F1

[fog]

I like my F1 even if some of the racing over the last few years has been a bit lacking.  And I can't help looking forward to the new season already as there have been a load of interesting regulation, team and driver changes.

First up the new Mercedes 2010 car...
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/merc_livery_2010_2.jpg
 
Gorgeous that. 

[T_M_C]

Yeh, i've followed F1 for many years now.

And hardly ever miss any races.

I have a bit of a love / hate relationship with F1.

I have enjoyed some superb and thrilling racing over the years. 
But those are rare occasions.

90% of the time, the races are boring, with a capital B.  Very predicatable.


And the sport was utterly ruined for me during the Schumacher era.

Where he and ferrari won everything going.  Year in and year out.

But i stuck with the sport.  Mainly because it was on prime time viewing.

And last year was an incredible season.  A fairy tale story for the brawn team.

Now, Schumacher is back and i fear the worst.  Although i look forward to seeing how well he fairs against Button and Hammilton.  That in itself should be pretty interesting to watch.

Oh, and alot of the great tracks have been Nerfed big time to come into line with the ever changing rules of the sport.

What have they done to the Bus Stop at Spa for instance.   

Last year was quite farcical with all the cheating, rule breaking and dodgey characters that inhabit the sport.

Looks like everyone has forgotten max Mosely dubious out of hours sexual indescretions and also Flabio Priatory seems to be on his way back too.

The sport is a Joke.  But very rarely, it does produce some brilliant racing.


The best motorsport to watch in my opinion is Touring cars.  Always very exciting.
And then i love to watch the WRC rally championships. And the drivers are in my opinion, the best in the world.  Far eclipsing the over hyped F1 guys.


Woa.  Didn't realise i went off on one there.

Quite a rant.   

TMC

[fog]

I have a bit of a love / hate relationship with F1.

I have enjoyed some superb and thrilling racing over the years. 
But those are rare occasions.

90% of the time, the races are boring, with a capital B.  Very predicatable.

Even F1's biggest fans probably have a love / hate relationship with it in it's current form.  When it's good it's amazing, but current regulations and circuits do mean most races are quite boring.

Although i look forward to seeing how well he fairs against Button and Hammilton.  That in itself should be pretty interesting to watch.

I've got quite high hopes for this season.  The ban on refuelling should mean less reliance on pitstop strategy necessitating more on-track overtaking.

Plus towards the end of last season we saw there were more teams than for a long time that were genuinely competitive.

Added to that the driver pairings in each team like Button & Hamilton, Massa & Alonso, Vetel & Webber etc. look fairly evenly matched with no clear No.1 driver so should lead to some nive in team competition.

Oh, and alot of the great tracks have been Nerfed big time to come into line with the ever changing rules of the sport.

What have they done to the Bus Stop at Spa for instance.   :'(

yeah I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to the F1 circuits.  That feeling is just made worse by a lot of these new circuits, especially the street ones, which don't seem to have been designed with overtaking in mind.


Conversely I do love the advances in car design.  This comparison of the new Ferrari and McLaren front wings is great.  The complexity of the shapes is just fascinating.  I need to get out more.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/F10_MP425_front_split.jpg

[TheKhakinator]

To me I find the crazy aerodynamic design to be a problem. Regulations have been trying to reduce the amount of available downforce with restrictions on wing size, etc. but it seems every time the teams just find new ways around it with weirder and weirder designs.

I'd give F1 another chance (haven't followed it since 2004 or 2005) but it's on so late here I really can't be bothered. :/

[T_M_C]

Yeh, good points.

I've been thinking about this and came to the conclusion that all thats needed to liven things up is to reintroduce the driver controlled Turbo.

Harking back to the glory days of F1 for me, back with Mansel, Prost and Senna when they had driver controlled turbos.  Maybe i'm looking back through rose colored spectacles, but i remember the races being far more fun to watch back then.

A driver controlled Turbo, would allow the driver to gain perfermance at the cost of fuel.  Allowing for boosts when overtaking as well as for strategy decisions too.

If refueling is not allowed, then fuel conservation is a premium so drivers and teams would keep that in mind when deciding to use the turbo.

And i mean a decent turbo, not the half useless kerrs like system they had last year.  Something that gives a real advantage to enable overtaking.

In saying that though, i bet if it was introduced, they would Nerf it like they seem to do with everything else.  

TMC

[fog]

To me I find the crazy aerodynamic design to be a problem. Regulations have been trying to reduce the amount of available downforce with restrictions on wing size, etc. but it seems every time the teams just find new ways around it with weirder and weirder designs.

True although I do find the wing designs intriguing as it has some parallels with my job

The biggest problem with the aerodynamics now is the way they disrupt the airflow off the back of the car, leaving dirty air for the car behind meaning as soon as they get close enough to overtake they lose downforce and have to back off.

I'd give F1 another chance (haven't followed it since 2004 or 2005) but it's on so late here I really can't be bothered. :/

That's what we think when the Australian GP is on

Harking back to the glory days of F1 for me, back with Mansel, Prost and Senna when they had driver controlled turbos.  Maybe i'm looking back through rose colored spectacles, but i remember the races being far more fun to watch back then.

Not a rose tinted view at all.  The sport changed a lot after a few tragic accidents.  Car design was altered to slow them down (reduced power and aerodynamics) and worst of all IMO many of the circuits were changed to add extra chicanes etc to break up some of the longer straights thus removing the best overtaking places.

Also, and this is a pet hate of mine, tracks now don't penalise drivers enough for errors.  Many have escape roads and concrete run-off areas meaning running wide has little effect with many being exploited and almost becoming part of the track.  Bring back the days when putting a wheel over the curb landed you in a gravel trap. 

[TheKhakinator]

You're not wrong about straights - it was always heartpouding to see two cars screaming down towards a bend playing chicken to see who'd back off first.

[fog]

You're not wrong about straights - it was always heartpouding to see two cars screaming down towards a bend playing chicken to see who'd back off first.

Seems like a long time ago since we had those Senna / Mansell / Prost wheel to wheel battles.


The new Renault is a bit ugly.  It looks like everyone is going with the rear sharks fin so far apart from Ferrari which spoils the lines of the car IMO.

[TheKhakinator]

You're not wrong about straights - it was always heartpouding to see two cars screaming down towards a bend playing chicken to see who'd back off first.

Seems like a long time ago since we had those Senna / Mansell / Prost wheel to wheel battles.


The new Renault is a bit ugly.  It looks like everyone is going with the rear sharks fin so far apart from Ferrari which spoils the lines of the car IMO.

Too young to have seen any of those names. D: Vague memories of Damon Hill though.

And you're not wrong about that Renault. 

[TheKhakinator]

Also the renault has a very basic front wing shape :/

[fog]

Also the renault has a very basic front wing shape :/

I thought that too.  It looks like they put false wings on for the car launch yesterday to keep them hidden from competitors I assume.  A bit of a waste of time though as today track testing started so we all get to see the real thing.  The front being much more like the other cars now.  Also look at the curves on the rear wing that weren't on the car yesterday.  Can't remember seeing anything like that before.

[TheKhakinator]

Would really like to see the first GP already just to get a proper look at some of the cars. They're looking a lot different now. When's the Melbourne GP? Wait I'm not even sure Melbourne is the season opener anymore...

[T_M_C]

They're looking a lot different now. When's the Melbourne GP? Wait I'm not even sure Melbourne is the season opener anymore...

The season usualy starts mid to end march.

I would have thought the different wings were probably due to different track downforce requirements.

That color scheme reminds me of a Bee / Wasp.   

TMC

[JDog053]

A lot like the old Jordan team colour scheme. I can't imagine Eddie is too pleased about that. I'm a long time fan, we just need a next gen game!

[fog]

Would really like to see the first GP already just to get a proper look at some of the cars. They're looking a lot different now. When's the Melbourne GP? Wait I'm not even sure Melbourne is the season opener anymore...

It should be Melbourne.....unfortunately its Bahrain on 14th March.