Infiniti has sent out a teaser of something that Sebastian Vettel has been getting up to on its behalf. It would be fascinated to know if anyone can tell what it was from the following photos. This is not a quiz, as I do not know the answer, but perhaps someone out there does…
The only clue I have is that it was in New York in June, and that it is one of the Infiniti “Inspired Performance” series of events, in which F1 drivers try out the role of a someone doing something “inspired”.
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joeblogsf1 
Looks like a tunnel, my guess is a Red Bull (Infiniti) F1 car driving upside down on the roof of the tunnel as per the ‘…an F1 car generates enough downforce to allow it to drive on the roof of a tunnel’, bit of CGI maybe?
DC was tweeting pictures from New York recently, driving an F1 car through a road tunnel. Could this be related?
He has joined the Occupy movement. He’s going to quit F1 and grow dreadlocks and organic parsnips to make into ethical vegetable crisps for pubs in Primrose Hill.
A little like Jody Scheckter then, only without the lucrative weapons training/simulation business in between.
Looks like a navy boat. Maybe they took an infiniti for a spin on the deck of a carrier?
The U.S.S. Intrepid is docked along the west side of Manhattan across teh Hudson River from the proposed F1 Circuit, but certainly within an earshot!
It is an advert for firework safety. In the first shot, he is dangerously holding a firework in his hand. In the second shot, he is sensibly laying out a fuse cable so as to be a safe distance. Look out for this advert on 5th November. Remember, you heard it here first.
This is the only time you will hear me say this, but I hope to God it’s Interpretive Dance.
‘Inspired’ to go to the football? Nah, no clue…
Teaser shots of Vettel about to hook up his Infinity Emerg-E in the highly-classified re-charge facility.
Whilst he publicly promotes the Infinity FX, his secret passion is electric.
Despite all that bullshit about him absconding to Ferrari when the Red Bull contract expires he has actually done a deal with Formula E Holdings to promote their series in 2014.
Cap Canaveral not NYC , Joe , he was giving wings and ingnition to Atlas5 in June !
Sebastian Vettel inspired by Neil Armstrong lighting the fuse of Red Bull’s first rocket into space?
He’s either looking for the Ark or the Holy Grail.
Well we saw Vettel try his hand at being in a kung fu movie, now it looks like he’s branching out to the survival horror with zombies genre!
Yeah right. Just what the world needs. An F1 driver involved in interpretive dance.
He’s about to set William’s garage on fire.
Looks like he is the lookout man for Red Bull’s tech team while they bend the rules once more…
Obvious observations first :
He’s in the dark. He’s about to switch something on. He seems to be inside.
Hypothesis :
He’s in some sort of warehouse and what he’s about to do is switch on the lights for some sort of indoor car-stunt show thingy.
Backing :
The floor appears to be pretty rough concrete. Around the edges we see unidentifiable bits of dirt, gravel and such. Not a Ron Dennis establishment.
Next to the switch box he’s reaching to (currently set to “Off” as we can guess) the words “Lights Switches” are scrawled a couple of times. It doesn’t look like the area has been recently modified, so it’s reasonable to assume he’s turning the lights on (that and he’s dropped the flare).
Zoom in close and the horizontal bars next to him say “Guardrite”. As Google tells me, Guardrite safety barriers are a product aimed at warehouses and factories to provide protection from out of control vehicles of the low-speed, high-weight variety. Details here :
http://www.ritehite.com/products/other/barrier-systems/heavy-duty-2/
In this instance we may be looking at some large, weighty construction but we can presume that the barriers could take being hit by a car at a reasonable speed too.
Other comments :
If we assume some sort of car-based activity is going on, he’d really better be standing on a straight. Because that crash barrier is going to do nothing to dissipate energy before a car slams into that wall. Although behind the barriers there are wooden planks up, and higher up the wall we can see some damage – might just be flaky paint but might imply that the wall is much flimsier than concrete.
The spool of cable doesn’t go anywhere and there are no tools to be seen. It is very deliberate set dressing – further advancing some sort of fancy electrical lightshow hypothesis.
Vettel is carrying two spare flares, presumably to give the vague impression that he’s prepared for anything, although conventional wisdom would say “bring a torch”.
He really ought to have a shave.
By the time I got done reading this, I was still laughing about:
“The floor appears to be pretty rough concrete. Around the edges we see unidentifiable bits of dirt, gravel and such. Not a Ron Dennis establishment.”
Looks like you have nailed it Jem. Have a look at this videoclip thats on youtube today http://youtu.be/8Vh0yUHGfEA
Vettel driving in in an Infiniti car, lighting up in a warehouse before the show gets going.
I’d guess he’s on the USS Intrepid, but only because it looks like a ‘navy’ wall if that makes sense.
Infiniti + marketing + fact he’s about to “turn the lights on” to reveal a Nissan = too dull to CSI any further.
Trying out for a remake of ” Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”? 🙂
Well this architect has no idea, I can’t recognize anything in the images (other than the guy with the flair that is).
The clues I see are two more flares in his pocket, and some sort of ring-thing on the floor, bottom left in the frame of the second photo.
Maybe he’s planning a rave in an abandoned warehouse? 😉
Joe,
I habe no answer but doing the sam einternet searches you did lost me 30 minutes of my life watching vettel be a kung Fu…. hero 🙂
Thanks for that.
As it is Infiniti my thoughts to towards Bridges or Tunnels from the island….
Steve
Ah, the inspiration to be found in the New York city sewers.
This probably isn’t much help, but the description embedded in the image is:
“Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany during the filming of the 3rd Infiniti’s Inspired Performers’ series with R&B artist Melanie Fiona of Canada at the Grand Prix Circuit in New Jersey on June 11, 2012, New York, USA. Photo by Victor Fraile / The Power of Sport Images for Infiniti”
The photo appears to have been taken at 11pm, and given that the camera had the time zone set correctly (UT-5), it seems likely that the time is accurate.
There is no GPS data embedded in the image, unfortunately; just the general location of New York City.
There are also some embedded keywords that might give you some clue, though they don’t suggest anything to me:
“Action, Adrenaline, America, Auto, Circuit, Competition, FIA, Formula One Racing, Gasoil, Gilles-Villeneuve, Montreal, Motor, Motor Sport, NYC, New Jersey, New York, Petrol, Race, Racing, Speed, Track, USA, United States”
Hope that helps,
-Steve
That description gives quite a lot away, well found.
Something to do with Thomas Edison, DC electric power distribution? and/or Electric Light?
Looks to me like he had a flat tyre, and is waiting for roadside assistance.
Looks sinister as if Vettel has lit the fuse on a roll of blasting wire.
His Infinity has broken down on a bridge! 😀
That is the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, which passes beneath the Hudson River and connects the island of Manhattan to New Jersey, surfacing just south of the (hopefull) GP circuit. I am guessing this picture was taken on the night David Coulthard drove one of the Red Bulls through the tunnel as a promo event.
Tunnels don’t typically have drywall interiors. Zoom in on the distress in the wall. Tunnels interiors are typically made of concrete, those damaged areas don’t look like damaged concrete, they look like damaged sheet rock.
Tunnels have real guard rail, not light duty guard rail designed for warehouse use.
I won’t completely rule out the possibility that it’s a service access to a tunnel, one that only ever sees maintenance vehicles – though the available evidence points more strongly towards it being the interior of a well used building, possibly a warehouse.
I tried but no results. However, I did find something funny. On Infiniti’s official site http://www.infiniti-performanceteam.com/blog/article/72 the video link to Vettel’s NY visit is no longer available with a note:
“This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third-party notifications of copyright infringement from claimant: [Formula One Management]”
Little embarrassing for Infiniti, and somewhat strange treatment of a F1 sponsor by FOM.
I have always had the opinion that the extreme copyright approach from FOM is not in benefit of the sport. If people could post short clips from the races on e.g. YouTube, that would serve a purpose for the fans. ‘Evidence’ when arguing incidents etc…
But FOM does not allow this, and I think that is a mistake. Social Media is so powerful these days and FOM is preventing the full use of it. Which IMO would only benefit F1 and would help to address the crucial young generations much better.
Looks like he’s helping dig the 2nd Avenue subway
Given that he’s standing in front of a guard rail (yes, it’s a double span of light-duty guard rail) and it’s darker than it ever is out of doors in NYC, he’s clearly inside, seemingly about to turn on the lights using the switch-box.
Also, that’s not the type of guardrail used on public roads. It’s not tough enough to withstand a serious roadway accident. It’s more often seen in warehouses.
The walls are damaged and don’t appear to be concrete, more like drywall. Drywall isn’t used in tunnels and underground structures, so perhaps the refurbishment of disused space?
Why does turning on the lights qualify as “inspired”? I don’t know. Perhaps a refurbishment, but that’s hardly “inspired”.
Looking at the responses bet you regret asking the question now!
Uh eh eh uh uh fire! fire! Uh hu uh hu.
Butthole!
(in Beavis and Butthead voices)
Was going to suggest Holland Tunnel, but I’ll defer to ManhattanM’s Lincoln Tunnel. With a name like that how could I not?
Looks like he’s in the East Side Access tunnel they are digging here – biggest hole here for some time (the tunnel that is)
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Side_Access
Maybe down in the dark depths of the new World Trade Center, thinking about turning on the lights.
(It’s now the tallest bldg in NY, having risen above the Empire State Bldg… with more floors still going up… should be done by the ~end of the year…)
Well… turning on the lights in NY’s new World Trade Center vs. playing an extraneous bit role in an instantly forgettable music video… pretty close…
Looks like a loaf of bread on the floor. Sliced, white!
Doesn’t mean anything. It’s a Marketing Exercise.
Obviously.
Where I live Infiniti cars are invisible. So, frankly speaking…… You know what i mean.
And yes, it might be the garage with his car which he wants to burn because it will not win this year’s crown!
Did you ever find out what it is, Joe?
Not yet!
Lincoln Tunnel, they shut it down the otherday for filming a promo video for the GP.
Basically Vettel is saying, if you dont fancy watching another processional street race and you’re in the vacinity of new jersey, why not check out the labrinth of tunnels under the streets.
They’re a great way to spend a couple of hours until the circus moves on
😉
It looks like an old disused factory with a heritage which might be reopened/remodeled for some F1 use…
I agree that is the lincoln tunnel run with David Coulthard. Perhaps he is flipping on the lights?
Another theory would be he is in the newly constucted garages for the GPoA street circuit?
I immideately take that back, as the location looks a bit raggedy for fresh construction.
It’s dark and somewhat sinister. Sebastian is about the same height as Tom Cruise. He’s in Mark’s garage. This does not look good… 🙂
Looks like he’s joined the Brooklyn-based hipster band, MGMT.
These Sebastian Vettel pics probably come from the Canadian Singer Melanie Fiona’s Music Video.Her site has an AD for a Seb double : http://www.nycastings.com/Public_s/v3_ViewNoticeDetail.asp?Qc=Film/TV/Video&Qn=46481 Pics with her in NY during the shoot for the new New Jersey circuit : http://www.forma1hirek.hu/hirek/vettel-videoklipben-szerepel/
Rock Star Seb
About 1:28
Answer:
It’s a music video with Vettel driving an Infinti car..
Yep – music video with Melanie Fiona.
By the way, the song’s producer is an award winning chap called “Infinity”. Connections, etc…
It is a underground car park in Washington. He is there to meet Woodward and Bernstein..
Could be about ”Buttongate.”
That would make Seb ”Deepthroat”,,,
No wonder Mr Marko favor’s him so.
Just jokes people.
Turns out it isn’t any inspiring or significant. A bloody music advert, sorry video for Infiniti er sorry, Melanie Fiona. (Say say advert because of the amount of times Infiniti is seen or mentioned reminds me of the Ford product placement in James Bond.)
What a load of rubbish…
(Sorry, being my usual cynical self this morning. Have a safe trip to Spa!)
INIFINITI.
The answer. It’s a music video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vh0yUHGfEA
In the one with the flare on the ground, he’s about to turn a light switch on. A little peep in photoshop reveals the words ‘light switches’ scrawled onto the wall to the right of the switch that he has his hand on. (Also there is another word on the wall which hard to see but looks like ‘dock’). The switch is currently set to ‘off’. He’s about to turn the lights on. I guess that’s why he’s ditched the flare.
(Rubbish colour balance and noise from a Nikon D3 at 1600 iso, I must say).
Following on from above, the writing on the wall could say something like “?????? Dock Light Switches”.
Its “Watch Me Work” a music video from Melanie Fiona.
…and here is the answer…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCICcYmKR_4&feature=relmfu
Here’s the vid: Watch from behind sofa.
Wow, a music video and a pretty good one at that. Well done Seb…
Nothing more than gratuitous Infiniti marketing
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2012/08/30/vettel-appears-melanie-fiona-music-video/
Didn´t know Infiniti build trucks as well…
The answer people is that he is in a music video with Melanie fionas. The song is called watch me work and is on YouTube. The pictures are from said music video.