After a couple of days in Austin, I am now in Atlanta an the way to Sao Paulo and am less than delighted to see that the city seems to be descending into chaos. In the last few hours the state Attorney General has resigned amid a wave of killings in recent days, which have left 10 people dead and 13 injured 0- and that is in a 24-hour period! There have been 982 homicides in the city in the first nine months of the year, including no fewer than 94 policemen, most of whom have been gunned down while off duty. It seems that it is all to do with a battle between police and organised crime groups in reprisal for a crackdown on the drug trade. A great way to advertise the city when the F1 circus comes to town.
Perhaps it is unwise of me to mention it, but Sao Paulo sounds a whole lot more dangerous than Bahrain was, but no-one is saying it is a bad idea for F1 to be going there. Hmmm, I am seeing double standards here…
All of this is ahead of us. Discovering Austin was quite fun on Monday and Tuesday. It was good to get a feel of the place after a very busy weekend. Most of the racing people disappeared on Monday but we were still bumping into folk we knew that evening on Sixth Street, where the restaurants are all grouped together. The only F1 person on my flight to Brazil is Heikki Kovalainen, who I bumped into at the airport, just after spotting a vast billboard in the airport with him on it (helmet on). This was good because Heikki was largely untroubled as the folk of Texas have still to put faces to the names of the F1 drivers.
It seems like a friendly town and clearly prides itself on being different, which one could spot from the “Keep Austin Weird” merchandise one could see all around town.
The city is pretty small, with only really one main street, known as Congress, which runs up to the State Capitol. A very dramatic building reminiscent of the Capitol Building Washington, but made from a different kind of stone. The people of Austin seem pretty relaxed about life and are VERY proud that they are not like the image that the world has of Texans. Our cab driver on the way to the airport told us in great detail how the city had voted in a landslide AGAINST George Bush while most of the state supported him. That sort of summed it up. There is a really liberal streak here, which is quite pleasant for Europeans who often find that extreme right wing politics grates a little on the nerves.
The rest of the downtown area, laid out on the inevitable grid pattern that US city builders loved so much, is a mixture of old and new which has a lot of charm. We stumbled across some strange stuff, like the statue of a lady firing a cannon, which no doubt involved a lot of Mexicans being blown away in the days of the Alamo.
One thing that really impressed us was the engagement of the city in the F1 race. They were into it and shops and businesses had gone out of their way to have themed displays and so on. More or less everywhere we went we were asked about our accents and whether we were there for the F1 race – which is a good sign. The cabbie reckoned that Austin was going to develop a long and very deep love affair with F1.
Anyway, here are a few more pics to enjoy…
joeblogsf1 
A good read & nice pics….keep up the good work.
So Joe — to tie up a loose end… what was that major sponsor announcement that was supposed to happen? What was/were the rumors, and did any of it come to pass?
They were delayed.
Hi Joe, you may like to know that all US state capitols are modeled on the Washington Capitol building. Austin likes to be different but sure sounds a lot like much of small town America including my erstwhile home: Madison, Wisconsin.
May I ask, since you have a particular interest in the business side of F1, is there any truth in the rumors regarding cash flow problems at Lotus ?
Lotus has been having some slight difficulty in recent weeks, but if there are reports about its longterm financing they are being placed deliberately to stir up trouble, probably because someone is trying to get the sponsorship deals that the team has lined up at the moment. This is the dirty side of F1 and one qould have to question a journalist who write stuff like this without knowing the inside.
Clearly you’ve never been to Delaware.
Sam, Not true that all US state capitol buildings are modeled after the US Capitol. New York and Connecticut are the first two i can think of—and Annapolis which dates to 1772.
If the Cabbies are positive then that is usually a good sign – not that I travel nearly as much as Joe, but I find they’re generally quite a good bellweather for a city…love blog posts like these, part of what makes this the best F1 read on the internet. Keep safe in Sao Paulo Joe.
Thanks for your great coverage of the race and Austin, as well as this whole year. Hope all goes well for you in Brazil and the final race of this great season.
Allen
Just to let you know that these homicide numbers are from the “Big São Paulo” that are 39 cities and not only São Paulo. I agree with that even for 39 cities this number still huge.
great travelogue Joe – hope you and DT survive Sao Paulo… and that we meet again next year!
“There is a really liberal streak here, which is quite pleasant for Europeans who often find that extreme right wing politics grates a little on the nerves.”
,,,and how is that alternative working out for you?
That kind of condescension illustrates Joe’s point nicely.
Ah, but European Racing People might find this a tricky bit of schizoprenia to negotiate. U.S. liberals might be more comfortable for foreigners in general to relate to, but they’re also more likely to be indifferent-to-hostile about motor racing, or “otto-racing” as I like to say they call it. In accepting Formula 1, I’d say that Austin embraced a European sport because they’re liberal, but embraced an otto-race because they’re Texas.
One thing that has not had coverage is that in my opinion it has one of the natural wonders of the world each night at cogress bridge. The most amazing dusk bats emerging from the bridge,
Brilliant – thanks for showing us the personal side of F1 Joe. I think your comment re: the 1million/city makes for the best F1 venue was a good insight into community mentality and it is really showing in Austin. viva la Adelaide-vibe!
Austin is a fun place, your cabbie could be quite right about the locals taking the race to their hearts; perhaps a slightly unlikely venue, but possibly an inspired choice.
The lady was firing the canon not at Mexicans, but at a group of Texas Rangers sent to remove the governmental archives so that the President of the fledgling republic could have his preference of having the capital moved to the city that bore his name; Houston. Angelina Eberly encountered the rangers loading their wagons in the night and she fired the cannon to rouse the townsfolk and frighten off the rangers. The rangers were caught, the archives recovered and due to that lady, Austin is still the capital. The statue was sculpt by the cartoonist Pat Oliphant.
Good luck in the new Wild West. Fique tranquilo!
HI Joe,
Great report and one of the reasons I follow your blog and other publications is that mix of stories such as this. Adds a lot of colour to some frequently dry technical reports about F1 we read elsewhere.
Keep it up, Thanks,
Peter
My buddies just got back and reported that they had a great time but will not be using cabs again as they were inconsistent (whatever that means – i guess late?) and very expensive. They all said they are renting a car next time as they had a paddock pass to enable parking. They were given blue nomex to wear track side which is weird as it’s not exactly high vis and is not the normal marshal colours for the US. They called themselves the smurfs! I plan on getting there next year – screw business!
Of course they aren’t the best at photography (hiding winners face!) but they did have the best race spot in town!
[img]http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f381/torontoworker/561699_10152301935810473_1948289107_n.jpg?t=1353548450[/img]
I live in São Paulo and I must say: São Paulo is more dangerous than Bahrain for foreigners for sure. The difference is that the violence here is about the police facing criminals and not about a government crushing its people, and that’s why everybody was complaining in the end.
On a personal note, I usually stay in line the whole night for the GP and this year everybody is a little worried about that.
Sao Paulo may be have more crime than Bahrain, but Bahrian is infinitely more likely to undergo revolution or complete governmental collapse.
Safety does not equal stability. In fact, the safest streets are often found in the most totalitarian of nations.
Safety is among the lesser reasons F1 should not be running in Bahrain.
Go there and find out for yourself.
Find out what? If it’s safer. As I said, some of the safest streets in the world are found in the world’s most totalitarian nations.
You’ll never be mugged or shot in Pyongyang, neither should there be an F1 race there.
There isn’t going to be a revolution in Brazil. The favelas could erupt into unabated chaos, still, there will be no Brazilian revolution.
Bahrian, on the other hand could fall into full revolution the very day Saudi Arabia’s enforces left for home. Bahrain is a minority ruled state, ever on the precipice of revolution. Brazil is not.
joey, rumours kept spreading on lotus ‘s financial status and unpaid bill and salaries. I know they have difficulty, but is it over exaggerated by media or plain truth??
I enjoyed Austin also. From a fan point of view, the buses were well organized, the food/drink venues need to be relooked at (too much waiting in line) but the track provided excellent racing. Did you spot any locations for An Evening with Joe? – hopefully in a “wierd” place 🙂
Supporting political repression carried out with force is a bit different to supporting a country that is trying to fight criminal organisations. No doubt both are dangerous but double standards? Hardly.
Double standards in the media.
“Sao Paulo sounds a whole lot more dangerous than Bahrain was”
Forgive me if I’ve misunderstood you but wasn’t Bahrain a moral issue…?
But certainly the Sao Paulo situation is grim. I was last there in 1996, and it was quite bad enough then.
Take care…
Do you still believe everything newspapers say?
“Perhaps it is unwise of me to mention it, but Sao Paulo sounds a whole lot more dangerous than Bahrain was, but no-one is saying it is a bad idea for F1 to be going there. Hmmm, I am seeing double standards here…”
Slight difference that is direct to F1. The argument of F1 not going ot Bahrain had to do with F1’s brand being tarnished by the troubles associated with Bahrain at that time.
Bahrain was reported on a world scale rapdily. It was hard to be in the world and know of Bahrain. F1 went to Bahrain and had a political slogan attached.
Brazil hasn’t been reported in any major way in Australia. F1 going there isn’t going to hurt the F1 brand because the media isn’t reported of Brazil being bad.
Button was in a tricky situation in Brazil in 09 or 10, while Bahrain nothing happened. It has little to do with what happens and most to do with the brand and it’s hard to hurt a brand if the damage is associated with the country F1 is going to.
From memory Bahrain was not widely reported in Australia. Libya yes, Egypt yes, but Bahrain, not so much. The only really memories I have of hearing anything related to Bahrain is from what I read from the motorsport press, or the BBC, or possibly on the serious news and current affairs programs on the ABC.
The argument that Sao Paulo causes no damage to the brand is irrelevant. The reason that F1 pulled out of Bahrain was because of “safety”, rather than “political pressure”. So if safety is a good enough reason for them to abandon one grand prix, it should also be a good enough reason to abandon any other grand prix where the participants safety is put at high risk.
Sweet. Keep the travel stuff coming…
Jo, Bahrain never was about safety, it can be unsafe anywhere in the world. Bahrain was and is about human rights. People in Bahrain do not have democracy, they cannot freely elect their government. And their government has been violating human rights. That is what it is all about. F1 should not race in such countries (there could be a long debate about China, if it is not the same case). Brazil is unsafe, but it is not about democracy, they can freely elect (theoretically) somebody, who will change the current situation.
Jonny,
Have you been to Bahrain? The media tells you it is about human rights. How can you be so sure? I felt the same way until I went there. I see it differently now. I am not about to get into arguments about the whys and wherefores but I do suggest that before you have a strong opibnion you find out for yourself and don’t just read about from sources that I once thought were reliable.
You haven’t reassessed the veracity of your 3 men in a cafe since you wrote the story, having regard to all of the other information which came out afterwards?
Mrs Angelina Eberly:
http://downtownaustinblog.org/2010/02/15/the-women-who-saved-austin-how-austin-became-the-capital-of-texas/
Interesting story behind it.
Have a safe trip.
Were the skirt a lot shorter It would have to be Tina Turner 🙂
But Austin does look nice. I have been to Atlanta some time ago for the 12 volt show. It was hot and although polite on the surface felt very dangerous if one strayed from the main reatraunt and exhibition areas.
Nice pics Joe.
Bahrain is much worse now than it was a year ago, with all public gatherings and demonstrations, that’s groups of four or more, banned. But the red carpet areas will be the same. I mentioned last year that if safety was the issue at Bahrain, then F1 should not be in Brazil. That was after Jenson had had a kidnap attempt and another team had been attacked. Car doors locked!
Now suitably chastened, I quote from the site for whicjh a link follows: “The woman is Angelina Eberly, known as “The Savior of Austin.” This statue marks the exact spot where she fired a canon shot that once preserved Austin as the state capital.”
The whole story is here and worth a read. http://gringoranch.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/woman-who-saved-austin-texas.html
Nice piece Joe.
Wasn’t the problem with Bahrain that the problems were to do with the government, censorship and oppression. Brazil is just an open warzone at the moment.
That is an interesting argument. I think the problems were more to do with propaganda and a biased media. I don’t know why the media weas biased but it definitely was.
Are, so the main reason people didn’t want F1 in Bahrain was safety concerns.
I thought it was the oppresive Government and human rights violations and the fact it was bad for the sport we all enjoy to be directly associated with that.
No.
It’s been a few years now but I enjoyed my business trips to Austin, definitely has more of a relaxed student town feel to it. Joe, if you have not visited the Alamo then it is worth considering taking some time out next year for the drive south to San Antonio. Situated in a small area of parkland and surrounded by modern buildings it seems a far cry from the drawings in the books when it stood alone.
If memory serves me correctly the Texas State Capitol building is fractionally taller than the Capitol in DC. Everything is bigger in Texas.
Joe,
I’m rather surprised by your obvious disdain for Sao Paulo and by association – the event as a whole. Firstly, in an age of F1, ever more homogenised and sugar-coated, a trip to a raw, relatively unchanged circuit with so much history, not to mention a practically maniacally passionate crowd should be embraced.
As a regular visitor to SP myself from the UK, I can say that I have never found the city to be a particularly threatening place.
Whilst not wishing to trivialise for one second the profound problems with drug warfare across the city and the threat the police face – to equate this with the situation in Bahrain seems a little of a disjointed argument.
An opinion…
“I’m rather surprised by your obvious disdain for Sao Paulo and by association – the event as a whole. Firstly, in an age of F1, ever more homogenised and sugar-coated, a trip to a raw, relatively unchanged circuit with so much history, not to mention a practically maniacally passionate crowd should be embraced.
” …I like it.
Tosh. I like Brazil.
Joe the link between Bahrain and Brazil is unwarranted, as you know. In the first case the issue is political in nature, relating to the repression of minorities and in the second the issue is criminal with a war taking place between the police and drugs gangs. Having said that, Sao Paolo has a history of theft and violence which as you know has affected the F1 circus over many years. The question has regularly been raised in relation to security for the teams, equipment, personnel, and the fans.
Whether to go there or not is not a moral question but rather a practical one
Perhaps it is unwise of me to mention it, but Sao Paulo sounds a whole lot more dangerous than Bahrain was, but no-one is saying it is a bad idea for F1 to be going there. Hmmm, I am seeing double standards here…
Seriously Joe? An intelligent man like yourself can’t work out the difference?
I am not talking about the politics, I am talking about the violence. The media hyped up Bahrain to ridiculous levels. If you want to believe them then that is fine, but go there and find out for yourself before making a big to-do.
“Wholly-cow burgers” Hahahahaha! Looks like a lovely city,and after an unexpectedly involving race,has definitely made it a place on my “Racing Trips bucket list” along with Monza, IOM TT,Daytona 500,and Mugello Motogp
Now how do we convince Pirelli to make all the tyres similarly gripless for next season so that all the races can be that interesting?
I always hated going to Sao Paulo, which I describe as a city of 20m people with no redeeming features. That is actually very unfair, as it has, I understand, excellent museums, orchestras and other cultural features. But I was always v. nervous of the crime rate, getting in the car in the hotel car park (preferably underground) and out only once safely inside the circuit. Leaving one very hot afternoon, the guards at the gate motioned urgently for us to wind up the windows and lock the doors before driving off …
I rarely ever ventured on to the street, although the Old Hack, of the GP+ parish, having lived there for six months in an earlier life, rubbished this attitude and dragged me out to various restaurants. In Jardim at least this was, he said, perfectly safe. I never got over my feelings however.
My overall impression wasn’t greatly helped by arriving weary after an overnight flight from Europe to find that the local Hertz people hadn’t taken into account the number of F1 bookings, plus it being a local holiday weekend. After waiting some hours they admitted we would have to taxi to their downtown office to get our car as they couldn’t deliver one…
Oh, the circuit is wonderful, but the pit and paddock facilities then were more than dire – rain once dripped though the ceiling of the media centre – and seem now to be still extremely cramped. There must, of course, be a reason why the race was held then, and still is, but I couldn’t possibly guess it …
I think the vision Tavo Helmund had when he came up with the plan to organize a race in Austin Texas was visionary. I was pleasantly surprised with the track design and I was pleasantly surprised by the attendance numbers. If F1 can keep the level of interest high in Austin then the I agree with the cabby you spoke about that F1 and Austin will be a long lived match.
Any news on the rumor that Ecclestone wants more US races? (I’ve heard something about Bernie wanting to have the Long Beach GP back on the F1 calender)
Excellent idea, Joe!
Showing us some photos of your peregrinations is very welcome. Keep them coming and thank you for sharing them.
Oops, sorry Joe. At Alamo for once it was the Mexicans who slaughtered Americans. You certainly did not see there a statue of Gen. Santa Anna, did you?
As soon as Sao Paulo claims the F1 race is there to show solidarity between the police and the drug gangs then it can be compared to Bahrain. UniF1ed! We’re all violent retributive gangs here!
Actually that sounds like a South Park episode.
One would imagine that the difference between Bahrain and Sao Paolo is that in Bahrain the government were able to maintain control over the populace for the length of the F1 week. In Brazil they clearly cannot do that and given previous experiences of the likes of Sauber, Button and one assumes others, safety is impossible to guarantee.
Button made an interesting quote that he, Hamilton and Whitmarsh all have armoured vehicles and police trained drivers for the weekend. I hope the cars are big enough to fit his mechanics in.
News breaking about a deal between Coke a cola and Lotus, or the team with Lotus written on it in JPS colours. So I guess no black and gold car next season.
You guess wrong. Burn cans are black.
Beautiful pictures – you´re an artist!
“There is a really liberal streak here, which is quite pleasant for Europeans who often find that extreme right wing politics grates a little on the nerves.”
That’s how I feel about extreme left-wing politics.
When I replied to the hysteria on this board about SP and your average American city being more dangerous than the supposedly unacceptable levels of danger F1 put its personnel in when they decided to hold the Bahrain GP you and many other posters derided me. Now your tune has changed.
Yes, it has. If you read the blog more closely you would have known that.
The issue with Bahrain, which journalists really missed the mark on, was that the FIA and F1 seemed to be violating it’s core rules and principles.. as well as article 1 of the FIA statutes. . Joe, to your credit you highlighted this but then decided that it could easily be argued in court and dismissed. I was hoping you would have followed up on that more.
Instead, people focused on the issue of safety as the core argument as to why Bahrain was regarded as a controversial hot spot. For me, the biggest issue with F1 hosting a race there was that they knowingly allowed themselves to be used as a political platform by the ruling government that has a strict ban on media. Not only was it used as a political platform, it also enabled the ruling government to forward their interests over those of the people that were protesting, which was a significant number relative to the overall population.
In 2006, Turkey organizers were issued a then record fine for using the FIA and F1 as a platform in order to send a politically controversial message regarding Cyprus. In 2012, the Bahraini state news agency and the royal family used F1 as a platform in order to send a politically controversial message. Yet no fine was issued, in fact the organizers were praised for their efforts. This is where the real double standard is taking place. If rule of law isn’t reasonably consistent then what is the point?
I wrote quite an extensive article on this very thing. The sad thing is no one is really being held accountable for this.
http://www.igpmanager.com/news-article/20/the-fia-and-bahrain-an-analysis–commentary
“…The rest of the downtown area, laid out on the inevitable grid pattern that US city builders loved so much, is a mixture of old and new which has a lot of charm…”
Mechanical grip is enhanced with a grid; perhaps at the expense of aerodynamic efficiency.
I’ll equate Brazil with Bahrain when the police go into Sao Paulo hospitals and remove / jail doctors who treat gang members shot by police. Aside from that – stay well Joe.
Your reports of drug wars and homicides in Sao Paulo remind me of news reports from Mexico. Hmmm… There isn’t a race in Mexico… Yet! Meanwhile, the man who makes these decisions is more scared of going to Germany than Bahrain. 😉
Joe,
Whilst the media overexaggerated the levels of violence in Barhain, there was plenty enough information out there for people to see through that and realise that the issue was all about human rights. The situation is not comparible with Brazil, and I would not expect you of all people to make the comparison.
I did not make that comparison. Read the piece again.
“Sao Paulo sounds a whole lot more dangerous than Bahrain was, but no-one is saying it is a bad idea for F1 to be going there. Hmmm, I am seeing double standards here”
That sounds like a comparison. Everyone saw throught the media hype and decided that F1 shouldn’t go to Bahrain due to the Human rights abuses.
Chris… again you miss the point. He is comparing the level of public safety, not the issue of human rights. He is not saying that Sao Paulo is worse as far as human rights is concerned. He is saying that it is more dangerous. While the issue in Bahrain WAS indeed about human rights… there was a lot of media saying it was also dangerously unsafe. So Joe is simply pointing out a double standard in reporting this particular issue. Nobody is making a big stink about safety in Sao Paulo, but they did for Bahrain. Again, “human rights” and “morality” is not the topic of discussion in this particular conversation.
It is alarming how easily people will ignore the context and the words of an argument and go in a completely different direction. Even going so far as to put words in someones mouth and accuse them of making a comparison that they never made.