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[itxaka]

[ig]http://www.aesinternational.com/rossnaylor/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/dollars.gif[/img]

Basically. Someone got quite some money from this. The circuit was even tied to one party winning the elections. They don't even give a fuck anymore, don't hide shit.

Fuck this circuit, so boring. Let other countries have one ffs.

 

[SunhiLegend]

Well it seems that most drivers have admitted defeat that they will not catch Vettel or Red Bull. However like Alonso said the battle is for 2nd place with only 22 points between Webber and Alonso and 77 between Mclaren and Ferrari. Personally I don't care anymore if Vettels in pole and leads the races he can fuck off by himself in front, its the rest of the pack I want to watch battling it out for podiums

 

[Goldrusher]

Top 30 w00t.

 

[Ark]

Bah, only 59th, up 5 places this weekend.

I've gotta get into the top 50 eventually!

 

[John_B]

And with a 80-90 points lead over Hamilton and Alonso, I would like to congratulate Vettel with yet another championship.

Red Bull is looking very strong right now. Vettel needs a challenger from his own garage, but Webber is not bringing it. If Hamilton were to sign with Red Bull we could have a truly legendary battle.

 

[S. L.]

looks like i didn't miss too much on my little vacation

 

[avaya]

Formula 1 cars could drive with an engine from a Toyota Prius and would still be superior.

F1 cars are approaching joke status with new engine rules.

 

[Deadman]

yay up 9 and finally in to top 50.

 

[Adamm]

Nice! Up another 3 places for me.

Ferrari & Torro Rosso did well this week, so got me some good points. Pity Kobayashi finished so low

 

[Rafa=FedKilla]

only my second time watching F1, this was a real bore. When are the exciting tracks coming up?

 

[ANDY_098]

only my second time watching F1, this was a real bore. When are the exciting tracks coming up?

The next 5 races are all good tracks:

Silverstone
Nurburgring
Hungaroring
Spa
Monza

 

[brotkasten]

only my second time watching F1, this was a real bore. When are the exciting tracks coming up?

Valencia is probably the worst track this year, I feel bad for you. Watch the Chinese GP or Monaco.

 

[Adamm]

only my second time watching F1, this was a real bore. When are the exciting tracks coming up?

They wont get worse than valencia, dont worry
Next two races should hopefully be good, British & German GPs are usually interesting

But august 28th is when the best race happens

Spoiler

Spa!!!

EDIT: Infact I like every track up to Abu Dhabi from now. (assuming India isnt dull)

 

[DD]

Belgium this year will be LEGEN-


wait for it


DARY!

 

[PjotrStroganov]

At least Top Gear is back today and the MotoGP at Assen is starting soon.

MotoGP was yesterday


It's a rerun. TT in Assen has always been on Saturday.

 

[Dilly]

Belgium this year will be LEGEN-


wait for it


DARY!

That's why they're going to alternate it with France!

Who needs Spa anyway? We got Valencia!

 

[DD]

That's why they're going to alternate it with France!

Who needs Spa anyway? We got Valencia!

Wait for it

 

[Leunam]

Pity Kobayashi finished so low

Shame too, ends his points scoring streak.

only my second time watching F1, this was a real bore. When are the exciting tracks coming up?

Yeah, you caught one of the worst tracks in recent years.

 

[Edmond Dantès]

MotoGP was yesterday


It's a rerun. TT in Assen has always been on Saturday.

Silly me.

 

[Adamm]

That's why they're going to alternate it with France!

Who needs Spa anyway? We got Valencia!

Has that been confirmed? or is it just a rumour?

Every year I hear talk of Spa being dropped from the calender. But I suppose alternating with France is better than loosing it completely

 

[Edmond Dantès]

Has that been confirmed? or is it just a rumour?

Every year I hear talk of Spa being dropped from the calender. But I suppose alternating with France is better than loosing it completely

Just a rumour still, but it seems to have some credence.

 

[RomanticHeroX]

A good rule of thumb for the past few years is the better the track the more tenuous its slot on the callendar is. Spa is undisputably the greatest circuit in the world, which is why it's dropped off the callendar so often. Suzuka is another brilliant track so it had to share a spot with Fuji until Toyota stopped caring. Silverstone would be dropped in an instant but I think Bernie is afraid of getting shived. Meanwhile he'll fight long past reason to keep Bahrain and Tilkedomes keep spreading through the world like tumors.

 

[Omiee]

why the fuck would you drop spa or alternate it with france, its my favorite track on f1 2010 and has been my favorite track in f1 overall

 

[G Rom]

Made it in the top 10 with the best score of the NeoGAF league, nice !

4 of the next 5 races are good tracks:

Silverstone
Nurburgring
Spa
Monza

Fixed for accuracy.

The rule changes in a few years will be the end of F1, this year alone i have already gone from a huge F1 fan to mostly watching tin-tops.

Same here, I even used to wake up early in the morning to watch the Asian leg of the calendar but now I almost don't mind missing a GP... :-/
Many factors contributed to this over the years :
- More new empty shitty Tilke tracks on the calendar
- Less great tracks on the calendar
- Butchering of amazing tracks (Hockenheimring, Silverstone, Spa, etc...)
- Rules that make the cars uglier (2010 onward)
- Rules that make the engine worse almost every season
- The limited engines, gearbox, whatever per season BS
- Pussyfication of the sports, especially in raining conditions
- Drivers with some actual balls being a species near extinction
- DRS
- One tire manufacturer
- Obligation for the teams to use two types of tires
- etc...

I always imagined the F1 of the future to be something in the same spirit as the X1/X2010 (less extreme of course) aka something which at some point would go beyond the strict open-wheel paradigm to keep being the fastest possible. Instead we're seeing the F1 slowly turning into a spec race which should just be renamed GP1 Series IMO...

 

[ANDY_098]

why the fuck would you drop spa or alternate it with france, its my favorite track on f1 2010 and has been my favorite track in f1 overall

Because they can't afford it. Very few, if any (which is more likely), circuits actually make any profit from holding a GP due to Bernie asking for ridiculous amounts of money from them.

 

[amar212]

Because they can't afford it. Very few, if any (which is more likely), circuits actually make any profit from holding a GP due to Bernie asking for ridiculous amounts of money from them.

Yep. 30-40 million for every GP race (Monaco excluded). But that is NOT the main *problem*.

When new track enters the FOA schedule, it gives all commercial rights for selling advertismens space on track exclusivelly to Bernie. It lasts for 5 years, and after 5 years those tracks gets their advertising space "back" for their own commercial uses.

You get the idea about constant shifting the venues and real story behind it. Man is an genius BTW

 

[brotkasten]

Made it in the top 10 with the best score of the NeoGAF league, nice !





Fixed for accuracy.




Same here, I even used to wake up early in the morning to watch the Asian leg of the calendar but now I almost don't mind missing a GP... :-/
Many factors contributed to this over the years :
- More new empty shitty Tilke tracks on the calendar
- Less great tracks on the calendar
- Butchering of amazing tracks (Hockenheimring, Silverstone, Spa, etc...)
- Rules that make the cars uglier (2010 onward)
- Rules that make the engine worse almost every season
- The limited engines, gearbox, whatever per season BS
- Pussyfication of the sports, especially in raining conditions
- Drivers with some actual balls being a species near extinction
- DRS
- One tire manufacturer
- Obligation for the teams to use two types of tires
- etc...

I always imagined the F1 of the future to be something in the same spirit as the X1/X2010 (less extreme of course) aka something which at some point would go beyond the strict open-wheel paradigm to keep being the fastest possible. Instead we're seeing the F1 slowly turning into a spec race which should just be renamed GP1 Series IMO...

This is imo the worst. They did it to save money, so smaller teams have a chance too? Well, fuck them. Look at HRT or Virgin, they fucking suck and are an annoyance for everyone else on the track. If you don't have a huge amount of money, don't enter F1. This is not an amateur series, it's supposed to be the best of the best. To be honest, it still amazes me that the current F1 cars are still that fast, despite all the regulations to slow them down.

 

[G Rom]

Yeah, this cost reduction is just BS. Toyota proved everyone that throwing near unlimited money didn't work in F1 anyway !

 

[Ark]

- One tire manufacturer

F1 should never go back to the tyre war era, it's just too costly. And we don't want a repeat of Indy

I always imagined the F1 of the future to be something in the same spirit as the X1/X2010 (less extreme of course) aka something which at some point would go beyond the strict open-wheel paradigm to keep being the fastest possible. Instead we're seeing the F1 slowly turning into a spec race which should just be renamed GP1 Series IMO...

Bring back 2004! Just without the Schumacher domination.

Yeah, this cost reduction is just BS. Toyota proved everyone that throwing near unlimited money didn't work in F1 anyway !

It's a major shame that Toyota isn't in F1 anymore, but at least they're heading into LMP1. IIRC the Toyota motorsport factory is the best in the world.

 

[brotkasten]

F1 should never go back to the tyre war era, it's just too costly. And we don't want a repeat of Indy

I agree with this, but give the teams as many tires as they want.

It's a major shame that Toyota isn't in F1 anymore, but at least they're heading into LMP1. IIRC the Toyota motorsport factory is the best in the world.

I know it's not the same team, but I'm still angry at Toyota. Not only the never manufactured a proper successor to the AE86, they completely fucked up the FT-86, too.

 

[Ark]

I agree with this, but give the teams as many tires as they want.

I don't think the teams should have unlimited tyres, but imo they should have an extra 1-2, maybe even 3 sets of tyres for a weekend, no more than that.

 

[brotkasten]

I don't think the teams should have unlimited tyres, but imo they should have an extra 1-2, maybe even 3 sets of tyres for a weekend, no more than that.

What about forcing them to use two different sets? I can see how this might be a good idea, but I'm still not really convinced.

 

[Ark]

What about forcing them to use two different sets? I can see how this might be a good idea, but I'm still not really convinced.

Part of me thinks it's stupid, but part of me thinks it adds a nice little bit extra to the racing.

Sure it's artificial, but times have moved on since 2008. The cars are just too quick now for 'real' racing, we'll just end up with a repeat of 2010 in terms of racing. In my opinion anyway.

 

[G Rom]

F1 should never go back to the tyre war era, it's just too costly. And we don't want a repeat of Indy

Tires are an essential part of the car so there should be no manufacturer restriction IMO.
And too costly, come on, we're talking about F1, not a local Karting event !
I don't think teams should have unlimited sets either but they should have more than what they have now, that's for sure.

Bring back 2004! Just without the Schumacher domination.

Yeah, the 2004 cars were the best and the calendar was near perfection back then...

 

[Goldrusher]

why the fuck would you drop spa or alternate it with france, its my favorite track on f1 2010 and has been my favorite track in f1 overall

It's an idea by the French, who don't have a GP at the moment.
One of the people involved in organizing the French race, suggested (!) they alternate with another race, perhaps the Belgian GP.

Nothing more. Because Spa is so famous and so good, the quote spread like wildfire and everyone gave their opinion. But it's only an idea, a suggestion, by the French.

Don't forget only a few months ago Shell signed a multi-year deal to become the Belgian GP sponsor.

 

[avaya]

Not 2004 rules.

2002:

3.0L V10's unrestricted on mileage, number of engines
Unlimited gearbox/chassis restriction on numbers
No Parc-Ferme
4 practice sessions - more track action
WARM-UP - more track action
4 sets of tyres for QLF, 12 laps. Go. That theater is still unmatched.
T-car, unlimited number. Ensures drivers can still compete if they've wrecked.
In season testing. Unlimited. More action.

You simply got more value for money with the old rules.

 

[Ark]

Tires are an essential part of the car so there should be no manufacturer restriction IMO.
And too costly, come on, we're talking about F1, not a local Karting event !

I'm sorry, but F1 does not have an unlimited budget. It would be a ridiculously stupid move. We have 3 new teams, all of which signed up because of the proposed budget limit, 2 of which look to have future potential and midfield teams.

We wouldn't have any new private teams if the costs were allowed to escalate.

 

[Goldrusher]

I was a big fan of the one-lap qualifying.

You could see a full lap of each driver. Compare their style. Every single corner was in full view. Every single error. See them crack under the pressure of only have one lap to do their magic.

Much more exciting, much cooler for the fans of the slower drivers, much more environmentally friendly and a lot cheaper than running in circles for a full hour, focusing on the fastest guys, never showing a full lap, never having a full lap without traffic and having your times deleted twice.

 

[AcridMeat]

Well that was boring as fuck. Friend and I dozed off while watching.

That said, I'm starting to claw my way back just a tiny bit in racemanager after sucking ass two weeks in a row. Got all of the bets right too.

 

[RomanticHeroX]

2002 was the peak of the sport for me, at least in the post-Senna era. The cars were gorgeous, the engines were incredible, the callendar was perfect and the rules were spot on. It was expensive as hell but that's what F1 is about, and even then a team as small as Minardi could still outshine the bottom three we have today.

 

[Jinjo]

Only watched this as I've missed the previous 3 races and ruined a later watch by getting the results spoiled/accidently spoiling it myself. Should've known fucking better than to try a later watch with Valencia. Wasted 2 hours of my life. There really is no saving it.

Highlight of the race was Hamilton telling his engineer: "I'm not going any slower." (and later: I can't go any faster"). Brilliant. He basicly was as frustrated as me watching that race.

The reason I stopped watching F1 so many years ago is slowly resurfacing: one german guy dominating them all. Silverstone is my last hope.

 

[avaya]

2002 was the peak of the sport for me, at least in the post-Senna era. The cars were gorgeous, the engines were incredible, the callendar was perfect and the rules were spot on. It was expensive as hell but that's what F1 is about, and even then a team as small as Minardi could still outshine the bottom three we have today.

+1.

 

[Shaneus]

The reason I stopped watching F1 so many years ago is slowly resurfacing: one german guy dominating them all. Silverstone is my last hope.

The track changes might not be all that great but here's hoping the rule changes are. If there's a slight chance of putting the finger lower down the starting order, shit could get interesting.

 

[Chris R]

When the GP2 races are more exciting than the F1 race you know something is really wrong. Such a shit track. Give that race to france so we can keep spa :<

 

[Parch]

I've always had an interest in F1A but this is ridiculous. Vettel winning every race is...

BORING!

I much prefer IRL. They race on ovals, pro circuits, airport circuits, and street circuits. It's much more challenging than the predictable results of F1. The quality and level of competition is far superior in IRL, and the entertainment factor isn't comparable. IRL might not have the financial support of FIA, but for fan entertainment, IRL is far superior IMO.

 

[Chris R]

I wouldn't go that far, but yesterdays irl race was so much better than the crap f1 race today. Hell the nns race at road america was better even if the finish was comical.

 

[soujiro_seta]

just watched the race... what a fucking boring race that was! valencia needs to go asap!

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

Well, I didn't hate this race like most of you. It was pretty dull for the most part, which is to be expected on this track, but there were quite a few good scraps going on. At the start of the race the top 4 were very close, and as they split up the drivers further down the road started to battle it out. I feel like throughout the race I was consistently watching a close battle, so that's something.

The track definitely needs to be kicked off the calendar, though. It just doesn't provide exciting races, even with the new tyres and DRS/KERS. I also think it's really boring to look at, which might sound stupid but it's a really plain street circuit with horrible painted grass/kerbs etc, compared to something like Monaco which has the towering buildings, the tunnel, etc etc.

Vettel is pretty much unstoppable this season unless he's pressured like last race. I'm not overly bothered about his domination, because the races are so fucking good, but I do hope McLaren or (sigh) Ferarri find more pace so we get a few more Canada moments.

 

[Juicy Bob]

In all my years of watching F1, things have never been as good as they are now. We've had a season of incredible action so far, with some truly epic finishes. The cost-saving initiatives may make you feel like they've 'watered down' the sport, but they were brought in not to help the smaller teams but to save the bigger teams from themselves. Max Mosely was a bit of a numpty, but the two best things he ever did was to push for increased safety measures in cars and get at the teams about costs. There were a number of cost-cutting measures agreed on, like restricted weekend running and testing, engine freezing and limited engine usage, moving to one wet tyre etc. If you remember, the financial crisis claimed BMW, Toyota and Honda in the space of 12 months. If we've never had any money saving measures introduced before that time, I seriously wonder whether any of the manufactures would have survived.

The other aspect of all this is that it has made the sport more of a technical challenge. With all of the engine and gearbox restrictions and Parc Ferme conditions, etc, the teams are being challenged harder than they ever were during the pre-2003 era. Teams have to compromise with all sorts of factors and I think it's good that they are under more pressure to get things right first time instead of having endless amounts of testing and practice time to sort out every single little problem they find. And they've delivered as well. I think the fact that yesterday was the first GP in which there were 24 finishers was testament to that.

Yesterday's race wasn't the best race of all time, by any means. But it certainly wasn't the worst. We had, what appeared to be, a 3 way fight for the win for most of the race with Alonso and Webber actively engaging each other or track at one point. How often do we see that at any race, let alone at Valencia? Also, looking through the field there were a wealth of battles and overtaking manoeuvres behind the top 3.

It helped that DRS worked perfectly here, in my opinion. Despite my fears that it was going to make things too easy for an attacking car, we saw that that wasn't the case at all. You still needed to work hard and be really up-close to be able to make the most of it, which is how it should be. Trust me, if Bernie announced that he was dropping this track next year I would not shed a single tear over this truly rubbish circuit, but I do think a lot of people are letting their dislike of the track cloud their judgement of what was easily the best ever race around here.

And so let's move on to the biggest problem of this season, Vettel's utter domination. First of all, yes it's boring. I'm 100% with you there. Although I think that if it was Alonso or Hamilton or Webber who had won yesterday's race from Pole in the manner Seb did people would have rated the race higher than they have done. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have seen the Championship been contested this year, but it's all over now and we're all going to have to deal with it. I don't think anyone here would begrudge Sebastian and Red Bull their success. They've built another phenomenal car and they have in Vettel a driver who delivers on every single Saturday which gives them the best possible chance at winning on Sunday, which he so often does. He has never finished lower than 2nd this entire season. That gives Vettel an average finishing position of 1.25. That's fucking incredible, given the sheer level of talent and ability we have on the grid this year.

And while I agree that the car does have a lot to do with it, Sebastian has completely and undeniably decimated my man Mark this year. It's painful to watch, but he's owning him fair and square. The fact that he's only just about to turn 24 and he'll grab his second World Championship later in the year is terrifying. We need the other teams

Spoiler

although I'd rather not Ferrari

to really get a move on and catch that Red Bull, otherwise I honestly see us having to put up with 'The Finger' for a long while yet...

 

[leadbelly]

I've always had an interest in F1A but this is ridiculous. Vettel winning every race is...

BORING!

I much prefer IRL. They race on ovals, pro circuits, airport circuits, and street circuits. It's much more challenging than the predictable results of F1. The quality and level of competition is far superior in IRL, and the entertainment factor isn't comparable. IRL might not have the financial support of FIA, but for fan entertainment, IRL is far superior IMO.

Yeah, Vettel is winning way too many races, but I would hardly call it boring. The last race Button went from last place to first. How could anyone call that boring?

The race today was by far the worst, that's for sure, but pretty much every other race so far has had at least some drama to make things interesting.

I do agree that the total domination of Red Bull and Vettel has taken some of the challenge and excitement out of the competition this year though. It wasn't like that last year however. There were like 5 people who had a realistic chance of winning it last year.

The difference with IndyCar and F1 is (apart from the circuits) in F1 every team has to make a car from scratch. Making a fast competitive car is part of the challenge. It doesn't stop at the beginning of the season either, teams are constantly developing thoughout the season to make the car as competitive as possible. Unfortunately there are some obvious drawbacks to this approach, as the total domination of Red Bull is showing.

In Indycar everyone has the same chassis and the same engine. It completely takes the competitive edge away from the team side of things. I think most F1 fans probably wouldn't want F1 to be like that.