Is this the sign that all is not well?

Whisky · May 13, 2025

spirot said: ↑

I remember Detroit well. that is how I started to go to all the races. I convinced my dad to sell pictures to F1 magazine ... I forget the exact name, but it only lasted a couple of years, but then he got to sell some pics to LAT, and then to Route en Pista in Italy, and Auto Hebdo in France. We got to know Anne Richard who handled F1 marketing and Paddock club, and sold some pics to them. Then in 88, you had to have " circulation" and letters showing a contract from various "National outlets", Ann was helpful in getting us a FIA journo card - it was blue with the film perforations on the side, and hologram in the middle. - still have it, at the end of the year they would peel off the hologram and demagnetize the strip. Funny thing is I never ever used the magnetic strip anywhere in F1 for years, I dont even think they did anything. ( in 89 I used my old card and copied it for a friend, and we went to Monza. ) What I really liked back then, is you could walk the perimeter of the track, there were very few places off limits. at Monza I would go to Ascari on the inside right where they came up from the dip and turned left then right.... it was amazing to see them do that so fast. At Paul Ricard We'd hang out at Cygnes entry point, you would see the brake disc glow like crazy, made some really good pictures. Imola was Aquae Minerale when they had the chicane there... again down hill, great braking and then they shot up the hill. At Hockenheim it was boring almost no good places to shoot, so we'd usually do saturday at the chicane out back, and then stay by the entry of the stadium. once in a while we'd go to the pits, but usually it was so packed you could not get any good shots. In Montreal the best place was right at pit entry, as they turned to the left for the chicane... but year after year they would pull you back from the wall.. in 92, I was there when Mansell started to celebrate and ran out of fuel.... you could feel the vibration of the car going through the corner, and then the gust of wind & brake smell....
Click to expand...

I was the KING of making fake credentials back in the 80's, but i never tried it for F1.

Where I worked, we had an entire print shop, with every kind and color of paper you could imagine,
old ancient printing presses with about every font ever made, laminating machines, even hole punches
and the little brass eyelets we would hammer into the holes, we were never caught, and we were doing
MLB, NFL, NASCAR, NBA games, and about every sport you can think of, even the College World Series.
I usually had official passes in advance (I needed a template), the fakes were for whichever friend I traveled with,
to get them into events.
I also faked Press Parking Passes, those were almost more valuable that an event pass.

NASCAR changed when they wanted copies of whoever I was shooting for - their liability
insurance that showed I was covered, THAT I chose not to pursue.

Today, countefeit passes are a crime, and most passes have bar codes they scan when you enter an event,
but I have not shot anything 'big' in any real capacity in maybe 30 years, no real desire to, been there/done that.

jgonzalesm6 · May 13, 2025

Whisky said: ↑

I was the KING of making fake credentials back in the 80's, but i never tried it for F1.

Where I worked, we had an entire print shop, with every kind and color of paper you could imagine,
old ancient printing presses with about every font ever made, laminating machines, even hole punches
and the little brass eyelets we would hammer into the holes, we were never caught, and we were doing
MLB, NFL, NASCAR, NBA games, and about every sport you can think of, even the College World Series.
I usually had official passes in advance (I needed a template), the fakes were for whichever friend I traveled with,
to get them into events.
I also faked Press Parking Passes, those were almost more valuable that an event pass.

NASCAR changed when they wanted copies of whoever I was shooting for - their liability
insurance that showed I was covered, THAT I chose not to pursue.

Today, countefeit passes are a crime, and most passes have bar codes they scan when you enter an event,
but I have not shot anything 'big' in any real capacity in maybe 30 years, no real desire to, been there/done that.
Click to expand...

The "Frank Abagnale" of fake credentials?

spirot · May 14, 2025

spirot said: ↑

I remember Detroit well. that is how I started to go to all the races. I convinced my dad to sell pictures to F1 magazine ... I forget the exact name, but it only lasted a couple of years, but then he got to sell some pics to LAT, and then to Route en Pista in Italy, and Auto Hebdo in France. We got to know Anne Richard who handled F1 marketing and Paddock club, and sold some pics to them. Then in 88, you had to have " circulation" and letters showing a contract from various "National outlets", Ann was helpful in getting us a FIA journo card - it was blue with the film perforations on the side, and hologram in the middle. - still have it, at the end of the year they would peel off the hologram and demagnetize the strip. Funny thing is I never ever used the magnetic strip anywhere in F1 for years, I dont even think they did anything. ( in 89 I used my old card and copied it for a friend, and we went to Monza. ) What I really liked back then, is you could walk the perimeter of the track, there were very few places off limits. at Monza I would go to Ascari on the inside right where they came up from the dip and turned left then right.... it was amazing to see them do that so fast. At Paul Ricard We'd hang out at Cygnes entry point, you would see the brake disc glow like crazy, made some really good pictures. Imola was Aquae Minerale when they had the chicane there... again down hill, great braking and then they shot up the hill. At Hockenheim it was boring almost no good places to shoot, so we'd usually do saturday at the chicane out back, and then stay by the entry of the stadium. once in a while we'd go to the pits, but usually it was so packed you could not get any good shots. In Montreal the best place was right at pit entry, as they turned to the left for the chicane... but year after year they would pull you back from the wall.. in 92, I was there when Mansell started to celebrate and ran out of fuel.... you could feel the vibration of the car going through the corner, and then the gust of wind & brake smell....
Click to expand...

Whisky said: ↑

I was the KING of making fake credentials back in the 80's, but i never tried it for F1.

Where I worked, we had an entire print shop, with every kind and color of paper you could imagine,
old ancient printing presses with about every font ever made, laminating machines, even hole punches
and the little brass eyelets we would hammer into the holes, we were never caught, and we were doing
MLB, NFL, NASCAR, NBA games, and about every sport you can think of, even the College World Series.
I usually had official passes in advance (I needed a template), the fakes were for whichever friend I traveled with,
to get them into events.
I also faked Press Parking Passes, those were almost more valuable that an event pass.

NASCAR changed when they wanted copies of whoever I was shooting for - their liability
insurance that showed I was covered, THAT I chose not to pursue.

Today, countefeit passes are a crime, and most passes have bar codes they scan when you enter an event,
but I have not shot anything 'big' in any real capacity in maybe 30 years, no real desire to, been there/done that.
Click to expand...

This was not a great job... literally a copy machine, and some laminate... but it worked at Monza... we just walked through, dangled the pass, and away we went.... I'd never do that today. At F1 races they have some serious Serb's guarding the paddock.... Dimitri is not one to be trifled with!

Whisky · May 14, 2025

jgonzalesm6 said: ↑

The "Frank Abagnale" of fake credentials?
Click to expand...

I guess you could say that...

To be totally honest - I viewed it as a challenge, to see if I could pull it off, and I/we never got caught.

We WERE questioned once - at a UCLA football game at he Rose Bowl in about 1989 or 1990 - we had passes - I even
had a real one, but I was not on 'the list' of credentials - but the SID at UCLA at the time said he
remembered me from somewhere else, and I just played along. The reality was I had NEVER met
him anywhere prior to this, but I just 'named names' of people I thought he would know, and we got in.
(Not IN the actual Rose Bowl game, just a normal UCLA game they played there, against SD State)

DF1 · May 14, 2025

Liberty Media chief makes US admission with audience questioned

https://www.planetf1.com/news/liberty-media-chief-makes-us-admission-with-audience-questioned

william · May 14, 2025

DF1 said: ↑

Liberty Media chief makes US admission with audience questioned

https://www.planetf1.com/news/liberty-media-chief-makes-us-admission-with-audience-questioned
Click to expand...

One wonders what will happend to F1 once Liberty has finished playing with it, in a decade or so.

johnireland · May 14, 2025

william said: ↑

One wonders what will happend to F1 once Liberty has finished playing with it, in a decade or so.
Click to expand...

Won't take that long to destroy it. I see them selling within three years. They're smart enouogh to get out before the big crash (pardon the pun).

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