What the F is going on with F1 ?
 

It's getting harder and harder to remain a fan...

First they foist those quiet Turbo-ERS-MGK-whatever alphabet soup - F1 cars on us, with "tire management" so we can see the best drivers in the world cruise around in near silence to preserve their rubber and precious engines...
They cut engine and transmissions #s so we can have those silly 75 spot penalties, because that saves so much money vs what they spent on developing that new tech (not)...
They kill testing so it takes 3 years to catch the team that got it right Year 1 (Mercedes)... because it's not like they will spend the same $ on simulators (they will)
They schedule Baku (don't knock it, it looks like an interesting track) the same day as the 24 hours of Le Mans... Really ???
They retain that stupid qualifying format for Bahrein, just to see if it's really that stupid a second time (it is).

And now the white haired Leprechaun wants to replace Monza with Vegas ? Monza ? The race with the sea of Ferrari fans? Is the Leprechaun out of his mind ?

That's where I draw the line. Take out Monza, Spa or Suzuka, and I'm out. Considering F1 is the reason I keep Cable TV, this could save me $. The GPDA is right, F1 Management is bonkers...

yeah i quit watching it.

Really, they want to kill the Monza race and replace it with Vegas?

Wow, that is beyond freaking stupid.

I do hate the economy runs where saving tires and engines is paramount to going flat out racing.

I don't have hard numbers (obviously) but I'm willing to bet we could be running the old V10-V8 whatever in higher numbers (no more penalties) at 18000 RPM with fat tires, full speed all the time, with none of the energy recovery or DRS zones for a lot less $, and in a more fan pleasing fashion. Formula E has the tesla-crowd covered.

Everybody is saying the same thing: reduce the aerodynamics. Yet, year after year they do *everything* but that...

Next year the cars will be faster but it will be the exact same thing as far as passing/following other cars... Then again I may not be watching anymore...

I can't watch it anymore, either.

Here's Zonta and Villeneuve at Eau Rouge; 1999, this is the when drivers were starting to be able to take the corner flat, but not always; I can't imagine how much courage it must've taken to keep the pedal matted ....

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The ironic thing is that every "cost saving measure" ends up making the sport more expensive.

No in-season testing? The top teams build test rigs, simulators, and have wind tunnels.

Engines must last longer? Each engine costs many multiples of what a single-race engine costs.

I say, give the teams a set amount of fuel per face and let the run whatever they want. Don't limit flow rates, displacement, or types of technology. Also, encourage the development of aero devices that create less turbulence. Discourage wings and encourage ground effects and diffusers. This will allow the cars to run closer together.

F1 today: a good nap unspoiled.

Its like Nascar: Watch the first 5 laps and the last 5 laps. Everything in between is just resource management.

I don't understand why they don't just poll the teams, drivers and retired drivers still active in the paddock. Ask them what they want to make the cars go faster, still be safe, and make a good show for the fans. Simple.

herr_oberst, the cars in that era were so beautiful and sounded so great. I miss the old days :(

Deschodt is correct: Leave the power units, KERS, DRS, etc to Formula E.

Fastest F1 lap in history at Monza. Nearly 163 mph average speed is seriously bringing it on a road course. High horsepower shrieking engines and high downforce. Just awe inspiring, probably never to be repeated. I'll never forget the years I went to Indy to see the USGP...boring track when measured against Monza, Spa and Silverstone, but the cornering speeds, sounds of the V10's echoing off the grandstands were unforgettable.

Some people may enjoy the new form the sport has taken but like others I find myself increasingly bored with the strange tire rules, bizarre qualifying format, ban on radio communication and sewing machine engines.

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I still watch every lap of every race, I just don't get as excited about it as much as I used to.

I believe we need to give the new qualifying format a chance, I believe it will be a good thing in the long run. remember it wasn't that long ago that each car got one lap per session. One lap to qualify. that really sucked to watch.


IMHO F1 should be the best of the best.
Build the best car you can with the best driver and duke it out. There are way too many restrictions and stupid rules.

If I were king (and your glad I'm not) there would be 3 liter V12s and 1.5 liter turbos like in the olden days. No anti-lock brakes or traction control, no movable aero, but just about anything else would be OK.
Oh, and the drivers would have to use their hand to shift with a gear shift. No paddle crap.

I think threatening to cancel races like Monza is a standard tactic of Herr Ecclestone to extract more money from everyone.

Yup. It is becoming a global version of NASCAR. I quit watching several years ago.

I have quit watching as well. Sad.

Luckily we have healthy series to fall back on with fantastic racing in the WEC and Weathertech / Conti.

I lost interest MANY yrs ago, back when senna died.
not just because of that, it was just not interesting anymore. I don't want to take anything away from F1 drivers but it has kind of turned into euro-nascar
like nascar today. it was good back when they had to DRIVE the cars, now they just ride around at the super speed ways. I forget who, but one of the drivers said he almost fell asleep.

Nope, not for me this year, I cancelled it on my provider. I didn't like last year and I think this year will be more of the same. I agree with everyone that some big changes need to be made in the future. To loose Monza would break the bank. But it's more money in Bernies pocket, and thats what F1 is today.

I used to read the race reports from Rob Walker and I don't remember who else in R&T in the later 80s and early 90s. I really enjoyed that. Then I lost interest when F1 started turning into high-speed lapping parades. If I could go back to old-school reports like those again, I'd probably enjoy it.

fify

Innes Ireland was another, but RW was the best, especially when Mario was driving F1. There seemed to be a comfortable rapport between the two, (Walker and Andretti) with discussions of qualifying, the size of Ronnie Peterson's gonads vis a vis going flat stick into the Parabolica, backgammon games and brownies that his wife Betty would bring to the races. IIRC, Betty would also sit on the pit wall and fill out lap charts, that would occasionally be used by the stewards to settle discrepancies, but I might be commingling reminisces.

Did you guys actually watch the season opener??? Cars look great, sound MUCH better and the racing was great!!! They need to figure out Quali, but damn, it's better than EVERYTHING else out there (on 4 wheels). Hass scored points, Fernando is lucky to be alive and fun was had by all. Just forget the the politics and enjoy the racing. Would you rather have no F1??? Stop living in the past. It's never going to be like that again.

No, it's a lot more fun to complain about how much better things were back in the goodle days! Besides, I don't have TV.