Formula One - 2016

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/24096/10308402/get-well-soon-sky-f1s-martin-brundle-to-miss-the-canadian-gp

In reply to Advan046:

I knew he was missing for LeMans next weekend. Missed that one.

This is fun. Watch to the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpYeiQmgq70

Streetwiseguy wrote: This is fun. Watch to the end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpYeiQmgq70

That was incredibly cool to watch. Thanks for the link!!

-Rob

Canada seems to bring that kind of normalcy to the whole F1 otherworldly aura.

One year it was the cottonwood seed floating so heavily that it clogged the radiator intake screens of several cars. Then groundhogs, beavers, fox, and then seagulls. Not to mention rain.

Just like running a club race with deer delay.

Flipped on the European Grand Prix (Located in Asia) and I think there were more marshals than fans there. What a joke of race. The track was actually interesting and good fun but really why does F1 even go there?

I expected the racing to be much more exciting. Quite a few drivers had to use the runoffs in practice (and clipped a few barriers), but I don't think I saw anyone do it in the race. There was a little bit of passing, but more of the old parade type. The hills of the circuit are pretty cool.

On a different note, Lewis and Kimi were both frustrated with the settings and tried to get the pit wall to give them direction. I'm actually surprised they haven't figured out a code that gets around the rules. At one point, Kimi said "Can't you just tell me yes or no?" and the response was, "I can't tell you anything" Wonder if the response could be "I'm not allowed to say anything" for Yes and "I can't tell you anything" for No.
Then again, maybe they do.

-Rob

In reply to rob_lewis: Nico had the same issue but was able to fix it himself, perhaps lewis didn't study up on the manual or code/tips.

trigun7469 wrote: In reply to rob_lewis: Nico had the same issue but was able to fix it himself, perhaps lewis didn't study up on the manual or code/tips.

Nope, not per Mercedes themselves. Nico caused it himself so knew how to fix it. Hammy's issue happened so he couldn't just reverse what he did.

EDIT. CLarification. It was the same issue, but with Nico it was self inflicted so he knew how to reverse it. Not so Hammy.

Bernie, in his usual assinine manner insulted Canada calling is a E36 M3hole compared to Baku. Funny, as Baku, and the nation as a whole, has problems with slavery, poverty, etc. F1 will never work until that man is 100% out of the picture. The only E36 M3hole is his mouth.

markwemple wrote: Bernie, in his usual assinine manner insulted Canada calling is a E36 M3hole compared to Baku. Funny, as Baku, and the nation as a whole, has problems with slavery, poverty, etc. F1 will never work until that man is 100% out of the picture. The only E36 M3hole is his mouth.

F1 is like Baku. It's all what you see, and not the reality.

Baku looked really nice, but I know where it is, and what it's government is about. No way I'd go there to see a race. And based on the fans in attendance- not many decided to do that, as well.

All we want to see are two more venues- Monaco and Silverstone while they are on the list. Maybe some of the old European tracks if they come back. But I have no real interest to see the new tracks.

The racing was interesting. The gaps between cars were large at the end but you could see the driving effort most times.

Just sucks for Hamilton. The team let him down again. They programmed a bad engine mode that he starts in so he just has to play with the switches to get the car back in a good mode.

Honestly the track was better than I thought it would be even if the race wasn't great. The city looked awesome, but I have no way of knowing what it's really like.

Love Bernie or hate him. He's the guy that single handedly brought F1 from the fringes to be the biggest sport in the world. He says things to provoke a reaction, not because he necessarily means it. The trick is to figure out what he does and doesn’t really mean, and I’m not smart enough to do that.

I'm glad I don't have to make the decisions on where to host races as the world is changing and the economic scene with it. It would be nuts to have a world championship today and only visit the track we grew up loving in the 70's and 80's (or before for some of our more senior members). Heck, i still think of Budapest as a new track. So I think we need some in places like China. But I agree places like Bahrain with its civil rights issues, Korea just writing checks for a few years etc. need to go away. But where would you put races?

Morocco
Cuba
Portugal
Argentina
Germany
India
France
Switzerland (Motor racing is banned so you can’t go back there)
Netherlands
Turkey
South Africa
Sweden
Korea

Given that people want at least one more US based GP and there are already 21 races what would you cut to add another US and bring back Germany or France or Turkey etc. ? I”d drop Russia, Bahrain and Azerbaijan and replace them with a North-ish, East-ish US race then bring back France and either Germany or Turkey at this point. If I could I’d do another street race in Cuba as well

It's easy to figure out where to host races. Who is giving the most money to the Bernie Fund? You have to leave a few of the classics in there just to keep the unwashed masses happy.

IIRC, each country is only supposed to have one race, so I don't think you'll see a second US one on the calendar. That's why there used to be a San Marino race, so Italy wouldn't have two.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

RE- USGP- last I heard, Texas may lose the race.

For most of that list- there are some classic tracks that can be used- which would be great if they were fixed up.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

US used to have a US Grand Prix East and a US Grand Prix West back in the 70's and 80's. 1984 had Detroit and Dallas the same years as you had the Italian and San Marino Grands Prix

Maybe the "one per country" thing showed up in the 90's. I get mixed up on the US open wheel races as to what was F1 and what was Indy.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: In reply to Keith Tanner: US used to have a US Grand Prix East and a US Grand Prix West back in the 70's and 80's. 1984 had Detroit and Dallas the same years as you had the Italian and San Marino Grands Prix

Yep. Long Beach was an F1 race until 1983, Watkins Glen hosted a race until 1982 when it moved to Detroit for about 6 years or so. But I doubt it would happen now. We barely have enough of a fan base to support one F1 race in this country.

In reply to Tom_Spangler:

LOL- tell that to the group that I saw at Indy post Michelin Disaster. Biggest crowd in F1, by far.

I think the fans are still here. But Austin has some pretty high ticket prices.

FWIW, San Marino is not Italy, just like Monaco isn't France. And, as long as it is in someplace w/in the continental US, it wouldn't bug me in the slightest to see the USGP leave Texas (hell Texas doesn't want to be in the US anyway).

markwemple wrote: FWIW, San Marino is not Italy, just like Monaco isn't France. And, as long as it is in someplace w/in the continental US, it wouldn't bug me in the slightest to see the USGP leave Texas (hell Texas doesn't want to be in the US anyway).

But the San Marino race wasn't IN San Marino, while Monaco is in Monaco. San Marino is basically just a castle on a big rock, so the race was held at Imola.

As for COTA ticket prices being high, that's not been my experience if you look around. Nosebleed seats to a NY Giants NFL game are more expensive by far.

alfadriver wrote: In reply to Tom_Spangler: LOL- tell that to the group that I saw at Indy post Michelin Disaster. Biggest crowd in F1, by far. I think the fans are still here. But Austin has some pretty high ticket prices.

I was at every single USGP at Indy, and the attendance declined every year. Yeah, 2006 had a bump, but we all got in for free, so I don't really count that.

And I agree with Keith, COTA's ticket prices aren't out of line for a major event like that. They certainly aren't the reason I've only been there once. It's because the place is too far away for me.

My comment regarding Texas had/has nothing to do with pricing.

Yeah, the San Marino GP was an excuse to give Italy two races, just like the European Grand Prix was often used to give two races to whatever other European country had a lot of F1 fans at the moment (Germany in the early 2000s during Schumacher's glory days, Spain in the late 2000s during Alonso's). That said, I liked Imola, and kinda wish they'd go back.

IMHO, the only unqualified success expansion race in the last 10-15 years or so is Singapore, with the USGP at Austin being a close second. I'm not a fan of the races in Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Russia, or China.

I'd love to see them come to Laguna Seca, but it will never happen.

UK has had two races on many occasions. It has had the 'European grand prix' at Bonds hatch and Downingtown park over the years when Silverstone had the British GP.

France used to hold the Swiss grand prix at Dijon in France as the French GP was at Paul Riccard and racing is band in Switzerland