Is F1 really as dull as I believe that it is....

rick_chasey

EKE_38BPM wrote:

There is a lot of stuff to understand and if you don't, then it's just a bunch of cars going round and round a track, but if you do then there is excitement, real danger, the amazing randomness of sport, superb engineering and technology.
.

There's not THAT much.

The commentary does a good job explaining it all anyway.

EKE_38BPM

Rick Chasey wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

There is a lot of stuff to understand and if you don't, then it's just a bunch of cars going round and round a track, but if you do then there is excitement, real danger, the amazing randomness of sport, superb engineering and technology.
.

There's not THAT much.

The commentary does a good job explaining it all anyway.

DRS, KERS, F-ducts, double diffusers, aerodynamic grip, mechanical grip, understeer, oversteer, tyre strategy, fuel strategy, qualifying, front wing/rear wing balance etc. A lot to explain and a lot to understand. If you don't understand, you may not enjoy the race. The commentators can do a good job (Eddie Jordan could go away and not be missed by me) and add to the spectacle, just like in any sport.

The various world champion drivers and their historys make up a lot of the 'colour' of the race weekend.
Schumacher - Multiple world champ who took a break and is slowly rebuilding his form
Kimi - Flair in the car, just wants to be left alone out of it, but seems like a nice guy.
Alonso - Brilliant driver who is trying to rebuild Ferrari
Hamilton - Came into F1 in a blaze of publicity, but has seen to lose the plot recently and has to rebuild
Button - Eventually in decent cars and doing a great job, but took a long time to shine
Vettel - The new kid on the block and a double world champ but strangely still has to prove himself as a racer. Last season Button overtook more cars in one race than Vettel had done in his whole career up to then. Not his fault as he was either in dogs (Torro Rosso) or qualified in Pole and had no-one to overtake.

If you are into F1, its easy to overlook how much you need to understand to appreciate it. Its much more cerebral than, for example, Touring Cars. More strategy, less trading paint.

I think you need a fair chunk of mental horsepower to get the most out of F1.
When I watch F1, I like to have the live timing (all the timings of the cars, accurate to 1/1000th of a second at three points on the track), the driver tracker (showing where all of the cars are on the track) and I'm in a F1 chatroom as well as watching the action on the screen and listening to the commentary.

I still think rally drivers are the better drivers, though.

rick_chasey

Formula one sounds more complicated in writing than in practice.

Seriously, I think you're over-egging it.

I'm a big F1 fan and there's not that much too it - what happens on the track explains most of it anyway.

EKE_38BPM

Rick Chasey wrote:

Formula one sounds more complicated in writing than in practice.

Seriously, I think you're over-egging it.

I'm a big F1 fan and there's not that much too it - what happens on the track explains most of it anyway.

Yeah, you're right, its a bunch of blokes driving around various circuits and the teams spend $400m a year building two cars just for a laugh.

rick_chasey

It's not that.

Some cars are fast, some aren't. Behind behind a slow car slows you down.

Some cars are faster on the straight, some aren't. Some are faster in the corners.

Some qualify quicker than others.

Some are kinder on tyres than others. Softer tyres are faster over a single lap but are less durable. Harder the reverse.

Some drivers are kinder on tyres.

That's more or less it.

DRS is much more obvious when you see it than you explain it.

KERS is just a 7 sec boost per lap that they can use at will - a bit like mario-kart.

That's all you need to understand.

The rest is just nice stuff that adds to the fun > that Button used different brakes to Hamilton, (brembo) because he prefers the initial bite brembo brakes give, whereas Hamlton likes the more progressive character of carbon industry brakes. The intricacies of the Mercedes DRS system that also stalls the front wing. etc

You don't need to know all that to get what's going on.

cje

I love F1 but a friend of mine, who hates it, once said the following: "Whenever I hear people discussing F1, it seems to be a competition about which of them knows the most about it."

rick_chasey

cje wrote:

I love F1 but a friend of mine, who hates it, once said the following: "Whenever I hear people discussing F1, it seems to be a competition about which of them knows the most about it."

Probably true.

Same goes for pro-cycling (!).

EKE_38BPM

But it helps to know a lot of that stuff to appreciate the nuances of the F1 circus. You don't need to, but it provides more insight.

Not knowing some of that stuff is a bit like watching a pro tour and not knowing what the different colour jerseys mean, or understanding that some people are climbers, some sprinters, some domestiques etc.
Every sport has its details that if you don't get, you may not get the most out of the sport and thus it can seem dull.

If you get that a particular driver is hard on their tyres but is charging towards the leader, you will get that they may catch and even pass the leader but will have to pit, whereas someone who is kinder on their tyres can stretch a stint to unforseen lengths.
If you don't have that insight, you see a quick driver charge to the lead and then stop but the slower guy goes on to win.

EKE_38BPM

Rick Chasey wrote:

cje wrote:

I love F1 but a friend of mine, who hates it, once said the following: "Whenever I hear people discussing F1, it seems to be a competition about which of them knows the most about it."

Probably true.

+1

rick_chasey

I DO think Brundle is excellent at letting the viewer know what's going on.

Even to the uninitiated - if you're paying attention he'll give you all the info you need for a good race.

I have to say, I went for Sky last weekend to get Brundle - it's still not as good as the Brundle- Coulthard combo, which was the best combo there's been for the last 10 years.

EKE_38BPM

Rick Chasey wrote:

I DO think Brundle is excellent at letting the viewer know what's going on.

Even to the uninitiated - if you're paying attention he'll give you all the info you need for a good race.

I have to say, I went for Sky last weekend to get Brundle - it's still not as good as the Brundle- Coulthard combo, which was the best combo there's been for the last 10 years.

Brundle is brilliant. Gutted he's not on the BBC anymore. The combo was great and its a pity it has been broken up, but the new BBC commentator seems OK.

I really have no idea why Eddie Jordan is there.

jonginge

Rick Chasey wrote:

I DO think Brundle is excellent at letting the viewer know what's going on.

Even to the uninitiated - if you're paying attention he'll give you all the info you need for a good race.

I have to say, I went for Sky last weekend to get Brundle - it's still not as good as the Brundle- Coulthard combo, which was the best combo there's been for the last 10 years.

I don't have sky. Missing Brundle on the beeb coverage. Will have to see what the live bbc show is like in shanghai...

rick_chasey

It's a very Chavy production. Real shouty sky.

Animated little videos of each driver turning to face the camera in each of their avatars.

There was a little too much standing around for ages talking guff about not much to justify having a separate channel for it. I felt there was a little lack of real substance in the pre-race show. F1 drivers are becoming more and more cliche ridden as the years go on, and sky love that stuff.

The race was good though. Ted is good, Brundle is good. The new guy (from radio 5 live) is a bit full on, and I thought he'd grate, but he knows his stuff, and the REALLY FAST SHOUTING STYLE ASIDE, he's good.

Would rather Brundle as main and a recent ex-driver as co though.

cje

I watched Sky, but everyone says the BBC coverage was superior. Sky ultimately holds the trump card 'cause of the live coverage of all sessions. I even watched GP2 qualifying with my Weetabix this morning.

iPete

The sky coverage was good in parts and those parts were the ones nicked from the beeb!! Anything they have tried to add on is crap, Georgie Thompson and the other guy doing the slo mo with that screen, wtf.

EKE_38BPM wrote:

But it helps to know a lot of that stuff to appreciate the nuances of the F1 circus. You don't need to, but it provides more insight.

Not knowing some of that stuff is a bit like watching a pro tour and not knowing what the different colour jerseys mean, or understanding that some people are climbers, some sprinters, some domestiques etc.
Every sport has its details that if you don't get, you may not get the most out of the sport and thus it can seem dull.

If you get that a particular driver is hard on their tyres but is charging towards the leader, you will get that they may catch and even pass the leader but will have to pit, whereas someone who is kinder on their tyres can stretch a stint to unforseen lengths.
If you don't have that insight, you see a quick driver charge to the lead and then stop but the slower guy goes on to win.

This! Anyone I know who hates F1 doesn't get this insight, they can't see beyond cars going around and around and around for 2 hours.

I never really understood pro cycling either until I understood wind resistance! :oops: Most people ask me when I'm watching 'why don't they just ride off the front'?

cje

iPete wrote:

The sky coverage was good in parts and those parts were the ones nicked from the beeb!! Anything they have tried to add on is crap, Georgie Thompson and the other guy doing the slo mo with that screen, wtf.

I assume you mean Anthony Davidson and the other girl?

neiltb

been an f1 fan and watcher for over 20 years now and the OP, you're probably right, just dull.

I did boycott a few years ago for 1/2 a season and didn't miss it, don't know why i went back.

robot drivers, boring racing, celebrities getting in the way of cameras, aerodynamic pi$$ing contest.

BelgianBeerGeek

OK F1 lovers - it is very, very boring. Very boring indeed.
Group whizzes round track, some crash, some are kinder to their tyres (WTF? A sport where you are kind to your tyres is by definition boring), race over.
And the talk about the exciting technology will only mark you out as a very boring nerd. How does that make a sport great. Surely its about skill, or power, or athleticism, or resilience of the athlete than a wing on a car?
Anyway, each to their own. Someone has already mentioned it, I actually find darts a fascinating game (not sure if the term sport applies).

iPete

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Surely its about skill, or power, or athleticism, or resilience of the athlete

But those are all a given that didn't need mentioning!

prawny

Back to the subject of accessibility for aspiring drivers, there's always going to be a limited number of drivers because there are only 24 F1 drivers at any one time. There many sports where there are only 24 first team participants in the whole sport. It's really too small a sample to get a picture of the average drivers back ground.

What channel is the GP2/3 on? I haven't spotted it on the guide.

EKE_38BPM

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

And the talk about the exciting technology will only mark you out as a very boring nerd... Surely its about skill, or power, or athleticism, or resilience of the athlete than a wing on a car?
Anyway, each to their own. Someone has already mentioned it, I actually find darts a fascinating game (not sure if the term sport applies).

In the hot races the cockpit of the cars is hotter than a sauna, the driver's heart rates is over 200 bpm for over two hours and they lose kilos of weight (sweat) during the race. They are at their physical limits whilst performing life and death manouevres, talk engineering to the pitwall and then get out of the car at the end of the race barely sweating. They may rely on an engine rather than their legs for motive power, but they are athletes.

I am a nerd and proud of it. As I said earlier, it helps if have some mental horsepower to 'get' F1. Maybe you should stick to darts, assuming you can handle the maths.

veronese68

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Maybe you should stick to darts, assuming you can handle the maths.

I knew a bloke that could score a game of 501 in roman numerals as quickly as you could throw the darts. Problem being after a while the players would lose track of where they were and would have a go at him so he would revert to a more normal method.
A rare, and completely pointless, talent.

EKE_38BPM

Veronese68 wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Maybe you should stick to darts, assuming you can handle the maths.

I knew a bloke that could score a game of 501 in roman numerals as quickly as you could throw the darts. Problem being after a while the players would lose track of where they were and would have a go at him so he would revert to a more normal method.
A rare, and completely pointless, talent.

How (and why) would you learn such a thing?
On a side note, I've decided to have the year of manufacture of my fixie on the inside of the chainstays in roman numerals when I get it repainted. MCMLXXXIII



...and maybe my avatar, name and blood group on the top tube (rally car stylee).

secretsam

Any sport where they get excited about changing tyres must be as dull as sh1t.

My father in law is an absolute nut for F1, once sat with him to watch it. I fell asleep.

EKE_38BPM

SecretSam wrote:

...I fell asleep.

If I watch F1 lying down, I often fall asleep and I'm trying to pay attention.
I think the sound of the engines on TV is very soporific.

verylonglegs

Just wet the track, then you find out who can really drive.

veronese68

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Maybe you should stick to darts, assuming you can handle the maths.

I knew a bloke that could score a game of 501 in roman numerals as quickly as you could throw the darts. Problem being after a while the players would lose track of where they were and would have a go at him so he would revert to a more normal method.
A rare, and completely pointless, talent.

How (and why) would you learn such a thing?

Maybe it was useful for his work, he was a plasterer as I recall.

EKE_38BPM wrote:

On a side note, I've decided to have the year of manufacture of my fixie on the inside of the chainstays in roman numerals when I get it repainted. MCMLXXXIII



...and maybe my avatar, name and blood group on the top tube (rally car stylee).

Tart! I like it.