2014 Formula 1 Thread

[Ruffdaddy]

The way money is split in F1 is the equivalent of giving the Champions in a sport the first few draft picks.

The way the hybrid engine stuff has worked out is shit too. I hate hearing a driver told to slow down to save fuel.

Give me an old cosworth V8, advanced aero, DRS and push to pass with proper racing tires and I'll be happy. Run 3 - 12 lap races and crown the final winner. I hope f1 falls flat next year. If it weren't for the close championship, there would be massive drops in viewership.

[pHILSANITY07]

Hamilton wins, becomes Britians most winning driver.
Nico in 2nd
Ricciardo in 3rd, eliminated from the championship.

[Ruffdaddy]

Its sad that a safety car sounds better than an F1 car...

[Slowhand]

Its sad that a safety car sounds better than an F1 car...

Popular opinion seems to be that it doesn't matter what they sound like and you're an idiot if you think it's an issue, but I'm right there with you.

The sound is what pulled me in as a kid. Distinctive, gripping, something you didn't get anywhere else. Shit, my first iPod in middle school had at least two hours' worth of pure engine audio from a variety of cars over the years. I was a weird kid, for sure, but I used to listen to that shit for hours and love it.

Not going to keep me away from the sport (it certainly made it an easier decision to not make it to the race for the third straight year), but I think it's ridiculous to suggest that it hasn't changed the sport for the worse to a degree. I'm interested in checking them out in person in the next few years, but even watching on TV just isn't the same anymore.

[Ruffdaddy]

I'll say in person it's not as bad. But seriously the safety car sounded better. I will stop watching if the drivers have to continue saving fuel, thus not actually racing. And you must speak with a different "popular" crowd. Everyone I was with today was disappointed by the sound.

But I agree that the sound is the smallest factor in this stuff. Saving fuel, taking away aero, and not putting a damn cost cap is killing it. If Nascar ran at cota F1 would struggle a lot more...but unfortunately the limited road races Nascar has are pretty locked up.

[Slowhand]

I'll say in person it's not as bad. But seriously the safety car sounded better. I will stop watching if the drivers have to continue saving fuel, thus not actually racing. And you must speak with a different "popular" crowd. Everyone I was with today was disappointed by the sound.

But I agree that the sound is the smallest factor in this stuff. Saving fuel, taking away aero, and not putting a damn cost cap is killing it. If Nascar ran at cota F1 would struggle a lot more...but unfortunately the limited road races Nascar has are pretty locked up.

The popular crowd I'm speaking of being the internetted masses, mostly those at f1fanatic.co.uk.

Fuel saving is one thing, as it's a delicate balance that the sport has generally always played with. It's not new, but it seems it's becoming intrusive. It was also nice when fuel saving was a matter of trying to cut weight and push the envelope, not just as a matter of insane regulations.

I don't mind the cuts to aero; it may or may not save on costs, but I like seeing the cars squirm. I'll admit that it's a bit whack to intentionally hold back what is supposed to be the pinnacle of motorsport, but I think the emphasis on mechanical grip provides far better racing. It's also a helluvalot more relevant to road cars, if we're going to act like that's proper justification for the V6s (not that you're saying that).

I think a cost cap is unrealistic as I've yet to hear a convincing argument as to how to realistically implement one that's both doable and would actually work. I like the thought of getting into a career in F1 via financial engineering, though. Instead, though, I think equitable profit sharing is a much more sensible way to go about helping rectify the sport's financial issues. Cut the Ferrari subsidy, and reward small teams for making strides.

At the end of the day, I honestly think the sport needs to restart. I love private equity, but CVC's ownership has not been good for the sport (blame the FIA for letting it happen more than CVC for doing it; you don't look a gift horse in the mouth), but saying that also presumes that the FIA and top teams would have done a better job (debatable).

I don't know if it's reasonable to suggest, but a breakaway series seems like the best bet. Let the teams run it, the tracks would all certainly be on board, and start over. Maybe overly optimistic and naive, but it seems a better option than where things are currently headed, and at least if it goes to shit we know that the people who are hurt by issues in the sport are the same people who are to blame. The disconnect there is the biggest issue the sport faces right now, in my opinion, and till that disconnect of responsibility is resolved, nothing will change.

[Ruffdaddy]

Yeah you're right on just sharing the profit equally. That's a much better route.

And I've been saying for a while that I expect a cart/indy style split before long...it'll hurt f1 massively, but it's better than a slow death.

[Slowhand]

Yeah you're right on just sharing the profit equally. That's a much better route.

And I've been saying for a while that I expect a cart/indy style split before long...it'll hurt f1 massively, but it's better than a slow death.

That's the problem with a breakaway series: it won't be a clean split, it will be fractious, nasty, and will probably have an end result analogous to what happened with CART and IRL.

All of this said, I'm picking up more and more interest in WEC as a series to follow closely like I do F1 and not just a series where I'll watch the big races and smaller races when they're on. If they can fold in a sprint format at some point and start running a reasonable number of races, I'd probably switch my full-time focus to WEC. Not sure that will happen, though.

[momo]

Home! i thought it was a pretty good race. no where near as exciting as bahrain or montreal but not far behind monza.

couple of pix. start with some panaromas.

T1


T3-T6


T18-T20


Main straight with cars on grid:

[momo]

a few randoms:

[momo]

and finally some more in a small album:

http://s385.photobucket.com/user/momostallion/library/2014%20F1%20USGP

[momo]

IMO this years race was better than last years but i just didn't have that same level of excitement in attendance. dont get me wrong it was still fun but it felt more routine and i do put some of that up to the missing sound and the rest of it having been at monza just a couple of months ago.

as far as F1... yea, it's truly in a bad spot. with 2 teams dead, and 3 more (mid field teams) struggling, something will have to give before it breaks. only CVC and the big teams can give and they probably wont be willing, which only leads to break. the money is there but the distribution is shit.

WEC was fun. bigger fields, more sounds, longer races.

[Ruffdaddy]

Do you think they are hurting their chances of being successful in America again? While it's not as bad as 7 years ago, less teams and less excitement matters.

I just can't get over fuel savings...I'm ok with racing a prius as long as there aren't such heavy fuel flow restrictions.

[momo]

Dude if that rumored boycott happened this weekend and Force India, lotus and sauber shut it down after a lap... They would have destroyed everything since 2005.

The max fuel flow limit needs to be increased. That will up the revs and probably increase sound a bit.

The nose is still ugly as fuck. That needs to be be fixed with the 2011 style again, not with the shitty snorkel type Ferrari nose they are mandating for next year.

[Ruffdaddy]

I wish there were a way to prevent the front wing wash out. Maybe by allowing cars within 2 Seconds to increase the down force settings. This would keep people from maintaining a 2 second gap until pits or the final few laps.