The F1 thread

chillidoggy

Ta.

musicegbdf

Seems unanimous..... Boring

Garthy

Fretwired said:

musicegbdf said:

Well no comments so far , so must be it was a little unexciting . Best bit was a bloke walking on the track.

Ok hamster had an unknown issue but seemed ok about it. Britney still seemed down , in spite of gaining points.

Shame for button., but not the best race..

The metro under the track ...

F1 needs fixing .. the race was boring. Singapore needs to be scrapped. Tyres should be designed so cars run flat out - messages like "manage the tyres we'll race at the end" should be a thing of the past. There was no racing at the front at all .. Vettel lead from lights out to flag .. boring.

Singapore will never be scrapped while you've got a hole in your acoustic. It is a solid cast iron entrant on the calender along with Monaco.

chillidoggy

Sadly, I suspect you're right.

sinbaadi

Fretwired said:

musicegbdf said:

Well no comments so far , so must be it was a little unexciting . Best bit was a bloke walking on the track.

Ok hamster had an unknown issue but seemed ok about it. Britney still seemed down , in spite of gaining points.

Shame for button., but not the best race..

The metro under the track ...

F1 needs fixing .. the race was boring. Singapore needs to be scrapped. Tyres should be designed so cars run flat out - messages like "manage the tyres we'll race at the end" should be a thing of the past. There was no racing at the front at all .. Vettel lead from lights out to flag .. boring.

The principle reason for having tyre degradation is to (possibly) eliminate the "My car is faster than your car when we're at maximum attack, therefore I out-qualified you and now I will increase the gap every.single.lap" thing.  It's a variable.  Sometimes it has no effect.  

I don't think F1 needs fixing.  It would be easy to force parity or balance out disparity of performance, but then it wouldn't be F1, you wouldn't have the investment in development or variety on the grid.  But if you don't basically make it a one-make series you will always have a car which gives a driver an advantage, they will typically start at the front, and typically win.  On a good day their team-mate will offer a challenge.  Every so often 2 teams will be a match for one another, and the racing will be great, and people will think F1 is perfect, but then as soon as that changes they cry and demand change (any change).  Which is dumb because big regulations changes usually create the largest disparity (Brawn 09, Merc 14), although again people seem to have a tolerance of such things as long as it's different people winning from the season before.  (People are beginning to get bored of Merc winning now, but imagine if RBR had dominated 2014 like Mercedes did!!).

It is what it is.  IMO if you really want to change it you should probably just watch another series.

Heartfeltdawn

musicegbdf said:

Best bit was a bloke walking on the track.

The sad bit is that bloke was quicker through the speed trap than both McLarens. 

musicegbdf

Perhaps it is certain circuits that just do not encourage good racing.
Monaco as a spectator is usually just a parade.
I actually like some of the strategy.
Right now the best racing is Moto GP.

Heartfeltdawn

sinbaadi said:

It is what it is.  IMO if you really want to change it you should probably just watch another series.

I did. The Blancpain Endurance Series finale at the Nurburgring today was absolutely fabulous.Next up, the WEC from COTA and the ADAC GT Masters. 

Fretwired

sinbaadi said:

Fretwired said:

musicegbdf said:

Well no comments so far , so must be it was a little unexciting . Best bit was a bloke walking on the track.

Ok hamster had an unknown issue but seemed ok about it. Britney still seemed down , in spite of gaining points.

Shame for button., but not the best race..

The metro under the track ...

F1 needs fixing .. the race was boring. Singapore needs to be scrapped. Tyres should be designed so cars run flat out - messages like "manage the tyres we'll race at the end" should be a thing of the past. There was no racing at the front at all .. Vettel lead from lights out to flag .. boring.

The principle reason for having tyre degradation is to (possibly) eliminate the "My car is faster than your car when we're at maximum attack, therefore I out-qualified you and now I will increase the gap every.single.lap" thing.  It's a variable.  Sometimes it has no effect.  

I understand the principle. In practice teams go into tyre and fuel management mode so nothing happens for 30 laps. What's needed is a change in the rules to make it easier for cars to follow and overtake - ground effect over aero - and maybe Bernie should approach some third party companies like Cosworth to supply engines and chassis to smaller teams. The big boys can then spend what they like ..

hotpot

I agree, Singapore is a borefest. I did some gardening work instead of watching it.

Fretwired is right about the lack of engine manufacturers, I would love to see a competitive Cosworth engine again. As for VW buying Redbull in 2017! & being their engine manufacturer I hope to fuck VW develop the engine under their Skoda flag. can you imagine Ferrari/Mercedes  being beaten by a Skoda LOLOL.

stickyfiddle

PlanetF1 reporting Button to annouce retirement in Japan and go do WEC where he'll get a seat wherever he wants. Can't blame him.

Also multiple pages saying Grosjean to Haas is a done deal, hoping to beat JEV/Gutierrez and piggyback into Kimi's Ferrari for 2017. Huge gamble but you can't blame him if the other option includes a Renault engine...

chillidoggy

A bloke has been arrested after the on-track incident.

stickyfiddle

Aaand Maldonado confirmed for "the Enstone team" for next year, what ever colour they paint their cars.

chillidoggy

Owning a Lotus, I like to see them do well on the track. In his case, I'm going to make an exception. And if Renault buy Lotus, they'd best be doing their due diligence pretty well, so they don't inherit the twat by default.

stickyfiddle

Press release re Crashtor:

----

Lotus F1 Team is happy to confirm the continuation of its existing contract with Pastor Maldonado for the 2016 season. Pastor will continue as a race driver for his third year with the Enstone team after joining at the start of 2013

Gerard Lopez, Chairman and Team Principal, Lotus F1 Team:
“It’s a positive for the future of Lotus F1 Team that we are able to confirm publically that Pastor remains with us for next season. Everyone at Enstone will testify that Pastor is a terrific person to work with and we all know the performances he is capable of on track. Pastor joined us with a multi-year deal so this confirmation is a reiteration of our belief in him. We hope to be able to make further positive announcements regarding the team in the near future.”
 
Pastor Maldonado, Lotus F1 Team, race driver:
“It’s great that the team can confirm my position as race driver for 2016. Obviously, there has been a lot of speculation about the future and whilst I have remained focused on my job on track it is also positive to know that my future is confirmed. This season has presented us with some challenges but the quality of the squad at Enstone is clear to see. I really feel part of the family at Enstone and I’m looking forward to building on the work done this year to deliver better results in 2016.”

----

Only one use of the word "Lotus", and 3 of "Enstone". Am I reading too much into this?

Heartfeltdawn

chillidoggy said:

Owning a Lotus, I like to see them do well on the track. In his case, I'm going to make an exception. And if Renault buy Lotus, they'd best be doing their due diligence pretty well, so they don't inherit the twat by default.

He's got cash so his place is secure. 

stickyfiddle said:

PlanetF1 reporting Button to annouce retirement in Japan and go do WEC where he'll get a seat wherever he wants. Can't blame him.

Audi have not had a good year in the WEC and GT3 world. They need to catch up to Porsche in the WEC, Nissan won the Blancpain Endurance Pro cup and the Bathurst 12 hour, and Audi for all their resources have been a bit lacking. With all the talk of VW going into F1, someone to link this all together is necessary to gain media interest and coverage and to bring some nous to the team. 

The obvious man to tie this all together would be Button. The 2016 WEC calendar came out recently and has been expanded to 9 races. That leaves plenty of opportunity for Button to have the odd drive in the GT3 world (stuff like the Spa 24 hour for instance), to drive in the WEC, and to act as a consultant to VW regarding F1 entry in a similar way to how David Coulthard acted as a consultant for Red Bull after he retired. 

Fretwired

Button to be confirmed on Top Gear ...

hotpot

http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/volkswagen-could-face-18-billion-fine-from-us-environment-watchdog-1219468 I wonder if VW will be buying Redbull after this fiasco!

stickyfiddle

hotpot said:

http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/volkswagen-could-face-18-billion-fine-from-us-environment-watchdog-1219468 I wonder if VW will be buying Redbull after this fiasco!

18bn is pocket change for a company the size of VAG. They've known it's coming for a while and will be likely closer to 10bn if they make a deal

Fretwired

stickyfiddle said:

hotpot said:

http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/volkswagen-could-face-18-billion-fine-from-us-environment-watchdog-1219468 I wonder if VW will be buying Redbull after this fiasco!

18bn is pocket change for a company the size of VAG. They've known it's coming for a while and will be likely closer to 10bn if they make a deal

^^

This.

F1 has been a gold mine for Mercedes - that's what VW will be looking at although analysts put a chunk of that down to the Hamilton effect.