F1 2011/ Motor Racing Thread

[swiftstrike]

don't know if anyone else seen this or heard about it on the bbc checked flag podcast

 

But there is a group trying to get "the chain" (bbc show teamtune) to the top of the charts for the new F1 season they are starting the downloads on this today with a view to having it placed no.1 for the start of the race weekend.

 

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Get-T...157188417663367

[iamtheman]

good race today

 

just finished watching but just found out that the saubers have been disqualified

 

LINK

 

theres going to be a appeal so results stand for now

 

if appeal fails paul di resta gets points finish on debut

[CurryAngel]

Is it just me or is this DRS rear wing system taking all the fun out of over taking in F1? Every move is exactly the same and driving skill doesn't matter as much.

[LariatTom]

I don't think I've ever loved the sport as much as I do right now. They seem to still be sorting the distances out on a race by race basis, but obviously it also depends on where they have the DRS on a track. We're getting more overtaking than ever before, and yes, it might be fake in some situations, but we've seen that drivers can pass one lap and then they're having to defend the next lap since they're under attack. The quicker driver will end up ahead and that's much better than previous years where the quicker driver couldn't get past because there wasn't a way for him to do so.

 

I mean, here it was probably the only logical place to have the zone and it could have only been shortened if the wing was activated after Turn 11. With somewhere like Silverstone, they'll be using Hangar Straight (I assume) and I think that'll be a good length. It won't just cars just fly past but it'll get drivers alongside going into Stowe. I certainly hope so anyway since that's where I'll be sitting!!

 

Anyone have any ideas how they'll stop Vettel? The only way I can see it happening is if he starts from P24, and even then I wouldn't want to bet against him not ending the race on the top step.

[denzel_maggiore]

F1 is far too fake nowadays.

 

This new DRS/KERS whatever you want to call it is a farce.

 

I'm getting sick of the shitty teams as well like Virgin, Force India, Hispania, Toro Rosso etc. They offer nothing at all to the race other than get in the way when they get lapped by Vettel six times in a race. You would be better off having three drivers for each team than have cars finish about five minutes behind the other cars.

[cogitoergozoomo]

I mean, here it was probably the only logical place to have the zone and it could have only been shortened if the wing was activated after Turn 11. With somewhere like Silverstone, they'll be using Hangar Straight (I assume) and I think that'll be a good length. It won't just cars just fly past but it'll get drivers alongside going into Stowe. I certainly hope so anyway since that's where I'll be sitting!!

 

Sorry to say it but the new straight after Arena to Brooklands would be the obvious place at Silverstone if they want to increase overtaking. Stowe is too high speed.

 

Monaco will be the fun one. The only two places speed is high enough are the tunnel and the start finish straight and neither are straight.

[brett]

F1 is far too fake nowadays.

 

This new DRS/KERS whatever you want to call it is a farce.

 

I'm getting sick of the shitty teams as well like Virgin, Force India, Hispania, Toro Rosso etc. They offer nothing at all to the race other than get in the way when they get lapped by Vettel six times in a race. You would be better off having three drivers for each team than have cars finish about five minutes behind the other cars.

 

 

Yes but a few years ago you could have said the same about force india and sauber who now look competitive.

[denzel_maggiore]

F1 is far too fake nowadays.

 

This new DRS/KERS whatever you want to call it is a farce.

 

I'm getting sick of the shitty teams as well like Virgin, Force India, Hispania, Toro Rosso etc. They offer nothing at all to the race other than get in the way when they get lapped by Vettel six times in a race. You would be better off having three drivers for each team than have cars finish about five minutes behind the other cars.

 

 

Yes but a few years ago you could have said the same about force india and sauber who now look competitive.

 

Are they competitive though? Its Red Bull, McClaren, Ferrari, Renault and at a push Mercedes. The rest are cannon fodder who make up the numbers, you get the odd race where one driver springs a surprise but other than that most races are a foregone conclusion as far as the top six places go.

[brett]

F1 is far too fake nowadays.

 

This new DRS/KERS whatever you want to call it is a farce.

 

I'm getting sick of the shitty teams as well like Virgin, Force India, Hispania, Toro Rosso etc. They offer nothing at all to the race other than get in the way when they get lapped by Vettel six times in a race. You would be better off having three drivers for each team than have cars finish about five minutes behind the other cars.

 

 

Yes but a few years ago you could have said the same about force india and sauber who now look competitive.

 

Are they competitive though? Its Red Bull, McClaren, Ferrari, Renault and at a push Mercedes. The rest are cannon fodder who make up the numbers, you get the odd race where one driver springs a surprise but other than that most races are a foregone conclusion as far as the top six places go.

 

I think Sauber are a team that will finish in the top 10 on a regular basis, depends on how you define competitive.

 

Would you prefer some of these teams through million to try and overtake the top 4 or 5 teams and go bust.

[cogitoergozoomo]

F1 is far too fake nowadays.

 

This new DRS/KERS whatever you want to call it is a farce.

 

I'm getting sick of the shitty teams as well like Virgin, Force India, Hispania, Toro Rosso etc. They offer nothing at all to the race other than get in the way when they get lapped by Vettel six times in a race. You would be better off having three drivers for each team than have cars finish about five minutes behind the other cars.

 

 

Yes but a few years ago you could have said the same about force india and sauber who now look competitive.

 

Are they competitive though? Its Red Bull, McClaren, Ferrari, Renault and at a push Mercedes. The rest are cannon fodder who make up the numbers, you get the odd race where one driver springs a surprise but other than that most races are a foregone conclusion as far as the top six places go.

 

It has always been like that. In fact for most of the history of the sport it was far worse. We are in one fo the most competitive eras of the sport ever.

 

Everyone can't be at the top. If it is a level playing field you want then there are plenty of other one make Championships you could watch. The catch is there though that it's usually still the same teams that win every week.

[LariatTom]

Talking about the "shitty teams" who offer nothing, having teams finishing a lap down isn't that bad. To call Force India a "shitty team" is itself a load of rubbish. With Di Resta and Sutil, they've had good weekends and Di Resta has scored points in two of the first four races. Hell, the same goes for Toro Rosso. I mean, he hadn't stopped at that point, but Buemi was running at P5 at one point today.

 

The midfield teams might not be able to compete with the big teams of McLaren, Red Bull and so on, but they're good teams with a solid budget who are giving other drivers an opportunity. Without Toro Rosso, would Vettel have had such a brilliant chance to show how good he was in the Toro Rosso in 2008? Would Fisichella have been able to pull out that brilliant race in Spa a few years ago? Would Paul Di Resta get his chance in F1 right now, or would he still be driving in DTM? Even if they're not as quick as the big teams, they're still pretty competitive. Go back 20 years or so, and you had teams like Minardi, Forti, Arrows...the list goes on. These weren't quick cars, and you'd regularly get teams failing to qualify even after they made it through pre-qualifying.

 

I mean, here it was probably the only logical place to have the zone and it could have only been shortened if the wing was activated after Turn 11. With somewhere like Silverstone, they'll be using Hangar Straight (I assume) and I think that'll be a good length. It won't just cars just fly past but it'll get drivers alongside going into Stowe. I certainly hope so anyway since that's where I'll be sitting!!

 

Sorry to say it but the new straight after Arena to Brooklands would be the obvious place at Silverstone if they want to increase overtaking. Stowe is too high speed.

 

Monaco will be the fun one. The only two places speed is high enough are the tunnel and the start finish straight and neither are straight.

 

Good point actually, I'd completely forgotten about the run to Brooklands...good call.

 

Did they make a decision about Monaco? I know there was meant to be some discussion over this weekend between the drivers and the FIA about the use of DRS in Monaco because some reckon it'll be too dangerous to try and use it. Even if they allow it, it'd be a brave driver who uses it.

[denzel_maggiore]

Talking about the "shitty teams" who offer nothing, having teams finishing a lap down isn't that bad. To call Force India a "shitty team" is itself a load of rubbish. With Di Resta and Sutil, they've had good weekends and Di Resta has scored points in two of the first four races. Hell, the same goes for Toro Rosso. I mean, he hadn't stopped at that point, but Buemi was running at P5 at one point today.

 

The midfield teams might not be able to compete with the big teams of McLaren, Red Bull and so on, but they're good teams with a solid budget who are giving other drivers an opportunity. Without Toro Rosso, would Vettel have had such a brilliant chance to show how good he was in the Toro Rosso in 2008? Would Fisichella have been able to pull out that brilliant race in Spa a few years ago? Would Paul Di Resta get his chance in F1 right now, or would he still be driving in DTM? Even if they're not as quick as the big teams, they're still pretty competitive. Go back 20 years or so, and you had teams like Minardi, Forti, Arrows...the list goes on. These weren't quick cars, and you'd regularly get teams failing to qualify even after they made it through pre-qualifying.

 

Some good points although Buemi in 5th today at one point isn't really relevant as the positions will always change throughout the race depending on strategy, ultimately its where you finish at the end of the race that counts.

 

I still think the bottom tier of teams should be outed with the midfield & top teams having three drivers, you would still have opportunities for young drivers to make there mark, perhaps even as the 3rd driver at the top team, I'd much rather see the next Vettel (to use an example of a top driver) come into one of the leading teams as a 3rd driver to mix things up than to race around in a Virgin car with no hope at all, I know the F1 way has always been to climb up the ladder (unless its handed to you on the plate like Hamilton) but just feel that sometimes you got too many cars on the track that not many people give a shit about, the TV producers certainly don't show much coverage because no one really cares if someone in 18th is overtaking for 17th place (unless you got a leading driver starting at the back of the grid making his way through the pack).

 

It's only because of the change of points system that drivers even get points nowadays (as opposed to them finishing say in the top six under the old point system and really standing out).

 

Another thing, for every good driver thats found there way into F1 (starting at lower teams) you have also had a fair share (and probably twice as many) poor drivers on the grid, I know F1 has evolved during the last 10 or so years with the change of point systems, no re-fueling, use of tyres, KERS & DRS etc but I think the next step should be to remove the deadwood teams and have three drivers per team for the reasons I have already mentioned, maybe even cap it so the 3rd driver has to be under a certain age (e.g. under 23) and once they reach say 25 or something then they either sign on with the team or are let go to spread the talent and competitiveness throughout the whole grid (which will still be the same number of cars/drivers, just more competitive without teams having no chance at all.)

[LariatTom]

Interesting stories going around following yesterday's race with Michael Schumacher admitting for the first time that he's not experiencing the big joy that he used to get. I'm not surprised really, I think if I'd gone from a career where I was winning a lot of the time and then returning to the sport after a few years, when the regulations have gone through some pretty big changes and back into a car that isn't winning races and fighting for the championship, I'd be missing the joy too. I guess he can only be content with racing around the midfield every so often. Without a doubt, he's missing that extra two tenths he used to be able to get from a car and put that something extra in, and I do find it really sad to watch him getting into scraps with other drivers.

 

I still believe the guy is quick and has the ability to win races and pull out a couple of surprises. Maybe it's blind faith and belief in a guy who is one of my heroes. I just really hope that if he does walk away from the sport, I still get to see him at Silverstone.

[cogitoergozoomo]

Interesting stories going around following yesterday's race with Michael Schumacher admitting for the first time that he's not experiencing the big joy that he used to get. I'm not surprised really, I think if I'd gone from a career where I was winning a lot of the time and then returning to the sport after a few years, when the regulations have gone through some pretty big changes and back into a car that isn't winning races and fighting for the championship, I'd be missing the joy too. I guess he can only be content with racing around the midfield every so often. Without a doubt, he's missing that extra two tenths he used to be able to get from a car and put that something extra in, and I do find it really sad to watch him getting into scraps with other drivers.

 

I still believe the guy is quick and has the ability to win races and pull out a couple of surprises. Maybe it's blind faith and belief in a guy who is one of my heroes. I just really hope that if he does walk away from the sport, I still get to see him at Silverstone.

 

I think it is the lack of testing that is killing him. He tested his cars to the death to get every last thousandths of a second out of them. He was able to polish turds (F310 and F2003GA in particular) by simply doing thousands upon thousands of laps. Now he is stuck with what Mercedes brought at the start of the year baring a few wind tunnel improvements.

[Loki]

Also, he's just not as good as he used to be. He's lost whatever edge he had and is now just one of a number of very good racedrivers, and it's not a position he's used to being in. His frankly dangerous performances bear that out, as he tries through sheer belligerence to hold off faster drivers.

 

It's a sad sight, and at this stage he's just a danger to other drivers rather than an inspiration.