Any F1 Fans in the Neighborhood?

[Terronium 12]

So as you can probably tell from my avatar, I love F1 and have been following for quite a while now. Before I spout off any further I'm wondering if there were any other F1 fanatics around here?

 

[smarteyeball]

I'm not really a fanatic, but I do follow F1 pretty closely.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

I Have been a huge F1 fan for years now.Have been to Silverstone twice and to Catalunya (Spain) a few years back.For those fans who watch it on TV every other week I highly recommend going to see a grand prix live.You think you have a good understanding of the sport untill you see the cars flying through the Abbey chicane at Silverstone at 190+ and stand there in amazement at the noise these beasts make.

I also feel that this season has been the most interesting and exciting in years with all the changes made over the winter. Just hoping McLaren pull there fingers out for the rest of the season and pull out some podiums for the Brits as I think the championship is as good as over now. Vettel and Red Bull are streets ahead another fine machine by Adrian Newey.

Danny

 

[kado897]

I also feel that this season has been the most interesting and exciting in years with all the changes made over the winter. Just hoping McLaren pull there fingers out for the rest of the season and pull out some podiums for the Brits as I think the championship is as good as over now. Vettel and Red Bull are streets ahead another fine machine by Adrian Newey.

Danny

Me too. Michael Schumacher languishing in the middle of the pack is entertaining too.

 

[Britton30]

I watch F1 sometimes along with IndyCar and the Rolex series. This is my idea of a racecar though.



the green one is one of my 1/24 diecasts.

 

[seavixen32]

Hi there.

I watch F1 on television, but have never watched racing at a circuit as it's far too expensive.

My grandson has recently completed a race mechanic's 3-year apprenticeship at Silvertone's National Colllege of Motorsport and is a big fan of Jenson Button ever since Button took him round Silverstone for a few laps in his own road car and gave him the lowdown on the complete circuit and how to cope with it.

Lewis Hamilton seems to have lost the plot recently and I don't think he'll improve much until he gets the gremlins in his head sorted out.

​

 

[Terronium 12]

I Have been a huge F1 fan for years now.Have been to Silverstone twice and to Catalunya (Spain) a few years back.For those fans who watch it on TV every other week I highly recommend going to see a grand prix live.You think you have a good understanding of the sport untill you see the cars flying through the Abbey chicane at Silverstone at 190+ and stand there in amazement at the noise these beasts make.

I also feel that this season has been the most interesting and exciting in years with all the changes made over the winter. Just hoping McLaren pull there fingers out for the rest of the season and pull out some podiums for the Brits as I think the championship is as good as over now. Vettel and Red Bull are streets ahead another fine machine by Adrian Newey.

Danny

View attachment 164988

Speaking of Silverstone, the RB team orders were BS, and come to think of it...hypocritical. First the chastised Ferrari for doing it with Alonso and Massa, exclaiming both drivers in their camp are treated fairly and allowed to race regardless, yet here comes Silverstone with the "Maintain the gap."

Luckily, Mark disobeyed. My man. Second year in a row for Mark where things worked against him (although not so much at all last season at Silverstone).

Me too. Michael Schumacher languishing in the middle of the pack is entertaining too.

I still say Schumi was robbed of a podium position because of DRS.

 

[kado897]

Although an F1 fan I have not been to a race there but I did spend a day at Silverstone a few years back doing skid pan training as part of the company drivers training. Great fun.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

Speaking of Silverstone, the RB team orders were BS, and come to think of it...hypocritical. First the chastised Ferrari for doing it with Alonso and Massa, exclaiming both drivers in their camp are treated fairly and allowed to race regardless, yet here comes Silverstone with the "Maintain the gap."

Luckily, Mark disobeyed. My man. Second year in a row for Mark where things worked against him (although not so much at all last season at Silverstone).

Yer the team orders rule was re-instated this year so was all legal and above board if not a little disappointing.
To much emphasis is placed on the constructors championship these days as that's where the money comes from with sponsorships and alike. Drivers should be allowed to race no matter what, gifting another driver a race win so they can take the maximum points is just wrong no matter how you look at it, but at least the FIA has made it clear on the rules this year so we don't have the carnage of the Massa, Scumi incident a few years back.That single handedly could have killed the sport.

Danny

 

[kado897]

Speaking of Silverstone, the RB team orders were BS, and come to think of it...hypocritical. First the chastised Ferrari for doing it with Alonso and Massa, exclaiming both drivers in their camp are treated fairly and allowed to race regardless, yet here comes Silverstone with the "Maintain the gap."

Luckily, Mark disobeyed. My man. Second year in a row for Mark where things worked against him (although not so much at all last season at Silverstone).

Yer the team orders rule was re-instated this year so was all legal and above board if not a little disappointing.
To much emphasis is placed on the constructors championship these days as that's where the money comes from with sponsorships and alike. Drivers should be allowed to race no matter what, gifting another driver a race win so they can take the maximum points is just wrong no matter how you look at it, but at least the FIA has made it clear on the rules this year so we don't have the carnage of the Massa, Scumi incident a few years back.That single handedly could have killed the sport.

Danny[/QUOTE]

There is a big difference between making your No 2 give way and not allowing your No 2 to potentially cause problems to your No 1 driver so late in the race especially given what happened between the two of them last year.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

There is a big difference between making your No 2 give way and not allowing your No 2 to potentially cause problems to your No 1 driver so late in the race especially given what happened between the two of them last year.

Couldnt agree with you more. This is exactly the reason the FIA had to bring back the rule regarding team orders and make things clearer.
Teams where always going to (for want of a better word) rig the results in a close battle for championships and I dont have an issue with this. It was the underhanded way teams like Ferrari went about things that gave the sport a bad name. I remember Ferraris team radio last year with Massa in front "Alonso is faster than you repeat Alonso is faster than you". He may have well of said stop for a picnic and let Alonso through. That's what hurts the sport
Now, anything goes team orders are in so at least it can no longer damage the sport as its in the rules (rightly or wrongly).

My two pennies worth.

 

[Terronium 12]

There is a big difference between making your No 2 give way and not allowing your No 2 to potentially cause problems to your No 1 driver so late in the race especially given what happened between the two of them last year.

As myself and a few other buddies from another forum were discussing: a hell of lot of confidence that shows in your drivers that you fear they may crash in to one another on the final two laps.

Hell of a lot. Vettel could have DNF'd and still been in the lead.

 

[kado897]

There is a big difference between making your No 2 give way and not allowing your No 2 to potentially cause problems to your No 1 driver so late in the race especially given what happened between the two of them last year.

As myself and a few other buddies from another forum were discussing: a hell of lot of confidence that shows in your drivers that you fear they may crash in to one another on the final two laps.

Hell of a lot. Vettel could have DNF'd and still been in the lead.

Quite so. As I said they have history.

 

[Terronium 12]

Oh, I'm definitely not disputing that at all. From the point of view of the watcher, it was the wrong call as I don't want to see a driver, whether he's on the same team or otherwise backing off for what basically amounts to preemptive conditions.

I can kind of (kind of) understand it from Horner's perspective though: "They're in second and third, so let's not risk the possibility of a double DNF." Otherwise, no...let them race.

 

[smarteyeball]

I can kind of (kind of) understand it from Horner's perspective though: "They're in second and third, so let's not risk the possibility of a double DNF." Otherwise, no...let them race.

As already mentioned, Vettel and Webber have the history. When those two are racing, they race. Unfortunately they tend to forget about everything else, including consequences.

Understanding why there are team orders is one thing, liking it is another. Viewers/Drivers perspective - it sucks. Teams perspective - Win

I was watching some British Touring Car highlights the other week and two Honda team mates were Pos 1 and 2. Driver No 2 was on a charge. He'd already blitzed through the pack to take second and wasn't going to settle.

On the final corner, of the final lap - teammate be damned - he went for it...

...out braked himself, locked tyres and slid straight into his teamamte, taking them both out of the race.

That is something Web/Vet have done (potentially do) and as crap as the decision is to us, it's understandable.


F1 overall is heading in a different direction again. V6, DRS, KERS etc. They seem to change key aspects of the sport every few years ago on a whim.

Viewers just want action. Racing on rails gets boring after awhile. But at least make it a level playing field. All these gimmicks are great when they work, but the failure rate is high and can be make or break for a driver.

 

[Terronium 12]

As I've said, I won't refute the fact they've had their fair share on incidents and both of their race crafts were questionable last season. The one thing I can say is most of their accidents are because of Vettel. His craft was basically non-existent last season. Remember Turkey? They (RBR) tried to blame Webber but anyone who saw, cared to analyze, or read what other people have said would know Vettel tried taking a line that just wasn't...there, he turned in and boom - accident.

The funny thing is (and I may actually have this backwards as I don't remember it as vividly) Vettel gestured at Mark as if it were his fault. As if he was supposed to give way and let him ride off into the sunset. Vettel was quite the erratic one last season. I'm not say Mark's craft is a grid's length better but he sure as hell doesn't buckle under pressure, at least not from what I've seen of him. Anyone who can go from 13th (or was it 14th?) to 3rd isn't someone you sleep on. Yes, Vettel is miles more competent this season than last and has only really buckled under pressure once (which is arguable as Canada was the only real time he was being pressured consistently, other than Monaco but that resulted in a daft "We'll just hand you the win" result. My point? Yeah, it may have been the right thing to do from the team's perspective but Mark already has to settle for being 2nd no matter how good he proves himself to be, he's just an outcast and honestly I don't see resigning for next year.

Unless he has nowhere else to go.

My problem isn't with Vettel or whatever, my issue is this: Red Bull is basically becoming a lighter version of Ferrari during Schumacher's reign of terror. You have someone on the team who could possibly threaten said reign but that's not what he's there for, he's there to fend off everyone else and secure as many 1-2's as possible, yet never being in any real contention for the title because, well, that's the poster boys job. It's the same thing with Ferrari too...I really, really hated that "Alonso is faster than you..." bit from, where was it, Bahrain? My issue lies with teammates having to roll over and die just...because. Of course Massa has been off pace ever since his accident but he's had a few bursts of performance this season, and Mark has been well off the pace of Vettel this season as well so there are factors at play that could justify favoring one driver over the other in the long run but even so - I still don't care for it.

 

[kado897]

F1 overall is heading in a different direction again. V6, DRS, KERS etc. They seem to change key aspects of the sport every few years ago on a whim.

Viewers just want action. Racing on rails gets boring after awhile. But at least make it a level playing field. All these gimmicks are great when they work, but the failure rate is high and can be make or break for a driver.

The changes are an attempt to get more exciting racing with overtaking. It seems to have worked this season except for Vettel.

 

[smarteyeball]

I'm a long time Webber fan, so I'm a bit biased against Vettel, but it's incidents like Turkey which leave it hard to feel the love for Vettel.

Webber is a drivers driver - a little less precise, but a much better fighter. A proper underdog. Vettel is a technical driver, but not as good at fighting for spots on track. Come race day, Mark is the one that is putting consistent fastest laps of the race.

Overall it sucks to be the number two driver. If the spot exists to be the number one driver, even in a less completive team arises, Mark would probably take it. Otherwise he's stuck. The Ferrari superstar/support driver culture is not going anywhere, any time soon.

That shit's here to stay.

The changes are an attempt to get more exciting racing with overtaking. It seems to have worked this season except for Vettel.

There has been more passing this year which is good to see. Although the penalty a team faces when their device doesn't work is large enough to be almost unfair. It still needs a little maturing.

 

[kado897]

The changes are an attempt to get more exciting racing with overtaking. It seems to have worked this season except for Vettel.

There has been more passing this year which is good to see. Although the penalty a team faces when their device doesn't work is large enough to be almost unfair. It still needs a little maturing.

It's up to the teams to make sure all their systems work and are reliable. F1 is not only a test of the skill of the driver but also of the teams that build the cars.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

As you guys above have said Webber still hasnt signed for RBR for next year so Im sat here trying to think of options.The only drives I can see possibly coming up next year in the top teams would be Ferrari if they dont resign Massa or Mclaren. As you guys said Massa has under performed since his accident so would Ferrari want to replace him with Webber. Personally I dont think so, Ferrari are very much focused on the number one, number two driver scenario and as with Schumi before, Massa doesnt seem to kick up much fuss about playing second fiddle to Alonso (who I personally despise after the Mclaren season) so im not sure they would want to upset their system by bringing in another competitive driver.
So Mclaren then. Buttons going nowhere thats for sure so that leaves Lewis. Clearly unhappy this season and its showing in his racing. Childish and immature just 2 words that could sum up his season thus far.In fact its gradually got worse since his father stopped being his manager and Ron Dennis took more of a back seat within the team. After all it was Ron that agreed to sign him when he was just 8 years old.Seems like he always wants to be mothered. Hes a great driver im not saying he isnt but a very sore looser.Also im not sure Buttons and Lewis's relationship is as cosy as its made out in the media and by the team.

So i'll through this out there. I know Lewis has an extended contract at Mclaren but thats nothing money cant sort, so could we see a swap Webber for Hamilton.

Danny