Formula One

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OFSO
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Formula One

#1 Post by OFSO » Mon May 06, 2019 8:01 am

It looks as if the contract for the 'Spanish' Grand Prix will lapse after next week's race and that it will be the last one to be held at Barcelona and the last one to be held in Spain. I know that in contrast to TOP there are few F1 enthusiasts here, but this post is more indicative of Spain's economy and the reluctance of a country to be bamboozled out of huge quantities of cash (which it no longer has) to support a sport which can now only be seen on Pay TV. As an F1 enthusiast I sadly agree. The whole thing has become a fiasco.

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Re: Formula One

#2 Post by Capetonian » Mon May 06, 2019 8:37 am

F1 became a fiasco, as opposed to a sport, many years ago as a result of numerous changes which meant that it was no longer about driver skill and constructor ability.

Team orders to let colleagues pass, or not, as the case may be.
Cars controlled from pits by telemetrics/computers.
Corporate interference and cheating, with massive money being used to pervert results, just like football.
Races becoming as dull as dishwater.

I used to be an enthusiast, but lost interest about 20 years ago. In the days of men like Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Stirling Moss and others we could all name, it was a fabulous sport. Now I'd rather play with MS Flight Sim (and I don't even have it which shows my level of interest.)

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French Grand Prix was the worst race I have ever seen - Formula One must change or the sport will die

#3 Post by Capetonian » Sun Jun 23, 2019 6:18 pm

I didn't watch it but I have read several commentaries indicating that it was somewhat less interesting than watching the bathwater draining down the plughole.
French Grand Prix was the worst race I have ever seen - Formula One must change or the sport will die

British driver Lewis Hamilton (front) leads ahead of Mercedes' Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton wins the French Grand Prix with ease Credit: GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images

From top to bottom, Formula One is hopelessly in denial. The 80th birthday celebrations for Sir Jackie Stewart on Sunday offered a reminder that this can be, at its best, a great and noble enterprise, a platform for some of the bravest feats ever produced in the name of sport. But the feeble non-event of a French Grand Prix that ensued did a disservice to the very concept of motor racing.

Lewis Hamilton’s lights-to-flag victory here, his sixth win in eight races so far this season, was a spectacle that served nobody outside Mercedes: not the organisers, not the fans in half-empty stands, and not the TV viewers, who in the UK have already been forced to buy satellite subscriptions for the privilege of watching enervating processions.

Defenders of F1 claim that every sport has its longueurs, that football has its share of drab goalless draws. But the problem is that grimly one-sided grands prix are becoming the norm, not the exception. Just as surely as the sun rose over Provence, Hamilton rounded the first corner of Circuit Paul Ricard in the lead and tore away for 53 blissfully untroubled laps. Those recalling a similar degree of dominance by McLaren, who achieved 11 consecutive wins in 1988, or by Michael Schumacher, who was the champion in 2002 by July, miss one crucial piece of context: that Mercedes’ supremacy has lasted for the entire turbo-hybrid era. This year, they are all but certain to complete a sixth consecutive double of drivers’ and constructors’ titles. That is unprecedented.

Ultimately, none of this is Hamilton’s fault. His race pace on the French Riviera was described by his own race engineer as “blistering”, cementing his place as Britain’s pre-eminent – and arguably least appreciated – active sportsman. Once, Schumacher’s record of 91 wins was considered untouchable. At the rate Hamilton is going, bringing up his 79th with not a moment’s fuss, he could overhaul it by the end of the year. Granted, this would mean winning every one of the 13 races left. But who, on the latest evidence, would bet against him?

Even Hamilton, in his hour of triumph, recognised that this had been a turn-off. “If you say it’s boring, I totally understand it,” he said. He insisted, though, that he was trying to force change, explaining how he had attended a session of the World Motorsport Council in Paris last week to make his voice heard. “Don’t blame the drivers – we don’t write the rules. Put the pressure on the people at the top, who should be doing their jobs. They have made mistakes for many, many years.
Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates in parc ferme during the F1 Grand Prix of France at Circuit Paul Ricar
Even Hamilton, in his hour of triumph, recognised that this had been a turn-off Credit: Dan Istitene/Getty Images

“Do I have confidence that it will change? I went to Paris to get involved in the meetings. I had nothing to gain by it. There has never been a driver representative in the room before. If that’s the decisive point, which helps to get the fans better racing, then I would be proud to be a part of it.”

Hamilton would be wise not to hold his breath. If there is one area where F1’s suits are highly skilful, it is in the art of kicking the can down the road. The regulation changes for 2021 were supposed to have been agreed by now, but the top teams’ fierce protection of their own interests ensures that any decision has been delayed until October. What this sport needs is a transformation, but what it is likely to receive, thanks to the squabbling between 10 teams with vastly different budgets, is a watered-down compromise.

Still, the denial persists. Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, seemed to believe this so-called race in France had been full of drama. “When you sit where I sit, you hear all the things that need to be managed,” he said. Trouble is, loyal F1 fans do not, and never will, inhabit Wolff’s seat, monitoring complex engineering panels. All they ask for is enthralling action involving the most fearsome racing machines on the planet. For now, they have neither.

The 2019 cars prioritise technical precision over physical demands to such an extent that Lando Norris, a 19-year-old rookie, has handled the step up to F1 with ease. As for the action, it was so scarce that Valtteri Bottas, in second place, blamed his 18-second deficit to Hamilton by explaining the need to conserve his front tyres. It is a comment that reflects the depth of the rut that F1, trapped for too long inside its own bubble, now finds itself. The revolution cannot come soon enough.

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Re: Formula One

#4 Post by Woody » Sun Jun 23, 2019 7:42 pm

Just watching the highlights 😴😴 programme on C4, why are they using some 12 year old kid as an analyst.
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Re: Formula One

#5 Post by OFSO » Sun Jun 23, 2019 8:36 pm

Because after losing both legs in a racing accident he has refused to even acknowledge his prostheses as a disability and has been adopted by the F1 community, proving an excellent commentator. Clever lad.

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Re: Formula One

#6 Post by Capetonian » Sun Jun 30, 2019 5:17 pm

Unusually I watched all of today's Austrian GP and at the outset, seeing the odious Hamilton wasn't on pole, thought it might be interesting unless he broke through to an early lead. He didn't, although he did lead for a while until he had to pit.

It was an in interesting race and a relative newcomer, Charles Leclerc (frog), started on pole and led most of the way, but on one of the last laps, Max Verstappen passed him and a decision has now gone to the stewards as to whether or not to penalise Max, which would cost him his victory.

Needless to say when Leclerc was interviewed he came across as a typical bad loser and not a sportsman's backside.

Oh for the days when it was men and cars.

From BBC website :
Simon H: Race of the season ended over two hours ago. And they’re still deliberating over the penalty. Gotta be quicker than this.

Mark Doughty: If Verstappen gets a penalty for that overtake then F1 is officially dead. Max had the inside line, was ahead at the apex and kept the lock on throughout the corner. Leclerc should have back out and tried to switch back inside.

Lee Bevan: If it takes longer than the duration of a race to make a decision maybe there isn't one to be made.

Gary Walton: The stewards are not debating the result of the Austrian GP, they are debating the future of F1.

Jonny Huntridge: Another F1 own goal coming up. They've made a rod for their back with the stewarding. Basically you can't race any more. How many classic old GP results would be change if today's rules were applied?

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Re: Formula One

#7 Post by Capetonian » Sun Jun 30, 2019 5:52 pm

Apparently Max is the winner. Good, but pathetic that it took so long to reach a decision.

No doubt the bad loser will launch an appeal.

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Re: Formula One

#8 Post by 4mastacker » Sun Jun 30, 2019 7:53 pm

The England v India cricket match was far more exciting.
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Re: Formula One

#9 Post by OFSO » Sun Jun 30, 2019 8:42 pm

I turn F1 on a minute before the parade lap, watch the race, and turn it off after the fourth or fifth car has crossed the finish line. Don't watch the gossip, don't watch the posturing, and don't watch post-race 'adjustments'. Racing, pure and simple is what I enjoy.

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Re: Formula One

#10 Post by jimtherev » Sun Jun 30, 2019 9:58 pm

Ditto, OFSO. Don't even mind who wins if the race is a good'un... which increasingly is a bit iffy. Mrs Jim can't understand this attitude at all - even less when I can watch a cricket international without necessarily thinking it's a bad one if 'we' lose*. Some of the game today was excellent.

* But then, I don't mind a bit that England beat India...

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Re: Formula One

#11 Post by Magnus » Mon Jul 01, 2019 8:03 am

Ferrari won't be appealing the stewards' decision. I thought it was the best race I'd seen for a long time.

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Re: Formula One

#12 Post by Capetonian » Mon Jul 01, 2019 8:10 am

I thought it was the best race I'd seen for a long time.
Agree. Normally I've fallen asleep or switched over to 'Can't Pay We'll Take it Away' after the first corner. I watched this all the way through.

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Re: Formula One

#13 Post by G-CPTN » Mon Jul 01, 2019 8:17 am

The Ferrari team (including the driver) were accepting of the overtake, but had to defend their chance of winning according to the regulations.

The stewards were caught between a rock and a hard place with 'the rules' versus common sense.

If you watch the sequence of laps leading up to the overtake (and overlook the pushing off the track), the whole incident was 'racing' with Verstappen being the faster competitor.

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Re: Formula One

#14 Post by Capetonian » Sun Sep 08, 2019 1:14 pm

It's looking as if the odious Hamilton will be beaten by a frog.

Not sure what to hope for!

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Re: Formula One

#15 Post by Pontius Navigator » Sun Sep 08, 2019 2:00 pm

Capetonian wrote:
Sun Sep 08, 2019 1:14 pm
It's looking as if the odious Hamilton will be beaten by a frog.

Not sure what to hope for!
Again

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Re: Formula One

#16 Post by OFSO » Sun Sep 08, 2019 2:44 pm

Why 'odious: ? Good driver, fair, all that matters.

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Re: Formula One

#17 Post by Capetonian » Sun Sep 08, 2019 3:52 pm

I can't stand him and his bling bling and his fake accent. When he started in formula 1 I thought he was a very nice decent young man and I wished him well but unfortunately with his nose studs and piercings and all the other crap I can't stand him now.
Probably just because I'm racist!!

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Re: Formula One

#18 Post by TheGreenGoblin » Mon Sep 09, 2019 7:25 am

Leclerc is showing himself to be a worthy historical heir to fellow Monégasque Louis Chiron. Level headed, well spoken and brave, it is fitting that Leclerc has won his first two Grand Prix's at old style tracks characterised by demanding high speed corners that can still engender a modicum of fear in the drivers and that are genuinely dangerous, vide. the sad death of Leclerc's personal friend Antoine Hubert at Spa last weekend. The victory at Monza didn't come easily for Leclerc and for a time he was under huge pressure from Hamilton, who is one of motor racing's all time great drivers of the modern era. A great season's debut and a second win for a young man like Leclerc in F1 fighting off the old guard at a classic track like Monza.

Antoine Hubert

Sad to say, one of the other drivers in involved in that F2 crash is still on the critical list having been placed in an induced coma over the weekend.

Juan Manuel Correa

Unfortunately there was another massive shunt in the F3 supporting races at Monza this weekend and Australian driver Alex Peroni was very lucky to escape alive with a broken beck vertebra.

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Re: Formula One

#19 Post by Capetonian » Fri Oct 18, 2019 6:12 am

Adopting a vegan diet is the "only way to truly save our planet", Lewis Hamilton has said.
The F1 star says a flourishing meat and dairy industry leads to "deforestation, animal cruelty" and "our seas decaying".
In a thoughtful post on Instagram, the F1 star described the world as a "messed up place" with leaders who are "either uneducated or don't care about the environment at all".
Going vegan "can be done so quickly", he said, adding: "All you have to do is put your mind to it."
Whilst the above has some elements of truth, he's only aping what others have previously said. It's a bit rich coming from someone who jets around the world and is a conspicuous consumer.
I am not critical of motor racing per se, since I appreciate the benefits it has brought in terms of technological development.
I just think Hamilton is a dick, however good a driver he might be.

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Re: Formula One

#20 Post by Boac » Fri Oct 18, 2019 7:17 am

He has had a mental meltdown, I gather, a posting on Instagram threatening to quit. Rumours are a new 'bird', ?vegan? and not 'winning' the last races.

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