The F1 thread.

Fantastic Mr Fox

Amazing qualifying session at Albert Park.

McLaren have built quite a machine it would seem, 5 tenths faster than the next car.

Ferrari have built a dog, seemingly no mechanical grip or front downforce.

RedBull also looked a bit unstable, not as quick as it was the last 2 years.

Really good to see Roman Grojean up in 3rd, Schumy in 4th and even a Williams in the top 10.

Rigga

Agreed, should be very interesting just hope i can get up in the morning to watch it!

tlw1

Agreed its been fantastic so far

Interesting to see what will happen in race trim tomorrow

VWsurfbum

It was a bloody good race today, but i'm tired now Hamilton looked like he had a propper face on again, i recon he's given up already?
great to see williams getting in the mix and saubers.
So who thinks Massa will be gone by next week?

tlw1

Massa should pack up his desk!

leaflite

Its clearly Massa that is the problem as Alonso managed a fairly respectable result despite the car.
Was a shame that Grojean got taken out so early on though!

Anonymous

Fantastic Mr Fox wrote:

McLaren have built quite a machine it would seem, 5 tenths faster than the next car.

Expect loads of penalties against them then this season.

VWsurfbum

deadkenny wrote:

Fantastic Mr Fox wrote:

McLaren have built quite a machine it would seem, 5 tenths faster than the next car.

Expect loads of penalties against them then this season.

Only Hamilton

Clank

VWsurfbum wrote:

It was a bloody good race today, but i'm tired now Hamilton looked like he had a propper face on again, i recon he's given up already?

It wasn't my imagination then - he just seemed to give up after the start. Didn't try and take on Button, couldn't be bothered trying to retake Vettel. Was there a handingling issue or was it an attitude problem?

Richie63

Well i enjoyed it last night on BBC.

So if the choices could be
A. Get up early and pay to watch it
B. Stay up lateish and see for free

I think I'll pick B

Raymondavalon

Watched the 'extended' highlights last night too..
A good race and it was good to see JB get off to a good start, again the qualifying didn't quite show the endgame
Yea, Hamilton looked well peeved with his 3rd place, but I've always believed JB is a better driver, team member and ambassador that Hamilton.

Anonymous

Richie63 wrote:

Well i enjoyed it last night on BBC.

So if the choices could be
A. Get up early and pay to watch it
B. Stay up lateish and see for free

I think I'll pick B

Went for

C. Stay up latish and watch the whole replay.

Okay not exactly free, but I've got Sky HD already so no extra cost on that and don't have to get Sky Sports.

Bonus - Martin and no Eddie
Downside - Murdoch empire, it's not BBC.

That said the footage is identical as it comes from the FIA. It's just the commentary basically. Still feel like a traitor for watching it though and will stick to the BBC version for the full races they have. Sky do have all the practices and qualifying in full though. Hmm.

Annoying as I'm certain Sky will get exclusive rights after the current deal with BBC expires and F1 goes the way of Cricket then.

Rigga

Where's Eddie Jordan this year? I miss his shirts!

cooldad

EJ is a d1ck and still with BBC unfortunately.

I missed Martin Brundle.

El Zomba

I, for one, don't mind Eddie Jordan. It's a good use of HD broadcasting to see where his wig is stuck down.

Couldn't tollerate Ben Edwards' commentary though. He was incredibly irritating.

Rigga

cooldad wrote:

EJ is a d1ck and still with BBC unfortunately.

I missed Martin Brundle.

Oh, he wasn't with Jake H and DC when i watched qualys so thought he must have left. I quite like him he doesn't mind steaming into pit lanes and throwing questions at anybody. And he doesn't care who he offends.

You can also tell Coulthard is dying to punch his lights out!

Anonymous

Brundle is much the same on the commentary side on Sky as he was on BBC. He's paired up with David Croft and not sure about him. Messed up a few times, but he did Five Live F1 commentary before I understand (never listen to it).

They also nabbed Ted Kravitz so familiar stuff there too.

Damon Hill is the EJ on Sky. Bit bland, but not a d1ck.

tlw1

deadkenny wrote:

Brundle is much the same on the commentary side on Sky as he was on BBC. He's paired up with David Croft and not sure about him. Messed up a few times, but he did Five Live F1 commentary before I understand (never listen to it).

They also nabbed Ted Kravitz so familiar stuff there too.

Damon Hill is the EJ on Sky. Bit bland, but not a d1ck.

At least croft has the enthusiasm aka Murray walker

Anonymous

Just hoping it doesn't go too shouty like Sky Sports News.

Fantastic Mr Fox

I heard the Sky coverage was a bit rubbish. Hours and hours of presenters with not a lot to say just for the sake of 'coverage'. Also I heard it was studio based, which strikes me as being stupid as I like the feeling of being in the Pit lane with the BBC.

BBC's coverage was still awesome as ever, thank god for the beeb!

Its a shame about Kravitz and Brundle but I think the BBC still has a MUCH stronger team. DC is good in the commentary box (not sure about the other guy as yet) and despite what you guys think of Eddie, he has the contacts and the charm to get gossip and proper exclusives. If you want good coverage, you need Eddie Jordan. Also Gary Anderson gives really good indepth technical analysis of F1 cars, far above what Brundle was able to give.

It wasn't so bad watching the race delayed, the beeb played a lot of it and It wasn't clear what had been edited out.

lawman

The BBC coverage was excellent, so much better than the Sky shit I watched pre-season, honestly I have never in all my years of watching F1 have never turned off a F1 program, until sky came along, the UK viewing figures are going to go down massively, I see no reason why on earth you would pay for sky sports other than the fact you have too, in all honesty everything sky produce is shite, it really is. the BBC did a fantastic job on the highlights show, was superb as it always was, I think the teams might be reviewing the pay per view idea very quickly when all the sponsorship dries up, cos frankly, once again sky have fucked up yet another quality sport with their shite coverage...

Anonymous

Cricket seems to be surviving despite Sky's exclusive rights. Beats me how as surely the audience is a fraction of what it was on terrestrial. But then small audience paying lots of money to the Murdoch empire is maybe more lucrative than a big audience with advert or licence fee income.

In the case of F1, that's all that Bernie gives a crap about. He wouldn't care if no one was watching so long as loads of money came his way. That's how it works with some of the fancy new circuits. Empty stands, few in their country give a toss, but if some rich Arab is prepared to hand Bernie millions or more, then he's happy. He doesn't give a crap really about the sport, hence his attitude towards Silverstone (because it's not profitable for him).

lawman

some of these new circuits really are crap, bahrain is boring, as is valencia and abu dhabi, although india is quite good. they need to bring back some of the older tracks, imola, the a1 ring in austria, how the feck a race in russia is going to work i have no idea...

Blind Danny Johnson

Re: Hamilton.

I think he, and pretty much everyone else including me, expected him to walk it in the race and when Jenson overtook him at the start he was clearly shellshocked for a lap or two allowing Jenson to build a gap. Lewis was still building a gap back to third just not catching Jenson. He was very unlucky not to finish 2nd but that's racing and he should be able to roll with punches by now, that's what endears people to public figures be it sportspeople or otherwise. I'm a massive Lewis fan but his attitude facing disappointment needs addressing.

Re: Sky Vs BBC

I watched Sky coverage live and thought they've just stolen all BBC's ideas and replicated it except for the 'Sky pad' which was pretty good but no better than when Brundle used to analyse things with the aid of instant reply on BBC. Anyway I totally agree with Deadkenny when he says that watching Sky coverage over the beeb feels wrong and for all live races on the beeb I'll be with them.

VWsurfbum

I watched back the BBC coverage tonight, the actual race is the same, but its just the opinions that are different.
+points are that this sean looks like its going to be a cracker,
watching it at my brothers means free food, drink and no stupid questions.
-points Not my own sofa, food drink etc.
cant force it upon my kids as my did to me

VWsurfbum

Whatta Shocker

Raymondavalon

VWsurfbum wrote:

Whatta Shocker

Rumours are that Jarno Trulli could be the replacement. Trulli in a Ferrari? Yes man..

lawman

Raymondavalon wrote:

VWsurfbum wrote:

Whatta Shocker

Rumours are that Jarno Trulli could be the replacement. Trulli in a Ferrari? Yes man..

old and past it. perez will replace him without doubt when he goes, even if not til the end of the season.

tlw1

lawman wrote:

Raymondavalon wrote:

VWsurfbum wrote:

Whatta Shocker

Rumours are that Jarno Trulli could be the replacement. Trulli in a Ferrari? Yes man..

old and past it. perez will replace him without doubt when he goes, even if not til the end of the season.

BUT, could be more of a challenge to the spantard and we saw how much he 'enjoyed' being alongside Hamilton @ maclaren. Therefore he will block if he can

VWsurfbum

Trulli of the early renault days yes, now, Na
Perez is a good call but i think Sauber will try and retain him as much as poss?
Maybe a trainee italian? not sure who their reserve driver is at the moment?

tlw1

VWsurfbum wrote:

Trulli of the early renault days yes, now, Na
Perez is a good call but i think Sauber will try and retain him as much as poss?
Maybe a trainee italian? not sure who their reserve driver is at the moment?

are Sauber still using ferrari engines? Maybe a driver swop?