ANT	1:23.300	PER	1:28.182	+4.882s	5.86%	46
China	ANT	1:36.458	BOT	1:39.968	+3.510s	3.64%	45
Japan	ANT	1:33.875	PER	1:37.018	+3.143s	3.35%	45
Miami	ANT	1:32.754	PER	1:36.445	+3.691s	3.98%	44
Canada	ANT	1:15.868	PER	1:20.316	+4.448s	5.86%	29
Monaco	ANT	1:16.625	PER	1:20.318	+3.692s	4.82%	60

Qualifying:

GP	Lead Driver	Lead Time	Best Cadillac	Cadillac Time	Delta	% Behind	3-Race Avg
Australia	ANT	1:18.811	PER	1:22.605	+3.794s	4.81%
China	ANT	1:32.064	BOT	1:35.436	+3.372s	3.66%
Japan	ANT	1:28.778	PER	1:32.206	+3.428s	3.86%	4.11%
Miami	ANT	1:27.798	BOT	1:31.629	+3.831s	4.36%	3.96%
Canada	ANT	1:12.646	PER	1:15.429	+2.783s	3.83%	4.02%
Monaco	ANT	1:12.051	PER	1:14.747	+2.696s	3.74%	3.98%
Barcelona	HAM	1:14.743	PER	1:17.545	+2.802s	3.75%	3.77%

I'm a new F1 fan, and this was my first full race weekend.

Honestly, I'm a byproduct of Cadillac's marketing. Their Super Bowl commercial caught my attention and planted the seed. I thought it was cool, but I didn't actually jump into F1 until the Miami GP happened to be on and I caught the main race. I turned it on without really knowing what I was watching or perhaps, getting myself into.

After Miami I decided to pick a team and actually learn the sport. I spent time online reading, watching videos, learning the rules, the strategy, and trying to understand the sport. Being from the U.S, being a new fan, and Cadillac being a new team entering the sport, it felt like a logical fit to follow them.

But oh how the learning curve has been steep.

F1 feels really unique, but also strangely difficult to get into. You wait weeks between races while knowing that realistically only two or three teams have a real shot at winning. It feels accepted that a handful of teams are simply operating at another level, and everyone else is fighting for smaller victories, which feels oddly or overly praised.

Still... I committed. This weekend I watched the entire Canadian GP weekend from Friday through Sunday. Every session. I learned the whole multiple screen setup, different onboard feeds, timing screens, team radios, and honestly figuring out how to properly watch F1 felt like a hobby in itself.

I was getting hyped over qualifying and small position changes.. I thought Perez had P11. Excitement!

Then came the race.

Cadillac struggled. Perez retired. Bottas felt so far off the lead pace he might still be out there turning laps right now.

Regardless, the first half of the race had me engaged. The Mercedes battle, the battle for 2nd between Lewis and Max. But I can't shake the overall feeling the weekend left me with.

I can't think of another sport where tiny improvements are celebrated so heavily. I understand why now. The margins are microscopic. But as a new fan, especially one trying hard to buy into the sport, it feels difficult.

The barrier to entry for everything feels high.

Learning the sport is a commitment. Learning how to properly follow a team that isn't constantly featured on the main broadcast is another commitment. Then there's attending in person. I'm already looking at booking a Las Vegas GP trip for my family and realizing it could easily become a $10,000+ weekend, just at entry level... A difficult sell to my wife.

I don't really know the purpose of this post.

Maybe I just wanted to share what F1 looks like through the eyes of a completely new fan with no bias. Maybe I want to become a fan but I'm frustrated by how difficult the sport can make it.

I don't know.

What keeps all of you interested in Formula 1?

Are you fanatics? Casual viewers? What made you become fans of Cadillac or your team? What keeps you around?