Formula One ( F1 )

Cool so pretty much Championship decider on Sunday. Skip the rest of the calendar?

Or watch the remaining 21- 18 cars where the vast majority of interesting racing takes place?

Aside from 2010 and 2012, I can't really remember any decent battles at the front of the field.

You're supposed to watch F1? Must be doing it wrong, I thought it was just background noise to my afternoone snooze after the Sunday club ride. Not sure I could keep my eyes open for the whole thing even if I tried. Probably not even the whole highlights package, TBH.

Word.
Tune in for the formation lap, keenly watch the start and first 3-5 laps, nod off for the middle, wake up for the last 8 laps and try to decipher what you've missed (generally not much), enjoy a victory cup of tea for a good afternoons kip.

^ The sound is perfect for that. Many times I've woken up and it's finished.

ha! zackly

For those of you who aren't fans of it, when was the last time you were?

Sounds similar to my Sunday afternoon when an F1 race overlaps with me being in the UK. At the risk of TMI, the routine having returned from the club ride is usually:

1. Put sossiges on to cook in the oven
   
2. Shower
   
3. Make sossige sandwiches for me and @Cycliste and cups of tea
   
4. Sit in the living room, fire up the TV, fast forward the recording to the start of the race - I generally skip the formation lap and just go straight to the 'red lights start to go on point'.
   
5. Watch first few laps while eating sossige sangers and drinking tea
   
6. Maybe a second cup of tea if I'm a bit adventurous
   
7. Drift gently off to sleep
   
8. Get woken up by @Cycliste halfway throught the race because she needs a lift to the airport
   
9. Take @Cycliste to the airport, drive back, go to the Autosport website to find out who won and what (if anything) I've missed.
   
   

If it wasn't for the drive to and from the airport, it'd be pretty damned fine.

I think I have always lent an ear / armchair stylez.

But it was always quite remote / white noise in the background growing up.

Maybe more attention paid for close championships.

99% dull? :oP

I'm going to the Chinese GP. Got great seats and 3 day pass.

Lance Stroll's crash ruined the end of FP3. The expected very fast laps by Mercedes never materialised. Onto the Qualis.

Palmer soon to get his marching orders with a performance like that?

2005 - 2010 was OK.

looks like Ferrari might be able to make Mercs work for it a bit.
Didnt see what Ricciardo did to cause his spin ,was it jsut overcooking the corner?

Oh and verstappen is getting a whinny git (the next Hamilton?)

Looks like he was just pushing a bit too hard. Was a tad wide but not enough to be on the grass.

Regarding Verstappen, it is a bit irritating but then again I would've been worse when I was 19.

Got up early to watch on Sky Go. Sky Go was down.

Had to watch 'illegally' despite having legal methods. Sort it out Sky!

Otherwise I enjoyed it. Roll on the first corner tomorrow morning. Many a rookie about!

To be fair, I quite enjoyed the Ferrari/McLaren battles of 2007/2008 but there were quite a few moments that made the sport look a bit silly and confusing to casual fans. Not to mention the toxicity of the fans of those teams.

On the whole when people complain about the racing being crap these days, I find that many peoples' "golden age" is nothing more than the result of rose-tinted glasses. While the 80s (for example) produced some amazing cars, at least we're not dealing with races where the winner laps pretty much every car on the track at least once any more!

Also, 2/3rds of the races without a single overtake occurred between those years you mentioned (the other being Monaco 2003) =P

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you're looking for non-stop action in Motorsport, F1 is not the place to look. I'd argue that it never has been either. I'd say touring cars, Formula Ford or motorbikes are a better bet. I for one rank Moto GP racing leagues above F1 in terms of racing quality.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you're looking for non-stop action in Motorsport, F1 is not the place to look. I'd argue that it never has been either.

Agreed. It's more about finding the pinnacle of engineering than of driving or excitement.

Palmer said the car felt totally different after being repaired.

http://www.espn.com.au/f1/story/_/id/18999720/jolyon-palmer-bemoans-awful-terrible-car-q1-exit

Congrats to Ferrari. F1 needed that.

Indeed, and they usually work against each other.

I imagined they'd try to change the setup to make up for the lack of running, but from that it sounds like it was an error putting it together.

That would be pretty odd I'd imagine!

Good to see them able to push for the entire race also.

Will be interesting to see how Mercedes manage the team. With Raikkonen trailing the Mercedes guys can't afford to take points of each other for the WDC.

Gotta say, today's race was pretty processional. But good to see Ferrari keeping Mercedes honest.
Hope it gets more interesting as the season gets going.

Like or dislike Bernie, he would have made sure that there was some type of racing, even if it was behind the pace car, just for the benefit of the cameras, and more importantly, for the spectators that turned up. Having no FP1 and no FP2 is pretty poor. Charlie Whiting cares about the safety, and that is essential. But Bernie cared about the show and the audiences - TV and live spectators. Charlie has stated that if the fog/smog remains the same, there will be no racing. Will there be Qualies, or even a race? I'm sure Bernie would have thought of something. The little man wasn't very pleasant, but he was effective.