The F1 Thread 2015 Season

It's a shame we've lost the roaring V12/10/8's, not sure we will ever get to experience the pure violence of them anymore, until you have one blast past you its hard to comprehend just how loud they are/were.
Standing at the braking point for the entry to Ascari at Monza without anything over my ears was almost painful.

My ears were ringing for ages like when you walk out of a club after having been stood too near the speakers.

It was awesome.
 
Standing at the braking point for the entry to Ascari at Monza without anything over my ears was almost painful.

My ears were ringing for ages like when you walk out of a club after having been stood too near the speakers.

It was awesome.

It really is. Closest I've got was at the old Silverstone standing just before Bridge and it was just incredible, it feels like everytime a car goes past it enters your ears and kicks the shit out of your brain.
 
It really is. Closest I've got was at the old Silverstone standing just before Bridge and it was just incredible, it feels like everytime a car goes past it enters your ears and kicks the shit out of your brain.
:lol: that's exactly what it feels like!
 
The best circuit in the calendar, and no contest for top spot as per usual.

Vettel and a couple of duels at least made it interesting. Something has to be done about this domination though. As much as I love seeing Lewis winning regularly, it feels better to celebrate it when it's hard fought.
Not massive on my F1 but hasn't this nearly always been the case(Well the past 15 years) . When I started watching it was dominating Schumacher, then Vettel and now Hamilton

It's been mentioned on here before(I think) on improvements to make it a more level playing field or at least how to make it more interesting to watch. But
I think there's almost an natural unbalance in F1. The complete lack of a level playing field is at the sports core. More than ever F1 is about the mechanics and the back room staff than the drivers(Again I don't want to sound like I'm saying it's easy to drive this cars, it's not it's an extremely difficult skill).
 
I went to Magny Cours in the early '00s and we all forgot to bring ear plugs. That was rough. Easy for the first few laps as they were obviously all bunched together but by the end of the race our arms were killing us. Unreal noise, the raw power of those machines was something to behold
 
Similar to what I hinted at in the Woods thread, changing things around just because one party dominates is unfair, and potentially affects that party's legacy. If they're not cheating, it's plain wrong to make it harder for them to succeed; as it stands, F1, golf etc etc are still sports and not classified as 'sports entertainment'.
 
Not massive on my F1 but hasn't this nearly always been the case(Well the past 15 years) . When I started watching it was dominating Schumacher, then Vettel and now Hamilton

It's been mentioned on here before(I think) on improvements to make it a more level playing field or at least how to make it more interesting to watch. But
I think there's almost an natural unbalance in F1. The complete lack of a level playing field is at the sports core. More than ever F1 is about the mechanics and the back room staff than the drivers(Again I don't want to sound like I'm saying it's easy to drive this cars, it's not it's an extremely difficult skill).
well the teams with the pockets sooner or later attract the best drivers who will make driving look simple, and that further tips the balance
 
I've been to the Nurburgring around 10/12 years back, before I actually really took an interest in the sport. Can't remember much except for that it was massively loud & the windscreen locked up open on the way back and we we're bloody freezing.
 
well the teams with the pockets sooner or later attract the best drivers who will make driving look simple, and that further tips the balance
There is that as well. But for I remember for years people saying Alonso was the best driver and if only he had a car to challenge. Today being an example - Did Massa finish a head of Alonso because

a)Massa is a better driver than Alonso

b)Massa has a working car.

The answer is pretty clear. I can't think of many sports that have such a situation, where you know already certain people can't compete not because of a lack of talent/skill or work rate but because of technical difficulties.
 
Friend of mine went something like 5 years on the run, he loved it. Said the city was a great place to visit and the circuit was brilliant for spectators.

That's interesting to know....ticket prices don't look too bad either.
 
There is that as well. But for I remember for years people saying Alonso was the best driver and if only he had a car to challenge. Today being an example - Did Massa finish a head of Alonso because

a)Massa is a better driver than Alonso

b)Massa has a working car.

The answer is pretty clear. I can't think of many sports that have such a situation, where you know already certain people can't compete not because of a lack of talent/skill or work rate but because of technical difficulties.

I think it's fair to say that F1 is a 'development formula' which differentiates teams by the success of their technical expertise and their ability to 'develop' the car throughout the season. Without technical 'challenges' F1 wouldn't be F1 at all. TBH that's why I would be against a spending cap as i like the idea and the reality that F1 does push the boundaries and decelopment of the motor industry. To put a spending cap would probably hinder the speed of development. For example, these energy recovery systems etc are amazing feats of engineering. The push for those hundredths of seconds, made posssible by the designers and the team factory staff is the essence of F1 IMO. Of course this favours factory teams and those with the resources to do so, but if you want the same cars for everyone there is Gp2 or other formulas......
 
That's interesting to know....ticket prices don't look too bad either.

great food culture , party goes to all hours. was more fun and louder a few yrs ago. buy yeah it's a great event and town. metro is great. we sat just as the cars come out of the hairpin. f**kng so loud you'd have a stroke. last yr our friend heard us yelling for him he'd never have heard us in past yrs. the engines blow. bring back the sound of F1
 
Similar to what I hinted at in the Woods thread, changing things around just because one party dominates is unfair, and potentially affects that party's legacy. If they're not cheating, it's plain wrong to make it harder for them to succeed; as it stands, F1, golf etc etc are still sports and not classified as 'sports entertainment'.
I know what you mean, but I guess sport is big business these days and they need to keep it interesting to get bums on seats and make it interesting. I don't think you should change it though either- new generations will come through. For example Steve Davis dominated snooker in the 1980s and he was a bit robotic and it was a bit dull, but I think people only really saw his personality when he was very humble during his demise. Then you had the Hendry years.
In darts, Phil Taylor is no longer so dominant and it is a much more open field, and ultimately more interesting, much as in darts. Men's tennis has been a fairly closed club with what, only seven or major winners in about 7-8 years?
In F1 teams evolve quickly. We've gone from total Red Bull dominance to Mercedes in what one or two years?
 
great food culture , party goes to all hours. was more fun and louder a few yrs ago. buy yeah it's a great event and town. metro is great. we sat just as the cars come out of the hairpin. f**kng so loud you'd have a stroke. last yr our friend heard us yelling for him he'd never have heard us in past yrs. the engines blow. bring back the sound of F1

I know what you mean about the noise I was at Monaco in 2011 and didn't think my ear plugs were working...until I took them out! Need the roar back.

Thanks for info on Montreal.
 
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I know what you mean, but I guess sport is big business these days and they need to keep it interesting to get bums on seats and make it interesting. I don't think you should change it though either- new generations will come through. For example Steve Davis dominated snooker in the 1980s and he was a bit robotic and it was a bit dull, but I think people only really saw his personality when he was very humble during his demise. Then you had the Hendry years.
In darts, Phil Taylor is no longer so dominant and it is a much more open field, and ultimately more interesting, much as in darts. Men's tennis has been a fairly closed club with what, only seven or major winners in about 7-8 years?
In F1 teams evolve quickly. We've gone from total Red Bull dominance to Mercedes in what one or two years?

There's always the question of whether having a lot of competition or a one big figurehead is more interesting. Life can still be fascinating in other sports when you've got a big dominant figure who others are trying to take down. Woods, Bolt, Federer or maybe even Nadal just in the Roland Garros in previous years - partly, I suppose, because of the historical aspect of their achievements.

Formula 1, however, isn't like that - whether it's a dominant team or a dominant driver. Maybe because it just creates boring races. A tennis match could have been brilliant to watch even if Federer handed a guy a serious beating. 'Look at Hamilton creating the gap', doesn't seem to be quite as inspiring. It's the nature of the sport.
 
There's always the question of whether having a lot of competition or a one big figurehead is more interesting. Life can still be fascinating in other sports when you've got a big dominant figure who others are trying to take down. Woods, Bolt, Federer or maybe even Nadal just in the Roland Garros in previous years - partly, I suppose, because of the historical aspect of their achievements.

Formula 1, however, isn't like that - whether it's a dominant team or a dominant driver. Maybe because it just creates boring races. A tennis match could have been brilliant to watch even if Federer handed a guy a serious beating. 'Look at Hamilton creating the gap', doesn't seem to be quite as inspiring. It's the nature of the sport.
Yea, exactly, watching Woods destroy the field at Augusta or seeing Bolt leave the fastest men on the planet in his dust is impressive and captivating viewing, whereas motorsport really needs some element of competition to be exciting.
 
The problem for me is not domination from one team, although that is not ideal. The problem for me is the saving fuel/tyres/brakes.
F1 or any motorsport should be on the limit, fair enough the leader cruising if he has margin to do that but those behind should be pushing 100%.
Unfortunately that is not the case as those behind are also in saving mode.
Also many of the new circuits are just a mass of concrete, jazzed up to look good with no character.
They need to do away with these new lawnmower engines and get back to proper motor racing.
 
The engines in my opinion aren't the problem, if they let engine manufacturers actually develop them they would produce nearly 1000bhp, rev higher and be louder. I like the racing style they provide, mid corner powerslides and loads of torque, that's great to watch. I loved the engines we had but I also understand that sometimes change is good, F1 is meant to be at the forefront of technology and hybrid is the future, if they maintained the sound of the V8 people would love them.

They need to open up the regulations on fuel flow sensors and all that nonesense, Horner talked about it yesterday, because its a constant rate if the driver puts his foot down the fuel just gets eaten at a fast rate. If they allowed the engine manufacturers to control it they could save fuel without lifting/coasting just in the software. Give the teams 100kg of fuel and let them get to the end of the race however they like with it. Fuel saving will be a part of the sport as long as no refuelling is allowed because its simply faster to save fuel for attacks or defence, or underfuelling them and managing it. You bring re-fuelling back and 90% of the overtakes will be made on the undercut/overcut again, just like it was before.

I think in time teams will get on top of the brake saving stuff, right now with the hybrid systems stuff gets marginal or breaks more often, in time that won't happen so often. Pirelli this year also have provided better tyres I think, stint lengths are now about right and there is a decent trade off between flatout and cruising, they could be much better ofcourse but that issue for me is less of one right now.

Totally agree about the new tracks, majority of them are characterless and dull although I do like the Circuit of the Americas.
 
The problem for me is not domination from one team, although that is not ideal. The problem for me is the saving fuel/tyres/brakes.
F1 or any motorsport should be on the limit, fair enough the leader cruising if he has margin to do that but those behind should be pushing 100%.
Unfortunately that is not the case as those behind are also in saving mode.
Also many of the new circuits are just a mass of concrete, jazzed up to look good with no character.
They need to do away with these new lawnmower engines and get back to proper motor racing.

i feel the same - it's f1 and should be not about "saving" but "pushing" pushing speeds/technologies/driver skill to breaking point. bigger engines , no more push button gear changes. let's see them work a v-12 0r 16 , standard transmission F1 beast around spa.
 
Bringing back manual gearboxes wouldn't be pushing technology though. I'm also not sure a manual box could take that kind of torque to be honest.
 
Bringing back manual gearboxes wouldn't be pushing technology though. I'm also not sure a manual box could take that kind of torque to be honest.

it would be pushing driver skill and the new gearboxes would be the technological "push". there you go. i think some of these guys would shit their suits in the car. the world's best drivers would be in the challenge of their lives. something needs to change in F1 or germany won't be the only euro race dropping out. france doesn't even have a race anymore.
 
Telling Hamilton to save fuel or tyres or whatever is like telling Messi he can only dribble six times a game, so he should manage it. It's stupid, it's madness. I'm not sure, however, giving them freedom to push all the time would create better or more exciting racing.
 
I get the idea of making the cars both harder to drive and enable them to push, F1 needs to find a better balance. Going backwards in tech isn't an idea I'd like though, standard gearboxes? Urgh, no. Find a better way, there is a great Formula right now but its buried beneath rules and regs.
 
I get the idea of making the cars both harder to drive and enable them to push, F1 needs to find a better balance. Going backwards in tech isn't an idea I'd like though, standard gearboxes? Urgh, no. Find a better way, there is a great Formula right now but its buried beneath rules and regs.


and cost - too much money to compete. too high tech for companies like honda to even finish a friggin' race. shit forget finishing a race how about a car competing for a grid spot higher than 14-20. F1 will be dead if they can't cut the cost
 
Cost isn't Hondas problem, they have plenty of money.

It's not too high tech for them either, because of the rules and regs they simply don't have the freedom to develop. I don't think anyone can deny Honda have dropped the ball in development but because of the token system they are limited in what they can change in-season.
 
It's not too high tech for them either, because of the rules and regs they simply don't have the freedom to develop. I don't think anyone can deny Honda have dropped the ball in development but because of the token system they are limited in what they can change in-season.
Yep.

To be honest I thought it was an odd time for Honda to get back into F1 anyway. In the real world they're struggling as a manufacturer and have engine tech far behind that of their competitors, they would have been better served catching up with their road cars and then launching a return to F1.

At this stage I really do think they're doing themselves more harm than they could have anticipated for good.
 
Yep.

To be honest I thought it was an odd time for Honda to get back into F1 anyway. In the real world they're struggling as a manufacturer and have engine tech far behind that of their competitors, they would have been better served catching up with their road cars and then launching a return to F1.

At this stage I really do think they're doing themselves more harm than they could have anticipated for good.

I think it was a 2016 plan that was rushed into action, but it's laughable to question Honda's ability to develop an engine, they are one of the best at it, I mean during the whole BAR/Honda years their engine was never lacking.

They will come good eventually but in terms of prep it's been less than ideal, entering a year after each of their competitors have a years experience under their belt as well as longer lead in time was always asking for trouble. The fact they still can't run the thing at 100% really highlights how shit the Renault is too, McLaren aren't that far behind the Renault powered cars.
 
I think it was a 2016 plan that was rushed into action, but it's laughable to question Honda's ability to develop an engine, they are one of the best at it, I mean during the whole BAR/Honda years their engine was never lacking.

They will come good eventually but in terms of prep it's been less than ideal, entering a year after each of their competitors have a years experience under their belt as well as longer lead in time was always asking for trouble. The fact they still can't run the thing at 100% really highlights how shit the Renault is too, McLaren aren't that far behind the Renault powered cars.

Yeah, I agree. They will be back at the top, question is just when. In some way I respect Ron Dennis' naked ambition to bring Mclaren back to the glory days. Far better than the cry baby wannabees at Red Bull ( Well, Mateschitz at least).
 
Can't fault his thinking, if they truly want to be the best they cannot use customer engines and it took some balls to make that choice.
 
Can't fault his thinking, if they truly want to be the best they cannot use customer engines and it took some balls to make that choice.

Exactly right. Long term it's the right choice. Balls he does not lack. His interview with Brundle still rings loud in my ears- 'death by a thousand cuts' referring to the bad times.....
 
I think it was a 2016 plan that was rushed into action, but it's laughable to question Honda's ability to develop an engine, they are one of the best at it, I mean during the whole BAR/Honda years their engine was never lacking.

They will come good eventually but in terms of prep it's been less than ideal, entering a year after each of their competitors have a years experience under their belt as well as longer lead in time was always asking for trouble. The fact they still can't run the thing at 100% really highlights how shit the Renault is too, McLaren aren't that far behind the Renault powered cars.
I'm not questioning their ability, just the timing of their decision. I've no doubt they're fully capable of developing a fantastic engine, but knowing they'd be hamstrung by the regs and going ahead anyway at a time when their road car business has been struggling just seems odd.

Mind you, having said that, road cars is such a miniscule part of Hondas overall business that perhaps they saw this as a way to give it a boost, the new NSX is on its way I guess.
 
I'm not questioning their ability, just the timing of their decision. I've no doubt they're fully capable of developing a fantastic engine, but knowing they'd be hamstrung by the regs and going ahead anyway at a time when their road car business has been struggling just seems odd.

Mind you, having said that, road cars is such a miniscule part of Hondas overall business that perhaps they saw this as a way to give it a boost, the new NSX is on its way I guess.

Wasn't really aiming that directly at you :D

Are Honda struggling to shift cars? Thought they had a strong output, but then again I can't say I've looked into it. You are right though, Honda is such a giant it has revenue streams in no end of areas, it's crazy how many different things these companies sell.