F1 - anyone interested?

[Paranoid Dave]

I don't mind admitting i'm an F1 fan, have been for years. It did get a bit boring when that spoon chinned germ took over but it's been getting better of late. I think i actually prefer the sport to the race, i'll watch all the techy bits and updates and then just have the race on in the background while i try my best to find something to do, fail and end up watching the race anyway.

Anyone else out there a follower? It starts this week, I'll probably get up in the middle of the night for it. I know that's really sad but it's a strange tradition i do for the first race of the season. Coffee, toast and F1, then go back to bed til lunchtime.

:flag:

[Shauns4]

yes i've been a fan for years, strange I don't like bike motorsport but watch F1, have no interest in road cars but lots of interests in bikes.

I'm also a big fan of Schumacher, so probably one of the few in the UK!

[Mr C]

Not as interested as I used to be. Long gone of the Days of Senna and Mansell battling it out. It seem to be very clinical racing now

[claicerrig]

I like F1

Watched my first ever F1 race in San Marino whilst on Hunymoon:mand: :mand:

Have done Spa, Canada And Watkins Glen and of course the only one ever done at Castle Donnington:mand:

Mrs Cerrig and the girls are bigger fans than me id rather watch SBK:cool:

[Paranoid Dave]

it does need a bit of aggro to liven it up, the only noticable driver input now seems to be to squeeze and extre tenth of a second before the pit stop. Don't think they could do a lot to chnage the way it's gone but they do seem to keep trying new elements to liven it up.

I do like the new qualifying though, its gonna help the back teams get a bit of an advantage over the front ones, and the hour long session should be much more eventful too.

[bod]

Yep tend to agree I sometimes nod off while mid race but a fan yes!
Wait untill Rossi's there next year something for all of us.
Tyre changes should make for a bit more action this year again(who will be the 1st team to leave a loose wheel):mand:

[Paranoid Dave]

i think they should copy the A1 rules for pits, only allowed to leave the pit gargae once the vehicle has stopped, less people changing the wheels and so on. makes it far more down to pit crew ability over a 25 second change rather than 10 seconds.

[bod]

"only allowed to leave the pit gargae once the vehicle has stopped,"

That would make tyre changes very tricky wouldn't it:chuckle:

[Paranoid Dave]

have you not seen the A1 its great, they rush around like idiots, one man has to charge out the pits, take a wheel off, grab the new one and put it one then move onto the next wheel.

I think as many variable elements to a race as possible. the more chance for time delays and problems the better it'd be.

[sjr999r]

well i like seeing F1 cars go up the hill at Goodwood FOS........is right up my street.......got a a big big big buzz of that,i watch the qualifing on the saturday.....i have the race on......the sunday...but am in out of the living room to be honest,i get bored easy!!!!:D

[dustybin]

Like Mr C I used to be a fan but it's just got so boring now. If there's not a pile up at the first corner then you can pretty much guarentee who's going to win. As for your pit stop idea Dave, sounds good but then it they may as well scrap the racing and just have pit stop challenges. They could make it a bit like it's a knockout! The refuellers would have to dress like giants and run to the car whilst the opposition swing big foam rocks at them. Now that I'd watch!

[Gilps]

I used to be a really avid fan. but no more. I used to love Senna and Prost battling away, but it just doesn't happen anymore. Its been getting more and more boring with each season. The suits in charge are well aware of it. That's the reason for constant rule changes. I understand that the sport is all about money, but when the money gets in the way of entertainment then they will lose viewers, and then the money will follow. What really did it for me was the farce at Indianapolis. That race should just have been cancelled, money refunded and big apologies made. Instead we got to see 4 equally matched crap cars and 2 Ferarris fighting for a win. I haven't watched a race since. I don't know who came second or below last year and I don't care anymore. It saddens me to see something that gave me so much enjoyment going down the pan. I'll stick with MotoGP for now thanks.
for what its worth, the consortium which is behind most of the money in MotoGP has just taken a controlling interest in F1. Could be hope for biaggi yet.

[Marky]

I was a big fan of F1 but recent years it's generally been so boring and proccessional.......I prefer to see races won on the track with overtaking as opposed to pit strategies.

Saying that, like every year I'll eagerly watch the first coupla GPs to see if the new rule changes have brought racing back into the equation but I'm not that hopeful.

The first GP I attended was European GP at Brands, 1983 (Piquet won in the Brabham BMW tubro) and the last GP I attended was Donington in '93 when Senna in the McLaren was awesome in the wet. I attended probably every Brit GP in between plus Monza ('87), Estoril ('88) Spa ('89).

I've got about 15 Duke DVDs at home that each cover most of the 70's and '80s. Great cars, proper racing with stacks of overtaking, great drivers (most of whom had a personality) but sporting criminally bad sideburns, dodgy barnets and flares :D

Drivers I was a big fan included:
James Hunt (just as cool as Sheene), Emmo Fittipaldi, Ronnie Petersen (used to live nearby in Holyport), Jolly Jacques Laffite (used to live nearby in Stoke Poges), Keke Rosberg (used to leave nearby in Cookham), Nelson Piquet and Rene Arnoux.

[emily's driver]

Not as interested as I used to be. Long gone of the Days of Senna and Mansell battling it out. It seem to be very clinical racing now

I'm with you on this one. Since the teutonic knight became involved it's all gone a bit Pete Tong on the entertainment value side of things and once the chin gets in front, it's all over bar the shouting frankly, though at least the last couple of years we have seen some new faces on the podium for a change. Despite that it still has it's moments I suppose, it's just not the spectacle it once was, and if I am honest it's just not the same without Murray blabbering on as if he is about to have a coronary. Maybe next year Rossi will be lured onto four wheels and can follow in the footsteps of Surtees, some feat in the current competitive climate, but it would send the tifosi crazy.....not that they aren't already.

[Mrs Soup]

I'm half ashamed to admit that we will be getting up at some silly hour to watch this weekend, and probably falling asleep halfway through.

I would never pay to see F1, though. I don't think it's worth the money compared to the action you get at club racing for £15. As said earleir the best place to see F1 cars is definitely at Goodwood FOS though they don't go against the clock anymore. We haven't been since 2001, can you still get within a few feet of the cars?

[Albie]

I was an avid get up early if stay up all nite on sofa for years.When Senna died I had a bet on with work colleague that he would spin off and not finish that race. He sadly didnt to my remorse. I was a Brit fan but so admired him. I ended up buying the collection of 19 cars limited edition set to which I really would like sell to a good home because no matter it seems are the races the same. I get bored with all the crap chat week after week and driven mad by the adverts.I dont want adverts I want racing end to end.I havent watched a complete race for three or four years now. Have some fond memorys of Brands and silverstone though:yoparty:

[Paranoid Dave]

i worked out the other day i dodn't have to get up in the middle of the night as the first round is not australia this year, so its on TV at 10am and i can watch the qualifying too. Hope its gonna be as entertaining as it sounds. Fingers crossed one of the big names or teams spins in the first 15 mins and ends up at the back of the grid.

[Albie]

I really want to get into the spirit of watching again. I would like Jenson to whoop some arses like mansell used to do. Oh and still does in the champions racing .Just take off the adverts plz or maximum 4:hissy: :hissy: :D :hail:

[Paranoid Dave]

the only thing good about the adverts is that ITV hat them too. The second a safety car comes out they put them on, if there's a re start they put the ads on. By contract they have to have X number in the whole show and a set amount in race time, but they do thier best to fit them in when nothing is happening. Sod's law though that when they do cut away someone spins off.
If the prog is on during the night and then re-shown at lunchtime, i always tape the night show as it is exactly the same one as they put on later but Jim (dracula) Rosental is not half as smug 'i know the result and you don't about it and they only have two ads per break!

[emily's driver]

The Ferrari Formula 1 Team fired their entire pit crew yesterday.
The announcement followed Ferrari's decision to take advantage of the British Government's "Work for the Dole" scheme and employ Liverpudlian chaps. The decision to hire them was brought on by a recent documentary on how unemployed youths from Toxteth were able to remove a set of wheels in less than 6 seconds without proper equipment, whereas Ferrari's existing crew could only do it in 8 seconds with millions of pounds worth of high tech equipment. It was thought to be an excellent, bold move by the Ferrari management. As most races are won and lost in the pits, Ferrari would have an advantage. However, Ferrari got more than they bargained for. At the crew's first practice session, not only was the scouse pit crew able to change the tyres in under 6 seconds but within 12 seconds they had re-sprayed, re-badged and sold the vehicle over to the McLaren team for 8 cases of Stella, a bag of skunk weed and some photos of Coulthard's bird in the shower.

[Albie]

:hail: :hail: nice one. Oh is that coulthard still racing then. I hijacked him 10yrs ago at Brands at testing maclaren. He thought I was security when I flagged his driver down for a signature. About time some more new blood. Put Mansell in a car:yoparty: :hail: