When all else fails, I tune into Rally. Now that Loeb has moved on and VW has joined in, it's really fun to watch. I'm a big Latvala fan.

Wait - how can you watch WRC in the US??? Is there a way?

Check out Indy racing league. Championship down to the last race last 5 years in a row.
A lot of people said the same about the 917. 25 cars to beat the homologation regulation. Total domination.

Put Bernie in jail? Naw, he needs to visit Jimmy Hoffa...

I think F1 can hardly compare with an amateur, low-cost spec series.

Oooo, burn!

So you simultaneously complain that you won't watch a series that creates specs to keep the cars closer, yet complain that supposedly Vettel has a creatively engineered car that may not be as close to the other cars? :rolleyes:

I wonder if this kind of racing is very satisfying for Vettel? I'm sure he enjoys winning, but he doesn't actually 'race' anyone...he just sprints away at start and drives fast for a while, pretty much un-challenged. All the real racing is back in the pack.
Do I respect what Red Bull has been able to do? Yes. Is it boring? Yes, it is. I agree with the others that commented on the lack of emotion in the RB camp after a win. "Oh well, we won again." Newey barely even cracks a smile. I suspect Vettel's handlers have told him to whoop it up on the radio after a win to inject a little humanity into the mix.
As for the race coverage itself, did anyone else think that they seemed to 'dumb it down' for the US audience? They went over some very basic fundamentals again & again, seemingly for people who rarely watch any form of motor racing. With the driver's and manufacturer's championships already decided, the commentators also seemed to go overboard trying to build up the race as the be-all & end-all of sport.
All in all, good to see another good turnout for F1 in the US.

^^^^ So the thread starts with Vettel domination and rapping on team RB? Really? At COTA, no excuses this time for Webber. Although Webber had a fine showing in quali the race, he had an equal chance as Vettel. The champ was actually lacking, engineers notified which made him push a little more in a few corners and he pulled it off. I rooted for Lotus this season but congrats RB.

Yes, I'd like to see the front runners mix it up but there was some excellent battles mid pack. Also, I'm really liking T1 at COTA.

+1
Seems like you just like to poo-poo everything.

I watched the race in person from the turn 12 grandstands and then watched the race on TV when I got home. Usually I enjoy the race on TV more because you get more of the story but not in this case.

First of all in person it didn't look like domination. Grosjean seemed to stay in contention for most of the race since the gap to Vettel wasn't growing very fast. I was watching where Vettel was when Grosjean entered turn 12. For most of the first half, Vettel was in turn 13 when Grosjean was in turn 12 and you could only see a car length or so change from lap to lap.

When Vettel was closing in on back markers I expected him to catch them with ease and dispense of them but he didn't. It usually took a couple laps per car to pass them.

I think part of this slowness to pass backmarkers and Vettel's quick get away at the start of the race is the Red Bull car set up. It looks like they short gear and balance the car for a full fuel tank because they are so fast early. As the race wears on the Red Bull's don't seem as fast. This was also evidenced in Webber passing Hamilton and then catching Grosjean pretty easily at first and then not being able to catch Grosjean in the last few laps.

It was also really cool to see the cars get faster as the fuel burned off. Being in turn 12 you could see the cars braking from top speed to what was probably 1st gear. Near the end of the race it was a really dramatic speed drop.

Watching Senna race was anything but boring - he drove his Lotus at 98% of it's ability 99% of the time,,,

I was a huge F1 fan for years (I loved the eighties) but I stopped watching a couple of years ago. Vettel was part of it but F1 just seems like a gigantic marketing machine. The technology, of course, is interesting.

I once watched an interview with Ron Dennis done years ago. He recalled that while McLaren was continuously winning one of his main sponsors asked if perhaps they could lose a few! He was flabbergasted but it was because F1 viewership was on the decline. The same result over and over gets a bit boring.

quote from Webber at the conference today in Brazil

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1385062053.jpg

I'll take any opportunity to trash the FIRL. Can't help myself :)