“There’s not much difference between his and I’s.”

Noted American IndyCar driver comparing car setups with his teammate’s.

Also noted: those IndyCar drivers at Mid-Ohio for whom English is a second language almost without exception use impeccable grammar, even though their accents tend to sound American these days rather than British.

Aside from that, let’s see…

Many years ago I read a comment in print lampooning "Paul Page's overly gladiatorial intros" back when ABC covered the CART Indy car series. I fear Leigh Diffey may be treading perilously close to Paul's style, bless his heart. Nevertheless, it was interesting switching back and forth between F1 TV Pro's Austrian Grand Prix coverage and that of Peacock's IndyCar semi-uninterrupted broadcast, both of which cost me big money, easily totaling five, maybe six bucks per race weekend, all in. The ointment fly lands on Sunday afternoons, of course, with the commercial-rich Over-The-Air (OTA) network IndyCar broadcast favored by many folks.

Random listicle:

• Aren't track limits fun?

• Unlike 2022 there was not a single mention of American drivers, teams or manufacturers attempting entry into the pinnacle of motorsports (no, Logan Sargent doesn't doesn't count, especially with two Boston Brahmin-sounding names), at least not on F1 TV Pro; I don't know about Sky because I no longer get ESPN since cutting the cable.

• A visual comparison between the scarred, scraped, snaggle-toothed Jersey barriers at Mid-Ohio and the impeccable Pantone 7743 C green walls with perfectly centered Rolex logos at the Red Bull Ring is pretty much all one needs to differentiate the pecking order between the two series.

• That, plus an an actual ORCHESTRA during opening ceremonies in Austria!

• As one wag remarked when Romain Grosjean moved to IndyCar with Dale Coyne Racing, "Will he miss the Espresso Girls of F1? Hell, I doubt Dale even has a Mister Coffee!" Another point of comparison.

• What's with the weird mics the in-studio commentators use in F1. I mean, I guess the purpose is to dampen nose snorts but isn't there a more elegant solution?

• I don't remember who said it of Checo Pérez, but "The Mexican Minister of Defense" has a nice ring to it don't you think?.

• Did I notice a sly, anti-dead-white-European-men message on a t-shirt worn by Sir Lewis? I guess if anyone'e entitled to the sentiment...

• Question: does the Saturday Sprint race no longer have a relationship to the Grand Prix? They kept calling it a standalone and I didn't see any connection to Sunday's starting grid.

• F1 reminds me of a really nice restaurant with disappointing food.

• I have no affinity for Google despite personally knowing an Android co-founder but the integration of the Chrome logo and McLaren’s papaya couldn’t be tastier.

• When did F1 start employing miniature car numbers – invisible on TV – especially annoying because drivers wear anonymous helmets and both team cars sport nearly identical liveries?

• Lance Stroll’s daddy owns the company but even so he’s giving Fernando Alonso a run for it. Still, it’s good to see Fred back. Rats, I said I was never going to call him that!

• Oh, the 2023 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio? An actual auto race, and who doesn’t love the bumper music in and out of commercial breaks every six to eight minutes and endless voiceover announcements for upcoming golf and reality shows while returning to the action, despite whatever crashes, passes, or, you know, racing might be taking place?

Tonight’s musical selection: Mel Torme defines Donald Fagen’s “The Goodbye Look.”

Until next Wednesday…