Formula One 2019

[skidman]

F1 suffers from stupid regulations, the drag reduction system is a good example. It kills the race. And it suffers from too much money spent to buy mediocre drivers into cars.

I like multiclass endurance racing: WEC (it's such a shame Porsche and Audi left the party), IMSA (Weathertech), Blancpain, VLN, Creventic. The best races of the season are LeMans, 24hrs of Spa and of course the 24hrs on the Nürburgring. The 12hrs of Bathurst, Daytona and Sebring are great fun too. But nothing beats a LMP1 Prototype going down Mulsanne Straight overtaking GTEs like a hot knife through butter, or a GT3 in the hands of a high-profile driver through Fuchsröhre or Wippermann/Brünnchen on the Nordschleife.

Turn up loud:

[Buddahaid]

How does DRS kill the race when it makes passing possible?

So the 1000th F1 race has come and gone and Mercedes still finds themselves on the top. This was a clean race with few surprises and nobody knocked out at the start even with the McClaren's getting bumped. I was nervous Max was going to punt Seb out trying to overtake when Seb's tires were cold but it settled down.

My only disappointments were Ferrari not being able to challenge Mercedes for the win and Haas not coming through despite good qualifying.

[Platapus]

Concerning that lap record video


I can't comprehend the amount of focus a driver needs to have in order to do this. A split second distraction would be all it would take.


Yikes!!!

[skidman]

Originally Posted by Platapus

Yikes!!!

Amazing, isn't it. Timo is among the most capable drivers in prototype racing and the Nordschleife (the "green hell", as Jacky Ickx put it) is the most challenging race track on earth. That is why any driver who wants to race there needs a special permit. A FIA super license or even a platinum license is not good enough. A side note: Hamilton atm does not hold the Nordschleife permit.

[u crank]

Originally Posted by skidman

and the Nordschleife (the "green hell", as Jacky Ickx put it) is the most challenging race track on earth.

I may be wrong but I think it was Jackie Stewart who gave it that name.

[skidman]

Originally Posted by u crank

I may be wrong but I think it was Jackie Stewart who gave it that name.

Oops. You are right, it was Mr. Stewart.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

My only disappointments were Ferrari not being able to challenge Mercedes for the win and Haas not coming through despite good qualifying.

This is it for me. As a Ferrari guy, I'm pretty much guaranteed disappointment every season. Which is why I'm hoping LeClerc can turn it around a bit.

Haas is just disappointing me thus far, but maybe they'll come back around. At this point I can't put any stock into Grojean. He's a talented driver but entirely too inconsistent.

[skidman]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

How does DRS kill the race when it makes passing possible?

Because it makes overtaking far too predictable. And thus we see the same move in the same part of the track over and over again. And though there are much smarter regulations to facilitate passing like "push to pass" in Indycar, limited number of DRS activation in DTM or even the boost system in Formula E, they all make the race less exiting.

Good motorsport requires a well thought-out BOP (Balance of performance). We won't see that in F1 anytime soon. In GT racing you usually have cars with very different specs: AMGs with 6l displacement engine against R8s or Huracans with 5.2l or 488s with 4l all in one race. Still the Ferraris can win, because of a clever BOP. And we see fights for positions, that take a few rounds in which the opponents find out about weaknesses and strengths of the car/driver in front/behind.

This makes races exiting, not pushing a button, flipping the wing open, and fly past the other car.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by skidman

This is basically porn.