Boring? All that money and technology and most interesting things were breakdowns. No overtakes in top runners, just a procession. Hmmmm, this is losing its appeal.
twink19,
Mar 16, 6:18pm
went last year, used to go in the 90s, no where near as good, Prius racing
ryanm2,
Mar 16, 6:53pm
Its shit, plain and simple. Shit. Its a dumb new form of eco racing no one wants.
clark20,
Mar 16, 7:29pm
yeah I felt the same, bit boring. I was thinking of going to Austin Texas for F1 in October but I don't know now.
floscey,
Mar 17, 5:54am
Time for Bernie to stand aside and let a new F1 begin.
tamarillo,
Mar 17, 5:57am
I'd still go if I could! The excitement and the whole drama. Still going to follow, would love Ferrari to do well. But how about some racing! The v8 supercar support races were much better. Shane doing well.
tamarillo,
Mar 17, 6:00am
Agree, seems bizzare to save gas in race when they use jumbo jets to get the cars and teams around the world! Bernie was great, but now old school, needs fresh young ideas.
mr_bond,
Mar 17, 6:17am
Problem is how do you allow 'cutting edge' without one team dominating or putting safety/lives at risk.
You could go the Nascar route and peg everything to an arbitrary old school tech (as they have done carburetor, pushrod, 2 valve, V8s) and safer tracks. If you've ever watched one of those races they can be surprisingly interesting. But then its not the pinical and a F1 car on the same track would monster it (with appropriate gearing/downforce).
pnp,
Mar 17, 7:28am
I used to be an avid follower but they've spoiled it with all the control, minimal pit stops & no refueling. Now they've even got virtual safety cars for god sake! In the words of Tana Umaga, "We're no playing tiddly winks here mate" it's a dangerous sport, accidents happen - they know the risks & as a spectator we want to see racing, not just a procession. Both Mercedes finished over 30 seconds ahead of the Ferrari - At F1 speeds that's over 2.5km's between 2nd & third! Pit mistakes & refueling weights & strategies can make a huge difference. Sadly it didn't do much to entice me back as a viewer. Zzzzzzz
jrlaw,
Mar 17, 7:42am
What is needed is this, the car builder select their own tires, make your own rules re engine to maybe 3 litres, make your own fuel brew, make a bit of smoke any advantage you can get go for it. Ho Hum these days.
socram,
Mar 17, 8:02am
Unfortunately, 3 litres has been proven to be indecently fast so although I broadly agree, an 8000rpm rev limit and maybe a limit on the number of gears might help.
The biggest problem however is the closed shop, with only 18 - 20 cars. Nothing wrong with adding another 15 cars even if using older technology and running in 'Class B'. Donkeys years ago, before Bernie licked it into some form of shape, local GPs always had privateers bulking up the field and although they (usually) didn't stand a chance, it did give local youngsters a chance to show what they could do.
That way, the Brendon Hartleys, Richie Stanaways, Mitch Evans' of the day all had a chance to show what they could do without multi million dollar budgets doing a whole season.
I'd happily chip in to support a couple of local drivers for one race in the Oz GP - and I am sure that the Giltraps and PJ Johnson's probably would too.
At least we'd see some overtaking. It is still overtaking with lapped traffic - and scrap the lap time percentage rule. If drivers can't overtake slower cars, then they shouldn't be racing, but spectators need to see cars on the track.
elect70,
Mar 17, 2:30pm
Agree i went to sleep watching it recorded it & played it back at 4 X speed & still boring . All this eco fuel saving nonsense , its supposed to be the ultimate in technical advancement for power /weight not restricted fuel efficiency . Guess the greens are to blame
bill-robinson,
Mar 18, 6:14am
can someone explain to me a rumour i heard, that a driver got a penalty which will be applied at the next race.
floscey,
Mar 18, 12:29pm
Red Bull to walk away ? they dont think its good to have 1 team dominate ? How many years of Vettel did we have to endure.
Unsafe release by Raikkonen may have next race penalty
bill-robinson,
Mar 18, 5:05pm
if he does get a penalty,f1 has joined my list of jokes
socram,
Mar 18, 5:18pm
Penalties have been carried over to the next race for several years now. Usually either for an engine or gearbox change or when the stewards debate an incident and decide later.
bill-robinson,
Mar 19, 6:08am
so, as i have said before, racing rule books and not cars now
stickman100,
Mar 19, 1:45pm
2015 IndyCar Series, Go Scott Dixon
elect70,
Mar 20, 4:50pm
Now no german GP , is F1 in danger of dying , if germans cant afford it who can ?
craigs_workshop,
Mar 20, 5:03pm
not the greens
the people who make the things you like, the car manufacturers
F1 needs to be relevant - thus the changes
craigs_workshop,
Mar 20, 5:07pm
i wouldnt buy into that just yet
seems like promoter positioning ATM
craigs_workshop,
Mar 20, 5:11pm
F1 is owned by very Very VERY rich people
making the sport better for the fans is Not why they brought it
socram,
Mar 20, 5:48pm
If you read the book about Bernie's rise to power, it answers a fair few questions. F1 was totally disorganised. Starting money was agreed between the hosts and the teams so Ferrari always did very well out of it.
There was very little live TV and although popular, it wasn't the world's second most watched TV sport.
When Bernie got his teeth into it - big time, then the F1 teams made money - but Bernie made even more! His iron grip, often with the backing of the chosen top tier teams, meant that he negotiated the start money on their behalf.
But the 'absolute power' was strengthened even more when Bernie also grabbed the exclusive TV rights at the tracks and also charged the hosts mega millions to bring the circus to town.
His demands that tracks lift their facilities (usually at a cost of many more millions) for just one weekend a year, generally meant that the hosts always lost millions but he made millions, later billions.
His stranglehold meant that nothing other than F1 could be televised on a GP weekend as in his mind, there is no motor racing other than F1.
With say 100,000 people attending a GP, you'd think that the hosts would make a fortune. They don't, but Bernie always does.
He has made F1 an extremely popular sport world wide, but cynics would say that is no longer a sport anyway and the benefits to everyday motoring nowadays are minimal.
Melbourne is a popular GP as was Adelaide before it, but at what cost to the locals?
At least it isn't a true street circuit disrupting the locals too much whereas Singapore for example, restricts many businesses and even taxi drivers hate it, as they lose money during GP time and the lead up to it.
wotz_it_2_ya,
Mar 22, 10:29am
At least they sent a guy onto the track to remove some debris. V8 supercars would have had 5 laps under safety car
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