The Official Formula One Thread!

[texasmade]

More photos. When the cowboys cheerleaders came out, the Ferrari, RB, and Renault crew came out to watch. They stood right on the pit wall watching the cheerleaders.




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[V25V]

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[joeychitwood]

Wow! Amazing photos, V25V. The machining and fabrication on the cars look like industrial art. How did you gain such close access?

[V25V]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

Wow! Amazing photos, V25V. The machining and fabrication on the cars look like industrial art. How did you gain such close access?

Buddy of mine is an exec for a company which is a client of Citrix, RedBull sponsor. We were guests of theirs, I am now damaged. I'm not sure I could go to another F1 race again. Transportation, hotel, food, access, etc. It was totally over the top.


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[texasmade]

I'm probably in the crowd in the first picture you posted. I was in row 3 right in front of Albon's garage.

[collinsdad]

Huge congrats to Lewis Hamilton for securing his sixth world championship! I've enjoyed watching him race since he came to the sport in 2007 racing for McLaren.

[sillo]

Awesome pics everyone. Still working on mine since I took like 300. Race was awesome and had a great time in Austin. Only thing I'm pissed about is I flew to watch TWO red cars go around a track and in usual Ferrari fashion my hopes were destroyed.

Here's one of the first I got around to editing, Albon accelerating out of t12, but since tapatalk is limiting image size now I hope you guys can see this since I used imgur.

[jatco]

Originally Posted by V25V

Buddy of mine is an exec for a company which is a client of Citrix, RedBull sponsor. We were guests of theirs, I am now damaged. I'm not sure I could go to another F1 race again. Transportation, hotel, food, access, etc. It was totally over the top.


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I hear ya that Bud.
Been 'guests'.. with a couple of teams/clubs over the years..ie Monaco and Silverstone.. in the 'heyday's' . Damn those were good times.!!
.
'Bucket Wish'..(touring a 'Season'..in thoughts..) !

[sillo]

[OmegaJJH]

Originally Posted by jatco

'Bucket Wish'..(touring a 'Season'..) !

Me too!!!!



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[OmegaJJH]

Originally Posted by V25V

We were guests of theirs, I am now damaged. I'm not sure I could go to another F1 race again.

It’s really funny you say that!!

I was a guest at the Spanish GP this year. It’s ruined F1 for me as a spectator as no other experience could ever match up to it.

A once in a lifetime experience for me. I was like an excited child all weekend.



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[Zakalwe]

Vettel strikes (literally) again!

[Peter Toronto]

It’s going to make for an interesting last race for Ferrari. The winter break can’t come quick enough.


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[sillo]

HOLY SHIT that was an insane finish.

[walds11]

Originally Posted by sillo38

HOLY SHIT that was an insane finish.

Yes mate! What a amazing race! I wonder if Hamilton will be bumped off the podium for spinning Albon? It’s currently under investigation. We will find out shortly.

[bremersm]

Lewis is the diva of F1. The constant complaining and.crashing people out. Here is hoping he leaves the sport and goes to make rap albums so we never have to hear from him again.

I feel terrible for Albon. Not a RB fan but Alex seems like a great guy and I was rooting for him.


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[sillo]

Originally Posted by bremersm

Lewis is the diva of F1. The constant complaining and.crashing people out. Here is hoping he leaves the sport and goes to make rap albums so we never have to hear from him again.

I don't love the complaining, hell I don't even like Lewis or Mercedes much on the track, but Lewis is one of the best drivers in Formula 1 history and I'm going to be disappointed when he hangs his helmet.

Whatever he does works and works very well even if it is annoying sometimes.

[Rolex Essex]

Originally Posted by sillo38

HOLY SHIT that was an insane finish.

That was the race of the season!
Poor Albon got bumped off by Hamilton, I really wanted him on the podium.
It would’ve been a perfect finish for RB and TR.
Both Ferrari drivers killed each other but I think Vettel was to blame for the crash.
Verstappen was a monster today.
I loved that drag race at the end but ‘VTEC just kicked in Yo’!

[Rolex Essex]

Originally Posted by bremersm

Lewis is the diva of F1. The constant complaining and.crashing people out. Here is hoping he leaves the sport and goes to make rap albums so we never have to hear from him again.

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Hamilton constant complaining Yes!
But constant crashing people out? Er NO! Yes he knocked Albon out today but he did leave the door wide open for Hamilton to go in.

[bremersm]

Originally Posted by Rolex Essex

Hamilton constant complaining Yes!

But constant crashing people out? Er NO! Yes he knocked Albon out today but he did leave the door wide open for Hamilton to go in.

Yes Albon left space like a real racer should. Hamilton messed up and should be penalized. My thought is a 10 second penalty.


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[texasmade]

I think this is the first time all year Lewis has crashed someone else out so he actually never really crashes other people out. If he were still fighting for the championship, I don’t think he goes for the gap. He’s usually pretty cautious to avoid losing points nowadays.

Well regardless, Lewis is now tagged with a 5 second penalty currently promoting Sainz to 3rd who may also be demoted for using DRS under double yellow which may promote Kimi to 3rd.

[Rolex Essex]

Originally Posted by bremersm

Yes Albon left space like a real racer should. Hamilton messed up and should be penalized.

Seriously?
Albon left a space for Hamilton to past and then closed on him???

Albon took a wider line not realising Hamilton was next to him. Any other racers would’ve taken the gap too.
Watch the post race interview and Albon did mentioned that he didn’t know Hamilton was that close to him.

[RobearH]

Hamilton was man enough to publicly and privately apologize to Albon...Vettel would have blamed everyone else but himself including Lando Norris who DNF prior.

[goin camping]

What a finish! The entire race race was good too.

Vettel. I have to quote Mark Webber here. "He is a child." And he sure was when he turned left into Leclerc or rear ended and then rammed Hamilton earlier in the season.

Verstapin ran a heck of a aggressive race. Great passing and fortunately his car had the speed on Sunday. Great race by him. Congrats!

Surprised to read here that Hamilton got a 5 second penalty. Looked like a racing incident to me. The door was open and as he went through it got closed and the other driver spun out. Hamilton takes great pains to avoid contact (Unless it was Nico R. that one year.)

Still a great race overall and I am sorry to see the season ending.

[erhein]

I have to ask a question and it's probably directed more at the guys from the UK, but anyone is invited to express their thoughts. What do you guys think of the folks who do the F1 announcing/commentary for Sky Sports. Is their announcing/commentary enjoyed in the UK? Are they popular for their commentary? No offense to anyone, but I find their incessant talking to be extremely distracting. It seems to me that they could cut their talking by two-thirds and still say everything that needs to be said. Comparing them to the team of Bob Varsha (later, Leigh Diffey), David Hobbs and Steve Matchett, I much preferred Varsha, Hobbs and Matchett. Do the Sky Sports team appeal more to UK viewers?

[Zakalwe]

Originally Posted by erhein

I have to ask a question and it's probably directed more at the guys from the UK, but anyone is invited to express their thoughts. What do you guys think of the folks who do the F1 announcing/commentary for Sky Sports. Is their announcing/commentary enjoyed in the UK? Are they popular for their commentary? No offense to anyone, but I find their incessant talking to be extremely distracting. It seems to me that they could cut their talking by two-thirds and still say everything that needs to be said. Comparing them to the team of Bob Varsha (later, Leigh Diffey), David Hobbs and Steve Matchett, I much preferred Varsha, Hobbs and Matchett. Do the Sky Sports team appeal more to UK viewers?

Firstly I don’t think anybody here has access to the (I’m guessing Stateside) commentary team you reference - I haven’t heard of any of them.

Personally, I think Brundle is excellent and I’m pretty sure that’s a sentiment generally shared amongst the majority of F1 fans here - in fact I was unaware anybody objected to him until I caught up with this thread. His knowledge of the intricacies and technicalities of the sport is excellent and because he’s a former driver he has so many contacts within the paddock. His commentary is informative and entertaining.

Crofty is a joke. He should stick to the darts. I find his attempts at humour cringeworthy and he frequently manages to get calls wrong that are unfolding right in front of our eyes (generally he’s rapidly corrected by Brundle). He really does talk too much. No bueno.

Di Resta is a bit bland. He doesn’t come across as especially insightful despite being recently on the grid, though his biggest problem is that his voice is the aural equivalent of an Ambien/Xanax cocktail.

Lazenby is annoying.

Davidson is a good analyst, I’d give him more screen time at Di Resta’s expense.

Chandok is vanilla.

Damon is a legend, under-utilised, probably because he has better things to do so doesn’t go to all the races.

Herbert is only there to be a clown. He’s harmless enough.

Ted Kravitz gets on a lot of people’s nerves but he’s an F1 geek and knows his stuff. Marmite but I like him.

Overall I think the Sky coverage is very good, at least within my frame of reference. I believe that more generally it is considered to be a decent product amongst F1 fans here. Coverage elsewhere might put it to shame but I wouldn’t know either way.

[sillo]

Originally Posted by Zakalwe

Firstly I don’t think anybody here has access to the (I’m guessing Stateside) commentary team you reference - I haven’t heard of any of them.

Personally, I think Brundle is excellent and I’m pretty sure that’s a sentiment generally shared amongst the majority of F1 fans here - in fact I was unaware anybody objected to him until I caught up with this thread. His knowledge of the intricacies and technicalities of the sport is excellent and because he’s a former driver he has so many contacts within the paddock. His commentary is informative and entertaining.

Crofty is a joke. He should stick to the darts. I find his attempts at humour cringeworthy and he frequently manages to get calls wrong that are unfolding right in front of our eyes (generally he’s rapidly corrected by Brundle). He really does talk too much. No bueno.

Di Resta is a bit bland. He doesn’t come across as especially insightful despite being recently on the grid, though his biggest problem is that his voice is the aural equivalent of an Ambien/Xanax cocktail.

Lazenby is annoying.

Davidson is a good analyst, I’d give him more screen time at Di Resta’s expense.

Chandok is vanilla.

Damon is a legend, under-utilised, probably because he has better things to do so doesn’t go to all the races.

Herbert is only there to be a clown. He’s harmless enough.

Ted Kravitz gets on a lot of people’s nerves but he’s an F1 geek and knows his stuff. Marmite but I like him.

Overall I think the Sky coverage is very good, at least within my frame of reference. I believe that more generally it is considered to be a decent product amongst F1 fans here. Coverage elsewhere might put it to shame but I wouldn’t know either way.

Basically what I think except explained way better than I could put into words. Overall I like the sky team.

Crofty is probably my least favorite. His obsession with the helmet rule drives me insane.

[erhein]

Originally Posted by Zakalwe

Firstly I don’t think anybody here has access to the (I’m guessing Stateside) commentary team you reference - I haven’t heard of any of them.

Personally, I think Brundle is excellent and I’m pretty sure that’s a sentiment generally shared amongst the majority of F1 fans here - in fact I was unaware anybody objected to him until I caught up with this thread. His knowledge of the intricacies and technicalities of the sport is excellent and because he’s a former driver he has so many contacts within the paddock. His commentary is informative and entertaining.

Crofty is a joke. He should stick to the darts. I find his attempts at humour cringeworthy and he frequently manages to get calls wrong that are unfolding right in front of our eyes (generally he’s rapidly corrected by Brundle). He really does talk too much. No bueno.

Di Resta is a bit bland. He doesn’t come across as especially insightful despite being recently on the grid, though his biggest problem is that his voice is the aural equivalent of an Ambien/Xanax cocktail.

Lazenby is annoying.

Davidson is a good analyst, I’d give him more screen time at Di Resta’s expense.

Chandok is vanilla.

Damon is a legend, under-utilised, probably because he has better things to do so doesn’t go to all the races.

Herbert is only there to be a clown. He’s harmless enough.

Ted Kravitz gets on a lot of people’s nerves but he’s an F1 geek and knows his stuff. Marmite but I like him.

Overall I think the Sky coverage is very good, at least within my frame of reference. I believe that more generally it is considered to be a decent product amongst F1 fans here. Coverage elsewhere might put it to shame but I wouldn’t know either way.

I think I like your description of each of them. Maybe it's just that there are too many of them. Everyone has to get his/her airtime and that just tends to fill up every second of every broadcast with chatter. What I liked about the team that used to do F1 in the U.S. was that there were only three of them in the studio and one--Will Buxton--at the track. It seems they knew when to talk and when to let the race do the talking. Thanks for your comments.

[Zakalwe]

Originally Posted by erhein

I think I like your description of each of them. Maybe it's just that there are too many of them. Everyone has to get his/her airtime and that just tends to fill up every second of every broadcast with chatter. What I liked about the team that used to do F1 in the U.S. was that there were only three of them in the studio and one--Will Buxton--at the track. It seems they knew when to talk and when to let the race do the talking. Thanks for your comments.

No worries. F1 is perhaps a tricky one for broadcasters. On the one hand you don’t want to treat your customers like morons by spoon-feeding them every morsel in commentary. On the other hand F1’s technical regulations are so complex and change so frequently that a broadcaster might consider that new viewers might be overwhelmed by it all if it isn’t carefully explained to them. So maybe what you describe reflects a slightly different approach by the American team and maybe (complete guess) a lower proportion of American F1 viewers are casuals.

One thing to bear in mind is that for many, many years coverage of sport in general over here lagged way behind the States in terms of time dedicated to and quality of analysis. As a result punters here may be more likely to put up with sub-standard product as far as sports presentation goes. The stations (including Sky) that cover our national obsession (Association) football have only recently started to analyse that game in the way it deserves in recent years.

Originally Posted by sillo38

Basically what I think except explained way better than I could put into words. Overall I like the sky team.

Crofty is probably my least favorite. His obsession with the helmet rule drives me insane.

[joeychitwood]

If roaming pre-race pit reporters were banned, it wouldn’t bother me a bit. As far as annoying TV personalities go, no one in F1 comes close to being as bad as American IndyCar pit reporter Robin Miller.