Red Bull's Showrun in San Francisco brought speed and chaos to the Marina on Saturday both on and off the track.
The annual showcase gave spectators a chance to witness some of the most suped-up vehicles out there racing down the Marina. However, much of the Formula 1 demonstration centered around what people weren't able to see and how they chose to solve that problem.
Unless someone was standing by the street-turned-track barrier - including those who were just one or two rows behind - it was quite difficult to see the cars speeding by for the mere seconds they were visible. Witnesses on social media described attendees either practically on top of one another or standing on different structures surrounding the event. They stood on street signs, construction equipment and a shipping container, and they even sneaked onto the properties of surrounding residences. One video on TikTok showed police removing spectators who had made their way onto the balcony of a nearby apartment.
Some of the attendees took matters into their own hands and brought ladders and chairs from home so they could get a better view over the uncontained crowd. The number of people in the Marina on Saturday created some bottleneck situations, trapping aspiring spectators who had brought infants and dogs to the event. In one Reddit post, commenters confirmed witnessing altercations over the limited space. It also caused major traffic issues throughout the city on Saturday.
SFGATE reached out to various authorities about the fallout from the event. The San Francisco Fire Department directed SFGATE to the event's organizers. The Department of Building Inspection did not find any complaints submitted over possible damage done to nearby homes. SFPD's public information officer did not respond to inquiries about arrests and citations. Mayor Daniel Lurie's office also did not respond to a request for comment.
It wasn't just the spectators who had problems during the event, as the spectacle itself had its share of notable mishaps too. One race car caught fire while driver Yuki Tsunoda, of "Drive to Survive" fame, did some celebratory donuts on the street, and another hit a barricade in front of some spectators, causing the car's wing to fall off. Both drivers looked unscathed after their respective incidents. As for the financial damage, Red Bull's own FAQ site values F1 cars at an estimated $16 million.
Even the post-event hype video couldn't avoid a mistake, as the on-screen captions had Tsunoda calling the city "San Fransisco," a typo that Red Bull also had on its official schedule as of Monday morning.
SFGATE local editor Kasia Pawlowska contributed to this report.
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This article originally published at Red Bull's F1 showcase in the Marina was utter chaos.