Formula 1 - 2015 season

Rosberg is just a beaten man, the years of beating Schumacher obviously went to his head and made him think he's better than he is.

Reality sunk in when his engineer couldn't tell him which patch of track Hamilton was using and the speed he was using it at.
 
Mildly interesting quali with Vettel 2nd, ahead of Rosberg, and Alonso making it out of Q1. Apparently Ferrari's long run pace on soft tires is comparable to Merc's. I imagine Ferrari's tire wear edge won't be a factor in a nighttime race?
 
It will, it will still be very hot there even at night, but I suspect Mercedes can go slow enough not to use the tyres as much and still keep ahead like in China. Hope not though, will be good to see a race between two different cars for a change.
 
Watching F1 in US for the first time and no wonder it's not as popular here. Too many commercial breaks, poor interviews, not enough technical details for my taste and so on.
Really anyone watching F1 in US on NBC should try SKY Sports F1 equivalent from UK at some point.

Btw I'm super glad at least NBC does show live F1 race otherwise I would miss a chance to watch potentially great race!

Ps. I really enjoy my visit to California :)
 
Here in Brazil watching F1 is very good.
No commercial breaks and very experienced commentators :)

For me today F1 cars looks very dynamic and agile.
 
Here in Finland it's crap, the main commentators are pure crap (though now that they have Ossi Oikarinen and Toni Vilander in the team the technical side has improved a lot)
Me and many others actually use questionable methods to watch SkySports broadcasts instead (We'd pay not to use questionable methods, but it's not available here in Finland)
 
Last edited:
F1 has become a bit of a joke. Its not wonder ppl are losing interest
I looked yesterday before the race at the betting odd's to win
#8 highest ranked person was paying $501!!!!

This is a 'sport' with retirements / crashes etc and the eighth highest ranked driver pays $501 :confused:
I just looked up mens french open tennis, #23 pays $151
 
F1 has become a bit of a joke. Its not wonder ppl are losing interest
I looked yesterday before the race at the betting odd's to win
#8 highest ranked person was paying $501!!!!

This is a 'sport' with retirements / crashes etc and the eighth highest ranked driver pays $501 :confused:
I just looked up mens french open tennis, #23 pays $151
Really that is the best argument you can find to say that, "F1 is a joke," the betting odds? F1 is by no means perfect, there are plenty of things about it that definitely could stand some improvement, however most of the hate seems to come from people who don't watch it and just trot out the received wisdom that there is no overtaking, boring racing etc. etc.

But, you know what despite its faults I enjoy watching it (despite the best attempts of my country of residence (Australia) to make it as difficult and expensive as possible to watch it with incompetent broadcasting if you want free to air). The racing is in fact often close, overtaking is much more prevalent than people give credit for and even all the infighting and politics actually lends interest. There are some real characters in the sport (love them or hate them) and frankly if you actually look back over the last several years, there have been plenty of times championships have gone down to the wire with the last race deciding the drivers champion at least.

Fact is, there is a thread here on a 3D Graphics technology site, yet there is not one on tennis, Moto GP, soccer, rugby, cricket, world sports cars, NFL etc... So it must have something going for it.
 
I watch F1 since I am a kid, missed maybe 10 races total in all the years.

And I think it got boring...sad thing is: there is so much potential.
 
I am having a bit of a hard time enjoying it the drivers I follow can't score/win. Fernando Alonso's engine won't work and the same is true for Daniel Ricciardo.

It was nice to see Räikkönen sticking it to Rosberg and Vettel but I'd like to see Hamilton having competition too.
 
It was nice to see Räikkönen sticking it to Rosberg and Vettel but I'd like to see Hamilton having competition too.
Well, in case of last race, 1 more lap and Räikkönen would have passed Hamilton too (due his brake failure, but the failure would have just happened earlier if he had pushed more)
 
Its not a given that would have occurred. First, it wasn't a brake failure, it fell back from brake-by-wire to Hydraulic, so with a little time to attune to the difference, much if not all the speed might have been maintainable (Rosberg's off occurred because the switch happened as he was braking). The switch occurred due to temps, which were marginal and were pushed over the edge by following cars (backmarkers in Hmailtons case) so pushing more would have got more air to the brakes in the non-braking zones and a little more aggression round the backmarkers would have also helped.
 
Its not a given that would have occurred. First, it wasn't a brake failure, it fell back from brake-by-wire to Hydraulic, so with a little time to attune to the difference, much if not all the speed might have been maintainable (Rosberg's off occurred because the switch happened as he was braking). The switch occurred due to temps, which were marginal and were pushed over the edge by following cars (backmarkers in Hmailtons case) so pushing more would have got more air to the brakes in the non-braking zones and a little more aggression round the backmarkers would have also helped.
Even Toto Wolff said Kimi would have gotten past Hamilton with just 1 more lap after the race if I don't remember completely wrong the Sky F1 broadcast (i'll see if I can find it online somewhere)
Wolff also said that Lewis pushed a bit more when he realized how close Kimi had already gotten on the last few laps, which then caused the brake-by-wire to die on him - if just small extra push and the backmarkers caused that, pushing more heavily might have caused it just to occur earlier, even if they cool a bit better due higher speeds, they also heat up more on braking
“On Nico’s car the brake failure didn’t come as a surprise, we saw high temperatures. On Lewis’s car it was a bit of a surprise, and it must have been linked to the fact that he gave it a gentle push seeing Kimi, and making his way through backmarker traffic.
http://adamcooperf1.com/2015/04/20/mercedes-compromised-brake-cooling-for-performance-says-wolff/

(and even though conventional hydraulic brakes are still there, they're far, far from being as efficient)
 
Really that is the best argument you can find to say that, "F1 is a joke," the betting odds?
yeah its a pretty good one. I don't really consider it a sport, but mootly? accept that.
I've just looked up the latest odds, to who wins the drivers chamionship
Mercedes $1.01
Ferrari $12
Williams $501 (the rest you cant bet on)

So in effect, we are 21% of the way through the season and basically Mercedes has practically won, though theres a very slim chance that Ferrari can pull off an upset.
you're in australia, well the NRL season starts about the same time as the F1 starts for the year, do you think if we knew say the sydney rabbitoh's had basically won the NRL championship already, instead of going down to the final few games, it would be better ? Of course not.
Its simple basic logic, an outcome which is pretty much guaranteed is more boring than a more open outcome. How can you argue against this?
 
Even Toto Wolff said Kimi would have gotten past Hamilton with just 1 more lap after the race if I don't remember completely wrong the Sky F1 broadcast (i'll see if I can find it online somewhere)
Wolff also said that Lewis pushed a bit more when he realized how close Kimi had already gotten on the last few laps, which then caused the brake-by-wire to die on him - if just small extra push and the backmarkers caused that, pushing more heavily might have caused it just to occur earlier, even if they cool a bit better due higher speeds, they also heat up more on braking

http://adamcooperf1.com/2015/04/20/mercedes-compromised-brake-cooling-for-performance-says-wolff/

(and even though conventional hydraulic brakes are still there, they're far, far from being as efficient)
Wolff is pandering to the fans, making a bit of drama. Hamilton said after the race his brakes were fine after the initial fault as he managed to reset the system.

Only chance Kimi had of winning was if Ferrari told vettel to let him through when he was quicker earlier in the race.
 
yeah its a pretty good one. I don't really consider it a sport, but mootly? accept that.
I've just looked up the latest odds, to who wins the drivers chamionship
Mercedes $1.01
Ferrari $12
Williams $501 (the rest you cant bet on)

So in effect, we are 21% of the way through the season and basically Mercedes has practically won, though theres a very slim chance that Ferrari can pull off an upset.
you're in australia, well the NRL season starts about the same time as the F1 starts for the year, do you think if we knew say the sydney rabbitoh's had basically won the NRL championship already, instead of going down to the final few games, it would be better ? Of course not.
Its simple basic logic, an outcome which is pretty much guaranteed is more boring than a more open outcome. How can you argue against this?


Nope don't argue it at all, however who wins the manufacturers championship is of seriously little to no interest for me, never has, never will. For me it is all about the drivers and the drivers championship and that is not a foregone conclusion at all. For sure Hamilton is driving brilliantly right now, maybe he will run away with it maybe not. If he runs away with it then for sure it will not be as exciting as if Rosberg & or Vettel/Raikonnen are pushing it down to the wire, but that does not mean necessarily that the races lack drama or excitement. All through the grid there are fights going on which are just as interesting in many ways.

The NRL (which I enjoy watching) example isn't a good one, you cant really compare a team based sport but so heavily reliant on one individual (the driver) with a team based sport with 13 on field individuals (plus the interchanges). A closer comparison would be of course other motorsports or perhaps some of the non-team sports, for which individual dominance (e.g. tennis) is quite common. I grant you that there are problems comparing say a tennis player with a formula one driver because the car is obviously a huge factor, however not when the opposition is your team mate. Maybe the manufacturer is all you are interested in; then I understand why you have no interest.

But seriously, team dominance is not some new development within formula one, it has pretty much almost always been a factor, most years there is one team that has an advantage. If you can't stomach that then don't watch it, but it would be unfair to say the sport doesn't actively try and promote competition, it is just that opinions vary greatly on what precisely does best promote good competition. However I absolutely oppose measures to gimp successful teams purely to artificially make the racing closer within a season for the TV audience, it is up to the other teams to up their game and match or exceed the current front runners. Ferrari it has to be said have actually done a very good job this year and while they probably still have not quite matched the Mercedes performance, they could well do so (or exceed them)before the year is out.

Maybe you don't like F1, that is fine, however you not liking F1 != F1 has become a bit of a joke.
 
Even Toto Wolff said Kimi would have gotten past Hamilton with just 1 more lap after the race if I don't remember completely wrong the Sky F1 broadcast (i'll see if I can find it online somewhere)
Wolff also said that Lewis pushed a bit more when he realized how close Kimi had already gotten on the last few laps, which then caused the brake-by-wire to die on him - if just small extra push and the backmarkers caused that, pushing more heavily might have caused it just to occur earlier, even if they cool a bit better due higher speeds, they also heat up more on braking

http://adamcooperf1.com/2015/04/20/mercedes-compromised-brake-cooling-for-performance-says-wolff/

(and even though conventional hydraulic brakes are still there, they're far, far from being as efficient)
Reading the link you put up, no where does it state that Wolff said that Kimi would have got past Hamilton with just one more lap though. Not saying that could not have happened, we will never know, both drivers (Hamilton & Kimi) may have done things differently in the lead up to and at the point of a possible overtaking opportunity that may have further changed the conditions of both cars. For just one possible example the softer tyres on Kimi's car (after all he was wringing it to the max to try and close the gap)may have started to lose their advantage by the time he fully caught up, compounded by following in the dirty air of Hamilton's car... or not.

It is true to say though that Mercedes do not enjoy the performance advantage they had last year and small mistakes like running the brakes hotter or (as in Malaysia)using pit strategy on the assumption that they were only really fighting between their 2 drivers and underestimated Ferrari's threat, could well prove costly. That said it cuts both ways, I think they left Kimi out on the second stint about 1 to 2 laps too long where his lap time was starting to go off too much.

Next race at Barcelona in 3 weeks time will be very interesting as most teams will have the first real upgrades on their cars and given that track is used in pre season testing and is so well known by the teams, it should give a much better sense of where Mercedes & Ferrari really are in relative performance.
 
Back
Top