F1 starts again (yawn)

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sun 25 Mar 2018 22:32
F1 starts again (yawn) - badbusdriver

Well, that is the start of the F1 circus once more. Every year i watch, i try to get into it, hope it gets exiting, but it usually doesn't. That was very much the case in the opening race. I ended up fast forwarding most of the highlights in the vain hope of finding something interesting.

Any thoughts from Back Roomer's on how to make it exciting?, also, what are the backroomer's preferred choice of motorsport?

After 'watching' the F1 highlights, i then watched the motogp highlights from the 1st race in Qatar. The difference was night and day, with motogp being as exciting as F1 is tedious! (0.027 seconds seperated 1st and 2nd places). Whereas i tend to force myself through some weird sense of obligation (being a car lover and all) to follow F1, i actually look forward to, and enjoy watching most bike racing (even though i'm not a biker), be it motogp, world superbikes or British superbikes. The racing is just so much closer and more exciting.

IMO, the most exciting forms of (4 wheeled) motorsport are the BTCC and FIA world rallycross. I also used to really enjoy the Australian V8 utes, sadly however, this is no more and has been replaced by 'superutes' (diesel powered, circa 300bhp double cab pickups). the jury is out on this, i did watch the opening round, and it was quite entertaining watching these large ungainly looking machines (on road tyres) negotiating a street circuit!.

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Sun 25 Mar 2018 22:50
F1 starts again (yawn) - RobJP

Being a distance runner (yes, this is relevant, I promise), I regularly do my weekly 'long run' on a sunday morning.

I find F1 on TV on a sunday afternoon to be brilliant for helping me to catch a nice nap, and aid in recovery. As such, I can't wait for it to get to the 'normal' afternoon timings.

Seriously.

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Sun 25 Mar 2018 23:02
F1 starts again (yawn) - badbusdriver

I find that very easy to believe!, and is, unfortunately, exactly my point!

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Mon 26 Mar 2018 12:29
F1 starts again (yawn) - corax

Being a distance runner (yes, this is relevant, I promise), I regularly do my weekly 'long run' on a sunday morning.

I find F1 on TV on a sunday afternoon to be brilliant for helping me to catch a nice nap, and aid in recovery. As such, I can't wait for it to get to the 'normal' afternoon timings.

Seriously.

That's funny RobJP :-)

How to make it more interesting? Change the hoovers back to something more charismatic like the V10's. Increase the power. Bring back turbo's with adjustable boost, to allow more overtaking opportunities. I don't get the fact that F1 is bound by emissions regs. It's a race. It only happens a few times a year.

I don't watch it now, but in the last few years I always wished for rain. That would always create utter confusion over choice of tyres and it's was anybody's guess who would win.

As someone mentioned, the TT and Irish road racing are the complete opposite. It's almost like a continuation something like the fifties F1 with the lack of safety. But that plus the speed and noise are what make it exciting.

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Sun 25 Mar 2018 23:41
F1 starts again (yawn) - Ian_SW

The easiest way to make it more interesting would be to require that the cars are fitted with bodyshells and the wheels covered. At the moment, even the most minor contact between cars usually results in the end of the race for the cars concerned, and often a long (and boring) stint of safety car laps whilst the debris and broken cars are cleared.

My personal favourite for mix of car performance and racing is DTM. Unlike the UK touring cars they are fast enough to actually look quick when going round the track, and the big V8 engines sound so much better too! The only problem is that you can only see them once a year in the UK or on pay TV.

Some of my most enjoyable days watching motor racing live though have been on much "lesser" events, which have the added benefit of only costing a few pounds to get in to watch. Truck Racing is a really good day out, as are the clubman type series run at most of the more minor race tracks such as Castle Coombe, Croft etc. These are the ones where much of the field are pretty much normal road cars with only very minor modifications, and some even run on normal road tyres. In both cases, I'm sure that it's the lack of tyre grip compared to "proper" race cars which make it more interesting.

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Mon 26 Mar 2018 00:01
F1 starts again (yawn) - bathtub tom

With only three engines per season (or penalties) and fuel constraints I can see the whole season being as boring as the first race. I assume they were conserving fuel and only driving as fast as the car behind. I fell asleep around lap fifteen - did I miss anything?

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Mon 26 Mar 2018 02:48
F1 starts again (yawn) - KJP 123

My choice is historic, especially saloons.

F1 has too many technical rules now: 3 engines, tyres, fuel consumption etc. Done to keep costs down for smaller teams and make things more competitive but I don’t think it works.

Previously teams would judge how to balance tyre wear and fuel consumption against pit stops.

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Mon 26 Mar 2018 08:22
F1 starts again (yawn) - dadbif
They will soon glaze the little roof bars that have appeared this year, then fit cup holders, and perhaps have a service station wherein Hamilton can polish his earrings...
If you want to watch real men racing watch the IOM TT. That takes balls.
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Mon 26 Mar 2018 08:56
F1 starts again (yawn) - nellyjak

Can understand the criticisms..and there is much to be critical about...but I've been an F1 (and ALL motor racing) fan for over 50 years now and I will always watch it no matter what.

There have been so many good, clever and influential people in F1...Colin Chapman, Frank Williams, Ross Brawn AND even Bernie Ecclestone of course to name but a few and I still have an immense respect for them and their achievments.

I feel the sport has lost sight of it's roots and reason for being...it's becoming far too sanitised..having lost that pure and basic joy of "racing"..the rawness of it...and yes,...the danger.!

The technological progress is mind blowing....and SO clever...and in many ways I applaud it...but it has taken away those basic qualities that applied not that many years ago.

TBH one of the biggest pains for me right now...is that gobby Welsh git on C4 (I won't pay for Sky) ...My goodness he does like the sound of his own very clever voice...why on earth is he needed.?

I can well respect the others..they have actually done something.!..even dear old Eddie Jordan..lol..but, for me, this chap is a right PIA.!!

Edited by nellyjak on 26/03/2018 at 08:58

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Mon 26 Mar 2018 08:33
F1 starts again (yawn) - veloceman
I still watch every race but can’t say I would do so if there was no British interest at the front.

I don’t see the point of having tracks that don’t allow overtaking - Albert Park, Monaco etc.
I agree was at its best with refuelling. When cars started on different fuel loads and could use whichever tyres they needed.

Personally I think the cars aren’t the prettiest.
Get rid of all the wings on wings on wings.
This would also mean cars could follow each other without loosing aero performance.

And as for the halo I’m not really sure what protection it will give.
It wouldn’t have stopped the bolt that hit Massas head.
And it was the case that in the other incident they were driving too fast in the rain under yellow flags with a tractor in the firing line.
Drivers seam to struggle to get out the cars now not sure how the would with the car upside down.

If they want to be really safe the drivers could sit on the pit wall with a remote control.
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Mon 26 Mar 2018 09:41
F1 starts again (yawn) - Steveieb
According to Ross Brawn of the F1 Organisers the perfect outcome for the season would be that the championship is decided at the last race.
That to me says it all, especially for sponsors in the various countries.
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Mon 26 Mar 2018 09:58
F1 starts again (yawn) - colinh

Nobody seems to have mentioned the biggest innovation - could be the saviour of the "sport" - races start at 10 minutes past the hour

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Mon 26 Mar 2018 10:12
F1 starts again (yawn) - primus 1
Yes I agree, f1 can be pretty boring, but sometimes it can be exciting too, ( although that’s getting rarer and rarer) : and us dedicated fans sit through many boring races in the hope there will be some excitement. But what’s the future of f1, governments and car manufacturers are all on about not producing petrol and Diesel engines in the future, switching to purely evs, as there’s already a dedicated electric racing series there can’t be another one, so where does f1 go?,
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Mon 26 Mar 2018 10:46
F1 starts again (yawn) - John F

, also, what are the backroomer's preferred choice of motorsport?

Rallying and endurance races. Especially Le Mans.

Racing drivers hold no interest for me. Anyone with single-minded commitment and good co-ordination can be a fast driver. Especially if daddy was one, and especially if you have the time and money to practise a lot. Rallying and endurance competition are more about the best engineered car than the drivers, with more relevance to practical and durable developments for the everyday motorist.

Old joke......on old passports there was a space for 'profession'. On Stirling Moss's passport, this read 'stirling moss'.

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Mon 26 Mar 2018 12:54
F1 starts again (yawn) - SteVee

I agree with the OP - MotoGP beats F1 anytime. The support races - Moto2 and especially Moto3 are also brilliant, 10 bikes head into a corner and can come out in a very different order. Plus you can go to the shop and buy a similar (at least to the average biker) machine.

BSB (British Superbikes) has got rid of traction controls etc, so it really is up to the rider and delivers some very close - and accessible to the spectator - racing.

The Irish road-races and IoM TT are just plain terrifying - especially the on-board shots.

The closest 4 wheel racing (for me) was the Touring Cars - but I've not seen that for a while. I do watch a bit of F1 highlights from time to time - the technology is interesting, but the racing isn't.

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Mon 26 Mar 2018 13:54
F1 starts again (yawn) - Snakey

I like the BTCC and stopped watching F1 about 4 years ago.

Personally I think F1 would benefit from 2 shorter races instead of one long one - with no pit stops. More entertaining for the viewers and probably a bit more exciting for the drivers as well

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Mon 26 Mar 2018 16:02
F1 starts again (yawn) - sammy1

Boring yes, most of the time especially the tracks which make overtaking almost impossible.

The deployment of the vertual safety car which allows cars to dive into the pits and gain advantage should have been outlawed by now. The times of all cars should be frozen at the moment the vertual SC is deployed and the times added back at the end of the race or no pit stops under the SC.

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Mon 26 Mar 2018 16:25
F1 starts again (yawn) - concrete

Some good friends are very keen on F1. I cannot appreciate the attraction, although I have tried. At least on TV you get an overview of the race. I would hate to pay a small fortune for a seat with only one view. Each to there own. They cannot understand why I like to watch Rugby, so the situation is the same from both sides. Cheers Concrete

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Mon 26 Mar 2018 16:31
F1 starts again (yawn) - Gerry Sanderson

Dross

IMHO an exercise in planned first to the post.

First boy wonder then Vettel. Then boy wonder - more points. Next win for Vettel. Much hoohaa BW behind. All in my opinion to get an audiance. Boooring.

Where there is much money involved in sport corruption iseems rife.

Want to see thrills - follow Rossie and gang on two wheels MotoGP these guys really race

Respect

dvd

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Mon 26 Mar 2018 18:27
F1 starts again (yawn) - badbusdriver

Brilliant that Rossi has signed for another 2 years with Yamaha, he is 39 now and still competing at the sharp end of the pack, finished on the podium in Qatar for goodness sake!. But it's good to see an old guy that can still show the youngsters a thing or two!

Most of the riders are 'characters', not like the dull corpotate automaton's in F1 (with 1 or 2 exceptions). Marc Marquez may have been beaten to the win by the power of the Ducati, but at the post race interview he was grinning like a schoolboy who'd found a copy of playboy. Because he enjoyed the duel with Dovi over the last few laps so much.

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Mon 26 Mar 2018 19:23
F1 starts again (yawn) - corax

Most of the riders are 'characters', not like the dull corpotate automaton's in F1 (with 1 or 2 exceptions).

Guy Martin is an absolute nutter, very down to earth and likeable. Certainly an interesting character!

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Mon 26 Mar 2018 20:08
F1 starts again (yawn) - veloceman
I love F1. More like a game of chess I reckon.
I do admit that there should be more overtaking.
But real not faked helped by DRS.
Not really into MotoGP.
Reminds me of basketball where the scores can finish at 89-91.
Lots of overtaking but doesn’t necessarily get you anywhere.
At least bikes don’t have Halos - yet.
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