Courtesy of Sean Tsai
Event attendees wait for the event to start behind the barriers at Marina Boulevard.As junior Sean Tsai navigated the streets of San Francisco on Feb. 21, he was one of 50,000 attendees behind barriers that closed off Marina Boulevard. Located near the Palace of Fine Arts, the street was crowded with Formula 1 fans (or at least interested observers) hoping to catch a glimpse of the Red Bull Showrun.
The event featured off-road racing Champion Mitch Guthrie Jr., Aaron Colton, Scott Speed and former Red Bull Racing F1 driver Yuki Tsunoda. It lasted from 1-3:30 p.m., with three car demonstrations and a grand finale. Rather than presenting itself in the form of a competition or a race, the event aimed to build up excitement for the upcoming season and invite fans to admire the new F1 car.
Tsai, who attended the event with his friends, noted how it was difficult to view the actual cars. Although he was mostly convinced by his friends — who are more avid car fans than he is — to attend the event, he found that the experience was still fulfilling. With the event only taking place on one street packed with thousands of attendees, parking was extremely limited. All free parking spots were taken and sidewalks were also filled. This resulted in attendees climbing up stoplights and on top of houses.
Despite the large crowds, Tsunoda attempted to do donuts, which led to his car going up in flames, and another driver crashing into the barriers, where attendees were watching.
“I don’t think it was well planned, but it’s also a free event so you can’t expect that,” Tsai said. “The biggest problem was that there were too many people. There were people on roofs.”
Courtesy of Sean Tsai
Event attendees were seen climbing traffic lights, trees and even house roofs due to limited space and visibility of the cars.
Despite his limited ability to see the action, Tsai noted that even hearing the engines was a unique experience, especially since F1 teams don’t typically come to the Bay Area.
The start of F1’s 77th season has brought more events into the Bay Area, including a Brew & House Coffee Party event at Santana Motor Group on March 8.
“I couldn’t really see the car, but even just hearing the engine was pretty cool,” Tsai said. “I think it’s still a fun event [to see] so many people gather around to see a car.”
