The Overtake Button really kills China as a spectacle. Well, the Overtake Button kills most races, but moreso at China with the 2 long straights.
It's too artificial now. Mercedes have too much in hand and the others little real capability of closing anywhere near. If Mercedes threatened to leave without getting their way, it's now all too clear why. This isn't F1, but an exhibition of their lead in the car manufacturing industry with the greatest government green initiative requirements.
Wow!! What a spectacle. This really is racing! It really is a dud sport.
Didn't Fangio used to win races by a margin of a couple of minutes, on various occasions?
Has there ever been a time where F1 was always interesting?
Not sure you can really pin this one on DRS or aero' either. There weren't a huge number of DRS passes along the back-straight and there weren't a lot of cars spending a lot of time following each other closely either.
Seems like it was just one of those races where the cars all simply finished in order of merit.
Perhaps, if anything, the problem is that some circuits just aren't designed in a way that allows them to be "attacked" by an ambitious driver so they're all left to simply trundle from lights to flag in an optimal manner and that's what leads to a dull race?
The Williams is currently considered a decent car and yet, after his awful pitstop, Massa couldn't do much to recover in the way that, say, DR did in Bahrain.
The time he lost just remained lost.
Didn't Fangio used to win races by a margin of a couple of minutes, on various occasions?
Has there ever been a time where F1 was always interesting?
Not sure you can really pin this one on DRS or aero' either. There weren't a huge number of DRS passes along the back-straight and there weren't a lot of cars spending a lot of time following each other closely either.
Seems like it was just one of those races where the cars all simply finished in order of merit.
Perhaps, if anything, the problem is that some circuits just aren't designed in a way that allows them to be "attacked" by an ambitious driver so they're all left to simply trundle from lights to flag in an optimal manner and that's what leads to a dull race?
The Williams is currently considered a decent car and yet, after his awful pitstop, Massa couldn't do much to recover in the way that, say, DR did in Bahrain.
The time he lost just remained lost.
It was a pretty poor race. Great for Lewis but as much as I'm a great fan of his and I like seeing him win, the race was rubbish. And it feels like the Mercs are in coast mode all the time, as if they're always saving fuel, which gives off the impression that they have a lot of race pace in hand. And that's slightly worrying for the rest.
But luckily for RB, Spain and Monaco represent their best chance of a win this season and those two tracks are next. But Merc will bring upgrades and they'll be right up there, although I would expect RB to be closer in quali (3 tenths away from Merc I believe) and half a second a lap slower in race pace at the most, which should lead to a closer race.
I think this year is a heck of a lot more interesting than the last few - Hamilton driving a car that allows him to drive at his best, Vettel driving a car that shows how ordinary a driver he actually is, Rosberg starting to fulfil his potential and Ricciardo showing that he has bags of the stuff by getting far more out of a sub-par car than the 4x world champion!
I wish we had Hamilton and Ricciardo in the Mercedes, that would be an interesting battle for sure...
Ricciardo showing that he has bags of the stuff by getting far more out of a sub-par car than the 4x world champion
Is it a sup-par car (accepting that the Renault power unit is a dog compared to the Mercedes) or just one not as suited to SV's driving style? Did DR do most of the donkey work testing (and developing) this year's car? Did SV drop the ball on this one?
I think this year is a heck of a lot more interesting than the last few - Hamilton driving a car that allows him to drive at his best, Vettel driving a car that shows how ordinary a driver he actually is, Rosberg starting to fulfil his potential and Ricciardo showing that he has bags of the stuff by getting far more out of a sub-par car than the 4x world champion!
Interesting theory people were suggesting today; that, over the last few years, Vettel's been driving a car with such a terrific amount of downforce while Ricciardo's been driving a kinda sucky STR and, as a result, DR's more comfortable in an uncooperative car while Vettel needs to try and remember what it's like to drive an unruly car.
The more you hear about statistics, the more you realise that Hamilton has been just plain unlucky to be driving in F1 in an era when Vettel and his super-downforce RBR were so dominant.
Niki Lauda has the same number of wins as Hamilton and won 3 WDCs for his efforts.
Alonso hasn't, statistically, been as successful as Hamilton and he's got 2 WDCs.
Vettel and Hamilton have scored very nearly the same number of points per race, from roughly the same number of races, but Vettel's got 4 WDCs to Hamilton's one.
It's pathetic now. I mean we get fuel consumption figures. If I wanted to see that sort of crap on a Sunday I could just take my diesel car from a drive and see what Mpg I can get.
(From the BBC F1 gossip site) Heikki Kovalainen to become a test driver for Mercedes.
Hope that doesn't create any bad mojo at Merc'.
I like Kovalainen and it's great to see him stay in the sport but, when he was Hamilton's team-mate at McLaren, it seems like he was often the biggest thorn in Hamilton's side.
Obviously, team-mates should compete but I seem to recall spending a lot of time shouting at the telly for Kova' to get out of Lewis' way cos it seemed like he was always doing stuff like holding Hamilton up for lap after lap and then, once Hamilton had finally passed him, he'd bloody-well move over and let Alonso or Vettel through straight away.
Herbert, Gerhard Berger, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger were the only F1 drivers of that time to attend Ratzenberger's funeral, along with then FIA president Max Mosley.
Would have thought his team mate Brabham would have attended.
From what I have read, The Senna family asked Bernie not to attend, allegedly because they were upset he did not halt the race following Senna's crash. How true this is, I don't know.
From what I have read, The Senna family asked Bernie not to attend, allegedly because they were upset he did not halt the race following Senna's crash. How true this is, I don't know.
Wouldn't it have been the FIA race director's call rather than Bernie's?
Yes, but that's what I have read and seen no other explanation.
Don't know how true it is.
If it Was the FIA why would they want it carry on with the race, what would they have to gain and surly the People in Charge of the Circuit would of had a say I would of thought
Comments
Didn't Fangio used to win races by a margin of a couple of minutes, on various occasions?
Has there ever been a time where F1 was always interesting?
Not sure you can really pin this one on DRS or aero' either. There weren't a huge number of DRS passes along the back-straight and there weren't a lot of cars spending a lot of time following each other closely either.
Seems like it was just one of those races where the cars all simply finished in order of merit.
Perhaps, if anything, the problem is that some circuits just aren't designed in a way that allows them to be "attacked" by an ambitious driver so they're all left to simply trundle from lights to flag in an optimal manner and that's what leads to a dull race?
The Williams is currently considered a decent car and yet, after his awful pitstop, Massa couldn't do much to recover in the way that, say, DR did in Bahrain.
The time he lost just remained lost.
It was a pretty poor race. Great for Lewis but as much as I'm a great fan of his and I like seeing him win, the race was rubbish. And it feels like the Mercs are in coast mode all the time, as if they're always saving fuel, which gives off the impression that they have a lot of race pace in hand. And that's slightly worrying for the rest.
But luckily for RB, Spain and Monaco represent their best chance of a win this season and those two tracks are next. But Merc will bring upgrades and they'll be right up there, although I would expect RB to be closer in quali (3 tenths away from Merc I believe) and half a second a lap slower in race pace at the most, which should lead to a closer race.
I wish we had Hamilton and Ricciardo in the Mercedes, that would be an interesting battle for sure...
Interesting theory people were suggesting today; that, over the last few years, Vettel's been driving a car with such a terrific amount of downforce while Ricciardo's been driving a kinda sucky STR and, as a result, DR's more comfortable in an uncooperative car while Vettel needs to try and remember what it's like to drive an unruly car.
The more you hear about statistics, the more you realise that Hamilton has been just plain unlucky to be driving in F1 in an era when Vettel and his super-downforce RBR were so dominant.
Niki Lauda has the same number of wins as Hamilton and won 3 WDCs for his efforts.
Alonso hasn't, statistically, been as successful as Hamilton and he's got 2 WDCs.
Vettel and Hamilton have scored very nearly the same number of points per race, from roughly the same number of races, but Vettel's got 4 WDCs to Hamilton's one.
i cant really see them losing any of the races this year bar accidents
they have such a advantage in all conditions
hopefully rosberg can give hamilton a hard time
Dont mind a team being ahead of the rest, long as there is some inter team battles and action further down the field.
Mercedes did the hard work, they deserve their moment in the sun. Other merc teams will bring updates, so the racing at the front should improve.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27136709
Utter utter utter cack.
RIP Roland Ratzenberger.
The forgotten one by so many people, overshadowed by the death of Ayrton the day after, So Ignored
Four F1 drivers attended his funeral.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113739
I think Max Mosley when he was in charge went to his Funeral too, and Bernie was banned from going to Senna's, But not Sure why
Berger & wendlinger(sp) were the only others to attend according to Wikipedia so who were the other to drivers to go
rip to Senna & Ratzenberger both should never be forgotten
Given the way the season's been going so far, he's probably smashed up his computer.
Hope that doesn't create any bad mojo at Merc'.
I like Kovalainen and it's great to see him stay in the sport but, when he was Hamilton's team-mate at McLaren, it seems like he was often the biggest thorn in Hamilton's side.
Obviously, team-mates should compete but I seem to recall spending a lot of time shouting at the telly for Kova' to get out of Lewis' way cos it seemed like he was always doing stuff like holding Hamilton up for lap after lap and then, once Hamilton had finally passed him, he'd bloody-well move over and let Alonso or Vettel through straight away.
I know Johnny Herbert attended, I recently read an article with quotes from him saying only 4 drivers attended.
This is not the article I read originally, but it mentions it, will try and find the other one, http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/30/sport/motorsport/roland-ratzenberger-death-anniversary/
Would have thought his team mate Brabham would have attended.
From what I have read, The Senna family asked Bernie not to attend, allegedly because they were upset he did not halt the race following Senna's crash. How true this is, I don't know.
Wouldn't it have been the FIA race director's call rather than Bernie's?
Yes, but that's what I have read and seen no other explanation.
Don't know how true it is.
If it Was the FIA why would they want it carry on with the race, what would they have to gain and surly the People in Charge of the Circuit would of had a say I would of thought
Under Italian law, the race would have to be stopped as the crash site would be treated as a crime scene.