Formula 1: I don't get it

ugo.santalucia

Beside overtakes and electronics, what the Formula 1 really needs are characters... Senna was a character, he had depth, Prost was a character, so was Piquet, Villeneuve Sr. was a character... Schumacher was not really a character, Vettel is pretty much the same thing and Hamilton is an excitable puppy who refuses to grow into a man... they are the video-games generation turn pilots... as persons they are not interesting... they are rich kids that go fast on a track and probably chase Pokemons when they don't... shallow, pointless...

iPete

I don't think those are issues linked to only F1 but every big money sport.
I'd love to see Ric in a car than can win the WC, top bloke but then again, let the driving do the talking.

ugo.santalucia

iPete wrote:

, let the driving do the talking.

Let the talking do the talking... these kids have nothing to say and that is the crucial issue... Ali was Great because he talked a lot, sometimes with some sense...

fat daddy

I used to love and religiously watch f1 as a kid in the 80's and 90's ... I regularly remember falling asleep in front of the tv on a Sunday as the procession made its way around

Can't be arsed though these days ... The races are still ad dull, but now they are intertwined with a billion rules that decide who wins

Would rather spend the 2 hours out on one of the bikes these days

motogull

I think F1 is too sterile now. Those 'thank you, you're the greatest' post race listen ins were so cheesey.

Schumacher was a bosche swine. Wasn't a bad thing to have a baddie, even if he won more often than not.

I'd like to see blemish-free Hamilton put the new bosche swine on his harris next time he pulls a stunt. Hunt would have. And then shagged his bird.

matt_n-2

KingstonGraham wrote:

I haven't watched it for years. I think the point at which they decided that all vehicles needed a piece of wood strapped to the bottom to stop them getting too much grip was when I started to lose interest. Now they are forced to have "tyre strategy" aren't they? Made to use inefficient tyres at some point to make it interesting. They are neither the fastest possible cars, nor similar enough to each other to make it a test of driver ability.

Other than the 'plank' all those issues have existed in F1 since day 1.

They have always had to manage the tyres, compounds have changed, grooved tyres etc. all to try and reduce grip to increase the spectacle, it's just a different form of degradation now.

When have the cars ever been similar enough to test driver ability? Pretty much every season has been won by a driver in a dominant car, that's just how F1 and pretty much every other form of motor sport works.

RallyBiker

coriordan wrote:

But then why aren't they in f1 where there's more money? It's a different discipline which may explain the difference in ability between WRC and F1 but if you have the skill why would you not go for f1 (paid drives excluded)

If it was about the money, they wouldn't in motorsport would they, they'd be hedgefund managers, or business tycoons (like their fathers are). Andreas Mikklesons dad is the second richest man in Norway, so it ain't about the cash!

Anonymous

If your skill is driving then hedge fund manager ain't gonna be your career trajectory?

Frank Wilson

Olivier Panis at a wet Monaco was the last exciting race I can remember which would have been surpassed by Olivier Panis in Canada when he was unlapping himself and was due to recatch the whole field and win it if his steering hadn't broke and put him in the barrier..

Doing something like 8 or 9 seconds a lap faster than anyone else in the Canada race due to the longevity of his Bridgestones compared to what the other teams were using.

Anonymous

Button in Canada is the modern great race. 13th on grid to win

tlw1

coriordan wrote:

Button in Canada is the modern great race. 13th on grid to win

Yep, fantastic race

matt_n-2

coriordan wrote:

Button in Canada is the modern great race. 13th on grid to win

Agreed, although he started 7th and then 10th at the re-start.

From the delayed re-start with the commentary from MB and DC, all the way through to JB dropping down the order due to penalties and a puncture and that pass on Vettel on the last lap, epic.

Anonymous

I think watching f1 is like watching the Tour de France - it has a huge amount of hype and unless something happens to the favourite, the GC/winner is a foregone conclusion and not that exciting. The nuances from 4-20, especially this year have been great, especially seeing lesser teams do well, some of the controversial collisions, upgrades, #2 drivers outperforming their leaders etc.

Still hoping alonso and button stay in the sport and Honda continue to improve. Isn't there a rule coming in where engine suppliers need to give current year engines to the smaller teams? Should spice things up?

matt_n-2

Yeh lots of new regs coming in for 2017, same engines to supplied teams, removal of the token system and a few other things: