For such a terrible car, it still looks good.

My favourite F1 cars, from any era in history, happen to be those 90's era backmarker cars. Jordan 191, Eurobrun, Minardi, Simtek's etc.

Crowds can be difficult to manage simply because of the effort needed to maintain their concentration. During the filming of Grand Prix (1966) there was a scene where a flaming car is driven into the pits. It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and the director, John Frankenheimer, was disgusted by the crowd's lack of reaction to the dramatic action during the rehearsals. They appeared to be more interested in their tea break. Frankenheimer called his special effects man over and told him to 'blow up the tea van' when given the signal. The unit went for a take. The flaming sports car came into the pits. The crowd looked on. The signal was given and the tea truck exploded. The crowd reacted and Frankenheimer got his shot' This is an extreme example of how to direct crowds. (from "Production Management for Film and Video" by Richard Gates)

so now we know what got Michael Bay influenced by

A young George Lucas participated in this film. It clearly had an impact in many ways. It will be noticed that the formula one racers did not have any rear cowling and the backs of the engines were exposed. If Star Wars (1977) fans were wondering why the backs of the X wing fighters were not sleek but had exposed mechanical elements, this was directly inspired by formula one. One can easily imagine Lucas experiencing these machines roaring past at high speed and picturing them as being space fighters.

I think a man can have two, maybe three affairs, while he is married. But three is the absolute maximum. After that, you're cheating.

Although as an aside to all this, if you look up the imdb profile of Yves Montad, the actor who played Sarti, look at this bizarre "personal quote"