Yeah the racing wasn't great either but atleast you felt that the drivers were truly pushing which is the exact opposite of this era as the tyres make it impossible.

In the end though the tyres are just a symptom of the real issue that F1 has not been able to solve in 20 years which is cars not being able to follow each other because of the aerodynamics. That problem is just exacerbated because of the make up of the pirelli tyres falling off after only 3 or 4 laps behind another car.

It's why i'm so down on the championship race this season as there's just no way you can say anyone has proven they are the better driver which should be the whole point of a championship.

The only thing we have to look at this season in that regard is Monaco and Silverstone where Hamilton completely outclassed Rosberg in changing conditions from wet to dry.

Why would you get rid of Rachel Brookes? She is one of the best television F1 reporters anywhere. I'd probably rate only Ted Kravitz and Will Buxton ahead of her.

Rachel Brookes is bang average. Dreadful waffle questions. Still miss Louise Goodman!

If F1 2016 was bang average i'd be delighted. Worst season I think I've watched in 16-18 years. 2004 closely behind. Utterly fed up of Croft now (Still better than Legard mind!) Brundle is shunted to complete second fiddle. When Brundle was with Allen - both called incidents. If Brundle was talking and something happened Allen didn't cut him off, compared to Croft, Brundle what do the 'shouty' bit! It had a good dynamic.

There was actually so many great noughties races. Mentioned before I could pickout so many more from 2001-08 than could from say the 'amazing' 2010 season. 2002 was this Ferrari dominating (one driver dominating) season but Australia, Malaysia, Brazil, Austria, Monaco, GB, USA, Japan - all stick in my mind. 2003 for me still the best season. Some great and bonkers races (My fav was Montoya losing the plot at US GP in the half rainy, dry race to wipe himself out of the title race). Australia too, for DC's last win that year and obviously the bonkers Brazil one too.

2007 & 08 - touched on before (and obviously customer cars in there etc) but the whole field was within around 2 second from McLaren/Ferrari to Spyker/Force India at the back. I thought racing was near perfect then.

Yay
Rachel Brookes is an excellent reporter and deserves high praise for recent presenter roles for Sky F1

Rachel Brookes is one of the few gems Sky have in their onscreen talent!
She is second only to Ted IMHO and she is leaps and bounds over Natalie Pinkham, who i think is beyond a joke!

I'm another that rates Rachel Brookes highly.
Really enjoy her interviewing, f1 show and practice session and the like presenting too.

Regardless of how good/bad Rachel is, there was a clear attempt to sex her up a bit when she started getting used more on camera and give her stupid girly giggle segments like they'd previously given to Georgie and Natalie.

Natalie has shown she's perfectly capable of doing proper, more serious stuff when she gets the chance. She's not as knowledgeable as Rachel, but is a decent interviewer (compared to Craig Slater she's outstanding) and still a better presenter than the material she's usually given to work with. Some of the criticism she gets is beyond a joke!

She's good. But she's no Lee McKenzie. End of.

Whether it comes from her or is forced on her, too often her interviewing is not relevant to the person she's asking the questions too, and is instead just fishing for any opinion on whatever sky have decided is the big story of the race is.

Thing is, it's not just the tyres.

You always had to manage the tyres well - look at the way that Prost won races back in the mid 1980s; he was always making sure that he changed tyres at the right time to get the most out of them.

The other problem the drivers have got is the fuel, and this is never going to change unless refuelling is reinstated. That's because the weight of the fuel adversely impacts the speed of the car, being such a high percentage of the car's weight, and the teams want to carry as little weight as possible.

So you're still not going to have drivers that are able to push at 100% for the whole race, because they'll be fuel saving for half of it unless there is a major safety car period.

Another Brooks fan here.For some reason though I always call her Rebecca?!!

Outside of Brundle and Damon the rest of them can be assigned to ping pong or netball or whatever.

Jp

Rebecca (or to be accurate, Rebekah) is a very, very different woman!

Rachel Brookes is bang average. Dreadful waffle questions.


Affirmative, she is nearly as good as that buffon Slater

charming..

Maybe, with our new overlords, we'll see coverage become like this

I kinda hope so.
Jp

AND...even better with less swearing !!!

Better..

Jp

@Jonpollak

As promised, our F1 Japan itinerary
On F1 trips to Montreal met nice Japanese family, they nagged us to go to Japan one day, so this is it
Have already put them up in UK at Easter in my second house
Looking forward to lots of culture, history and scenery
Love Japanese food, some good restaurants near me often visit
Me and five girls who work for me in my business are going, we all love F1 and of course have hit Austin and Montreal together in the past as mentioned on here
Be my bonus treat for them for being so loyal employees and great friends
Any tips welcome for the F1 circuit, told its very busy
Seats are in Grandstand C2 Upper
Have 14 day Japan rail pass

Day 1 leave UK
Day 2 Arrive Narita airport, Tokyo
staying in Tokyo
Day 5 Tokyo to Nagoya - train
staying in Nagoya
Trips to Suzuka F1 Days 6 to 8 - train
Trips to Osaka and Kyoto Days 9,10 and 11 - train
Day 12 Nagoya to Kanazawa - train
staying with our friends in Kanazawa
Lot of exploring to do there, will be driving their Toyota Harrier Grand
Day 16 Kanazawa to Kiso, Nagano - train
staying in traditonal Japanese Inn
Day 18 Kiso to Tokyo - train
staying in Tokyo
Day 21 Leave Narita airport, Tokyo to UK

WOW Kirstie..sounds superb !!!

Sitting at the exit of what they call "U-turn" is bound to offer you girls some great action.
I believe (at least it was when I was there in '89 but may have changed) that your ticket allows you to wander free along the side of the track where you are sat. On practice and qualy day try to get up to the top of the esses and watch them zoom down to Degner 1.

Race day will be manic so make sure you have a reserved seats on the train to and from Nagoya. After the train arrives at the last stop you still have a bit of a walk to the track.

Suzuka offers really cool and wacky swag and souvenirs so leave a little room in the suitcase.

As always Japanese weather can be bizarre so bring a few different types of plastic macs. As you may already know Japanese mobile phones operate of a different system and there is NO GSM so you may want to pick up a SIM card that replicates your system for your UK phone.( I use NTT ) Also there is a free Japan WiFi app you'll want to download as it offers loads of places to hop on at no charge (Also NTT)


Otherwise seeing as you've got it pretty well sorted my main suggestion is the AMAZING Kenroku-en gardens in Kanazawa.
They're some of the most beautiful in the world !!

A couple other suggestions.

In Tokyo go to Shinjuku at night to see the "Candy Doll" and "Kawaii girls" fashion parade.
Nagoya has a cool shopping area called Osu district.
(bizzare tee-shirt and clothing shops down back alleys)

When in Osaka you MUST try the local dish called "okonomiyaki" It's a like a Japanese pizza but WAY more tasty.

Kyoto is great for architecture.

Have a super time Kirstie and if possible learn a few phrases in Japanese.
The locals will giggle at your attempt but show you the utmost courtesy and break their backs trying to help you.
They are the most lovely, sweet people on earth.
Jp

- Tales from the Vault
- Legends of F1
- Architects of F1

...programmes like this... when is the last time Sky broadcast a new one of these - or any other kind of new non-race day material for that matter?

Genuine question... not just a complaint.

Last year. There's been no new non-race day programme material this year.

Does that include classic F1 races? There have been a small number where I've thought "I don't *think* that's been shown before", but since I'm not religiously tracking it then I've no idea one way or another for sure.

Don't think they've introduced any new classic races either. Pretty sure I've seen them all now. They seem to loop.

Is it me or are there a lot of races they could show that they don't? For example, a lot of races shown are only classic in as much as they are a race from years ago... as opposed to being an epic race. Still waiting for some of my favourites to crop up.

Still waiting for Europe 1999... I mean, Herbert won it after all, so you'd imagine Sky would be all over it!

One day. Maybe.

I'd certainly be pleased if any of France 1999, France 2000 or Brazil 2001 appeared as well.

Though France 1999 was the race after the day ITV got blocked from showing quali (from memory) and I think there was a massive thunderstorm during Brazil 2001 which knocked the commentary off for about 20 minutes, so maybe neither of those is particularly simple for different reasons.

But yeah, in general, more 1997-2000, please...have they ever shown Jerez 1997?

Exactly the race I had in mind when saying what I did! Don't think I've ever seen it back since the event. Come to think of it, don't they show Johnny driving his Stewart in the intro? With that in mind, you'd think it would be one of the ones they show. Never seen it though, that's for sure.


I remember tuning in for that qualifying session and being massively disappointed when I found out they wouldn't be showing it. It was a rain-affected session that produced a mixed up grid as well. It was quite a qualifying to miss out on...

Re: Jerez 97 I think the only race shown from 1997 is Hungary where Damon breaks down on the last lap.

I'm sure Brazil 2001 was shown a couple of times when they first started with the classic races. I remember tweeting about it.


Hell yes. I second this entirely.


You can find it on the net, if you know where to look.

I just enjoy the novelty of seeing the races on TV. No web stream can really beat that.

What was the 1999-ITV France gate thing all about again? Some how did it crop up ITV didn't have quali rights or something 2.5 years late or something?! Didn't they not show quali late at night for that France meeting?