The Official Formula One Thread!

[77T]

I know this is F1 - but I just watched my DVR of the FE race in Mexico last weekend - anyone see that amazing race?

Now I am not a big fan of the old format using 2 cars per driver or some of the “parking lot” style courses like NY. But this year has been different.

Well if you get a chance to see the replay, watch it to the end!


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[Rock]

Jeez Sean, I hope that isn't the shape of things to come from Renault.
Too many good drivers with rubbish equipment in the mix already.
We need some more teams to get their act together or I will take up watching Lawn Bowls for excitement.

[Lol-x]

Originally Posted by sillo38

Ricciardo had a little DRS issue today

https://streamable.com/v8icc

Yes it seems the wing can get ripped off if (a) the DRS action opens it too wide and it rips off under excessive pressure or (b) it is opened to a stage where it moves violently back and forth (vibration) and the frequency fatigues the wing until failure...

[77T]

Renault was testing more than the bigger wing design -




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[sillo]

Williams have finally arrived in Barcelona, hopefully they can actually get on track today.

[Rolex Essex]

Originally Posted by sillo38

Williams have finally arrived in Barcelona, hopefully they can actually get on track today.

Hope they made good development on the car because last season they were the laughingstock.

[texasmade]

Originally Posted by Rolex Essex

Hope they made good development on the car because last season they were the laughingstock.

Not likely since they're still the laughingstock when they couldn't even get their car ready by day 2 of testing.

[OmegaJJH]

Originally Posted by texasmade

Not likely since they're still the laughingstock when they couldn't even get their car ready by day 2 of testing.

It’s such a shame. I think Williams are a lot of people’s ‘second team’ and I was really hoping to see Kubica and Russell have a good go this year.
Looks like another year at the back unless Paddy has come up with the next Brawn style double diffuser but somehow I doubt it


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[Rock]

One of the most intriguing (intriguing, not entertaining) things about F1 is the way the performance of Teams ebbs and flows. The story behind this would probably be more entertaining (entertaining, not intriguing) than the actual Season itself at present.

[Zakalwe]

So it looks like a point for the fastest lap of the race is going to be introduced this season.

I can see the theory - that it will spice up the final laps of a Grand prix that can often be devoid of much action, that it will create a race within a race and even that it is at least pure in a way that gimmicks like DRS aren't.

I can't help but feel though that it's going to end up feeling quite cheap. Basically every GP will see everybody outside the top 10, plus every car in the top 10 that has a time gap of over a pit-stop duration come into the pits on the penultimate lap, bolt on the stickiest tyres and put in a qualy lap. 8 times out of 10 the car that is the highest up the road that does this will get the point.

We'll soon see I guess.

[mangoseed]

Originally Posted by Zakalwe

So it looks like a point for the fastest lap of the race is going to be introduced this season.

I can see the theory - that it will spice up the final laps of a Grand prix that can often be devoid of much action, that it will create a race within a race and even that it is at least pure in a way that gimmicks like DRS aren't.

I can't help but feel though that it's going to end up feeling quite cheap. Basically every GP will see everybody outside the top 10, plus every car in the top 10 that has a time gap of over a pit-stop duration come into the pits on the penultimate lap, bolt on the stickiest tyres and put in a qualy lap. 8 times out of 10 the car that is the highest up the road that does this will get the point.

We'll soon see I guess.

If they pit on the penultimate lap they while start their final lap by exiting the pit-lane.

Although interesting, I believe it will be inconsequential. F1 has been in a pretty big slide over the last 10 years in viewer interest, especially in the UK.

[Zakalwe]

Originally Posted by mangoseed

If they pit on the penultimate lap they while start their final lap by exiting the pit-lane.

Although interesting, I believe it will be inconsequential. F1 has been in a pretty big slide over the last 10 years in viewer interest, especially in the UK.

D'oh. You know what I mean though.

I don't think interest in F1 is on the wane here. The fact less of it has been on free-to-air television - and this coming season, it's exclusively on pay TV - has obviously resulted in a dramatic decline in viewing figures.

[mangoseed]

Originally Posted by Zakalwe

D'oh. You know what I mean though.

I don't think interest in F1 is on the wane here. The fact less of it has been on free-to-air television - and this coming season, it's exclusively on pay TV - has obviously resulted in a dramatic decline in viewing figures.

I just feel that 10 or 15 years ago F1 was a lot more mainstream, nowadays it seems that mostly only engineering students and petrolheads are interested in it.

I thought F1 hadn't been on free to air television since 2010 or 2011 when it moved primary coverage to Sky Sports (other than a few select races also shown on free-to-air).

[goin camping]

Originally Posted by mangoseed

If they pit on the penultimate lap they while start their final lap by exiting the pit-lane.

Although interesting, I believe it will be inconsequential. F1 has been in a pretty big slide over the last 10 years in viewer interest, especially in the UK.

Caused by Martin Brundle. England should start burying their dead instead of putting them on air.

[mangoseed]

Originally Posted by goin camping

Caused by Martin Brundle. England should start burying their dead instead of putting them on air.

What on Earth are you talking about? Martin Brundle has been an extremely respected commentator since F1 heyday. I don't like your ageist attitude.

[Zakalwe]

Originally Posted by goin camping

Caused by Martin Brundle. England should start burying their dead instead of putting them on air.

I noticed someone else on here dissing MB, or maybe that was you too?!

Each to his own and nobody can be liked by everyone. Brundle, at least round this way, is almost universally respected as a pundit and a commentator. He knows his stuff, doesn’t shirk away from asking hard questions and he’s not an arse-kisser. He’s even managed to put Bernie back in his box from time to time.

[zama]

Formula one has taken major steps that has ultimately reduced its appeal, while you may think I am talking the vacuum cleaner sounding engines, and almost transparent aero differences car to car, by far the biggest issue and one NEVER discussed was the move to more reliability on parts including the motor. Go back and look at youtube highlights from the 1980's/90's, 1/2 the cars did not finish not because they crashed but because they blew up, that gave differences in outcomes, it was not unusual for the leading car just stop with only laps to go. The cars were pushed to their limits, now they have to have run them at 95% to sustain gearboxes etc. This just makes the dominant teams more dominant but it does close up the mid field.

[walds11]

A little off topic...we have the IndyCar Firestone GP of St. Petersburg to tie us over until the F1 Australia GP

[sillo]

Originally Posted by walds11

A little off topic...we have the IndyCar Firestone GP of St. Petersburg to tie us over until the F1 Australia GP

Interested to see how Ericsson does.


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[goin camping]

I know Martin is knowledgable and has been there forever but to me and me alone. He is boring as hell.

In truth though going pay per view as mentioned above is probably the true reason for a lowered viewership.

Being here in the colonies. I will be watching Fernando try Indy Car for at least a race or two.

[OmegaJJH]

Great to see this thread back up and running

To say the declining F1 viewing figures are in any way related to Martin Brundle is ludicrous in my opinion.

To anyone who watches UK Premier League football on TV (more popular than ever) I give you Michael Owen, the most dreary man in the world, enough said!

I agree with a few of the points above. BBC the last proper free to air rival of Sky didn’t stand a chance compared to the slick new style of Sky. C4 gave it a go but it never really worked when they only showed 50% of the races live.

Being on Pay TV is probably the biggest single factor because it reduces the audience pool.

FIA/Bernie are to blame too. You have to be a proper geek (I include myself in that) to fully understand the tyre compound rules. Fuel saving for most of the race is the turn off, only 3 engines per year, inability to overtake, KERS, ERS, DRS, cars all look the same, the list goes on.

I like the point raised about reliability too. Add in to that the jeopardy of refuelling and it spices things up.

Bernie’s refusal to engage in social media will of stopped the next generation of fans getting interested in F1 and he openly admitted he wasn’t in the least bit bothered about them because they had no money. He wanted to attract an older and wealthier audience for his top tier sponsors such as Rolex et al !

My final point (again Bernies fault) is moving away from core F1 fan bases such as Germany etc and setting up races in far flung corners of the world where we just saw empty grandstands but the core fans in Europe/US missed the races because they were on in the middle of the night.

And don’t get me started on F1 pretending to be green...



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[Ssunnylee24]

Formular One noob here.
I just started watching the show on Netflix last night and I am here at work watching F1 Explained on Youtube. Perhaps I’ll plan to visit a race this year.

[sillo]

Originally Posted by Ssunnylee24

Formular One noob here.
I just started watching the show on Netflix last night and I am here at work watching F1 Explained on Youtube. Perhaps I’ll plan to visit a race this year.

Can’t wait to watch that. Only crappy part is Ferrari and Mercedes aren’t really part of it.


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[texasmade]

Originally Posted by sillo38

Can’t wait to watch that. Only crappy part is Ferrari and Mercedes aren’t really part of it.


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I'm a huge Mercedes and Lewis fan but Ferrari and Mercedes not participating might be a good thing since they get enough exposure as it is. This will give fans a chance to see other teams and the people behind them.

[sillo]

Originally Posted by texasmade

I'm a huge Mercedes and Lewis fan but Ferrari and Mercedes not participating might be a good thing since they get enough exposure as it is. This will give fans a chance to see other teams and the people behind them.

You can’t really tell the story of formula one without them though. Especially last season with their battle for the constructors championship.


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[Rock]

Good grief, in the 69 years of it's history F1 is and has always been a lot more than just one or two teams.
Over the decades many teams/drivers have been dominant at one time or another.
Some of today's second and third-string teams were dominant in their day.

[RobearH]

Anyone watch Formula 1: Drive to Survive on Netflix? On my list to watch first episode today after errands and get pumped for the 2019 season opener.



https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/14...snt-disappoint

[sillo]

Originally Posted by Rock

Good grief, in the 69 years of it's history F1 is and has always been a lot more than just one or two teams.

I’m aware of that, but guess who dominated the season the entire show was filmed during. Those two teams. It’s like trying to make a documentary about the last decade in the NFL and leaving out the Patriots.

I’m still going to watch it and I know I’m going to enjoy it, it’s just a little disappointing those teams couldn’t come to terms with the producers.



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[mangoseed]

Originally Posted by sillo38

I’m aware of that, but guess who dominated the season the entire show was filmed during. Those two teams. It’s like trying to make a documentary about the last decade in the NFL and leaving out the Patriots.

I’m still going to watch it and I know I’m going to enjoy it, it’s just a little disappointing those teams couldn’t come to terms with the producers.



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Ferrari have been the only really consistent team throughout the history of F1, even though they had some bad periods. The only team that come close to them is McLaren. Otherwise good teams come and go, like Benetton, Williams, Red Bull, and maybe Mercedes in the future.

[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by 77T

I know this is F1 - but I just watched my DVR of the FE race in Mexico last weekend - anyone see that amazing race?

Now I am not a big fan of the old format using 2 cars per driver or some of the “parking lot” style courses like NY. But this year has been different.

Well if you get a chance to see the replay, watch it to the end!


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