I don’t see a thread yet, and Ecclestone’s departure seems an appropriate time to start one. The end of an era - how much difference will it make? Probably not a lot, but if the new owners have been paying attention, with any luck there will be no more gimmicks like double points and bizarre qualifying sessions.
With pre-season testing some weeks away still, and no radical rule changes (or at least so it appears), smart money is on Hamilton to win the title, but I’m not making any predictions - so often we have seen massive and unexpected changes to teams’ average grid positions at the start of a season. One thing we all want (even Hamilton fans like me) is closer racing, so let’s hope the other teams have managed to continue closing the gap.
Well, there are big changes to the formula this upcoming season and that often upsets the order of the haves and the have-nots, so I’m looking forward to that.
I’m happy that the troll is gone. Hopefully the new owners will be reasonable with their hosting fees and we won’t get things like the European Grand Prix in Asia. So many great tracks and because they wouldn’t kiss Ecclestone’s ass and fill his pockets they don’t get a race. I mean, how can a race NOT happen at Monza? It was likely with Bernie. And Germany, for God’s sake. Stop dealing with despots, lower the fees, and let’s get F1 back to what it was when people actually cared about it.
Its funny how the teams claim that cross-winds can effect the handling of the cars so adversely (I’ve always been somewhat skeptical about this, what with all the downforce and stuff, but hey, I don’t drive 'em). Well, those fins are gonna be like fucking sails in cross-winds!
I can almost hear them moaning and groaning already.
I like the new look, too; lower and wider, kinda reminds me of the mid-'70s cars. Except the vertical fins and the T wings, those need to go.
In general, does anyone know who sets the standards and what they’re trying to achieve when they do? Why did they lower the rear wing this year; does it do something to lessen the loss of downforce for a car following another?
I don’t know why I’m looking forward to tonight so much, it’s still going to be Mercedes in front and everyone else chasing, only this time there’s Lewis and his water carrier Bottas instead of competition from Rosberg. We all know that Mercedes wouldn’t hire someone to compete with their golden boy, right?
But still, F1 is back! With the champion preordained I can focus on the cars again, and that’s a good thing.
Glad I found this thread…I’ve been looking for one for awhile. I’m a long time IndyCar fan, who just started watching F1 regularly in 2016.
For one, I love the racing…except for one thing, and I want to see if F1 fans in general agree. The main problem for me is the predictability. Last year, two drivers won 20 of the 21 races, with (IIRC) Verstappen winning the other. What’s frustrating is that–while the racing behind the leader is great—all you have to do is watch the first lap to know who’s going to win (one exception–Hamilton’s engine failure in one of the 2016 races.)
The lead drive gets into clean air, and runs away.
Is this something that bothers longtime F1 fans? Or are most OK with it? Will the changes make for more competitive races?
Thanks in advance for the answers. Not much of a fan of the fins either. They make the cars look a little cartoonish…but still looking forward to the season!
I agree. While I like the cars and the tracks of F1, the actual racing is better in Indycar. But oval tracks bore the hell out of me. And I think it’s sort of fucked up that there are about what, 22 drivers in Indy that race the entire season* but for the 500 about 40 show up. WTF?
*Yeah, there are some teams that have two drivers for one car, who swap out depending on road course or oval. I think that’s lame too.
True, though Vettel winning because Hamilton on new tires can’t pass Verstappen on old tires is not the most encouraging start–I think that closing lap battle for 10th was pretty much the only ontrack battle we saw.
It was a bad stategy call on the part of Mercedes, plus Hamilton wasn’t getting the grip he needed on those tyres, so he couldn’t get away at the start.
I love to watch that mopey little prick squirm.