The F1 thread

siremoon

Can't believe Alonso walked away from that. 

fretmeister

The Maclaren might be a slow piece of shit, but I'm glad it's been built properly. That was nasty.

stickyfiddle

Watched the extended sky highlights last night. What a race! More please! Looks like with the extra tyre options the Ferraris (or at least Vettel) have a good chance of taking the fight to the Mercs.

So pleased Alonso isn't dead. Worst crash since Grosjean at Spa.

And even more pleased for Grosjean and Haas. Brilliant quiet race and a great result from a shitty grid position. Hopefully this will continue to show their business model is viable without turning F1 into a spec series. Now if they can just simplify the engines a smidge so VW/Ford/Toyota/BMW/etc might be interested...

Enjoyed Verstappen's whinging but I'm not convinced I like him. Feels like he's a bit entitled and doesn't believe Sainz has any right being in front of him. I like that Sainz got on and jumped Palmer the moment the team told him they'd let Max past if he didn't get on with it

chillidoggy

Vettel could have won that one, shame Ferrari cocked up.

As for McLaren, I know Alonso's pissed of with the car's performance, but that's not the way to tell the boss. Joking aside, their performance was shite, newcomers Haas pissed all over them.

Overall, not a bad race for Melbourne.

boogieman

The Alonso crash was horrible, glad he walked away from that. The McLaren's still look crap, thought Honda were supposed to have sorted out the engines over the winter break?

chillidoggy

I guess they're seeing a car actually finishing a race as a huge step forward.

not_the_dj

Thoroughly enjoyed that race. Sat with my eldest lad (7) who's getting more and more into it each year. The channel 4 coverage was fine, not that keen on the main presenter chap but it's not like the actual race coverage is any different.

Heartfeltdawn

stickyfiddle said:

And even more pleased for Grosjean and Haas. Brilliant quiet race and a great result from a shitty grid position. Hopefully this will continue to show their business model is viable without turning F1 into a spec series. Now if they can just simplify the engines a smidge so VW/Ford/Toyota/BMW/etc might be interested...

The team to follow this year. I like Gene Hass. Quite rare in F1 circles for having some dodgy financial history and actually doing time for it. 

Paul_C

three years left (though I don't watch F1 as much these days anyway)

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/23/sky-buys-exclusive-rights-to-all-formula-one

Fretwired

Paul_C said:

three years left (though I don't watch F1 as much these days anyway)

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/23/sky-buys-exclusive-rights-to-all-formula-one

Sky assumes F1 will still be in existence .. I've lost interest and with Sky's viewing figures (not that great) I bet sponsors will be pulling out.

stickyfiddle

And the GPDA issues a statement the same day, basically asking the owners to get rid of Bernie.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2016/03/23/drivers-call-f1-governance-overhaul/

"Dear Formula 1 stakeholders. followers and fans,

The Grand Prix drivers would like to state our following position:

We drivers love our sport! Since childhood, we dreamed of racing the fastest race cars from the top teams on the coolest tracks against the best drivers in the world. We seek competition and love F1 almost unconditionally, which makes us most probably the people with the purest interest for Formula 1, beside our fans.

Formula 1 is currently challenged by a difficult global economic environment, a swift change in fan and consumer behaviour. and a decisive shift in the TV and media landscape. This makes it fundamental that the sport’s leaders make smart and well considered adjustments.

We feel that some recent rule changes – on both the sporting and technical side, and including some business directions – are disruptive, do not address the bigger issues our sport is facing and in some cases could jeopardise its future success. We know that among the leaders of the sport – be it the owners, their representatives, the governing body, the teams or other stakeholders – every individual acts with the very best intentions.

Therefore, the drivers have come to the conclusion that the decision-making process in the sport is obsolete and ill-structured and prevents progress being made, indeed, it can sometimes lead to just the opposite, a gridlock. This reflects negatively on our sport, prevents it being fit for the next generation of fans and compromises further global growth.

We would like to request and urge the owners and all stakeholders of Formula 1 to consider restructuring its own governance. The future directions and decisions of F1, be they short or long term, sporting, technical or business orientated should be based on a clear master plan. Such plan should reflect the principles and core values of Formula 1.

We need to ensure that F1 remains a sport, a closely-fought competition between the best drivers in extraordinary machines on the coolest race tracks. F1 should be home only to the best teams, drivers and circuits, with partners and suppliers fit for such an elite championship.

Formula 1 has undoubtedly established itself as the pinnacle of motorsport and as such one of the most viewed and popular sports around the world. We drivers stand united, offer our help and support for F1 to keep it as such, and further to make it fit and exciting for many years and generations to come.

It is important to state that this open letter is intended in the best interests of all and should not be seen as blind and disrespectful attack. Thank you for your attention and granting us the liberty to put our thoughts into words.

Best regards,

Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Alex Wurz, on behalf of the Grand Prix Drivers"

boogieman

Mark Webber pretty much hinted at the same thing ^ before the race on the C4 coverage. I really hope Bernie is pressured into either stepping down and/or taking note of what the drivers and the public are saying, rather than looking at ways of generating more money for himself.

Pay per view is going to kill the sport though.

stickyfiddle

boogieman;1013465" said:

Mark Webber pretty much hinted at the same thing ^ before the race on the C4 coverage. I really hope Bernie is pressured into either stepping down and/or taking note of what the drivers and the public are saying, rather than looking at ways of generating more money for himself.

Pay per view is going to kill the sport though.

It won't kill the sport, but it will devalue it hugely while keeping Bernie's income reliable, so he can buy it again cheap, fix all the shit and sell it again not-cheap.

Fretwired

stickyfiddle said:

boogieman;1013465" said:

Mark Webber pretty much hinted at the same thing ^ before the race on the C4 coverage. I really hope Bernie is pressured into either stepping down and/or taking note of what the drivers and the public are saying, rather than looking at ways of generating more money for himself.

Pay per view is going to kill the sport though.

It won't kill the sport, but it will devalue it hugely while keeping Bernie's income reliable, so he can buy it again cheap, fix all the shit and sell it again not-cheap.

It will seriously damage it as the smaller teams rely on money from sponsors which will leave without a large global TV audience.

Majorscale

Just as the sport feels like it's on it's knees, Bernie kicks it in the teeth just to line his already bulging pockets.

boogieman

You only have to look at what has happened to boxing. It went to pay per view on Sky, the viewing figures were good at first but it's a virtually dead sport now. I think there will always be a hard core of F1 fans who will pay for coverage, but the audience will eventually dwindle to a small percentage of the current one. Where do Sky go from there to retain the income? Pay per race?

boogieman

stickyfiddle;1013474" said:

[quote="boogieman;1013465"]Mark Webber pretty much hinted at the same thing ^ before the race on the C4 coverage. I really hope Bernie is pressured into either stepping down and/or taking note of what the drivers and the public are saying, rather than looking at ways of generating more money for himself.

Pay per view is going to kill the sport though.

It won't kill the sport, but it will devalue it hugely while keeping Bernie's income reliable, so he can buy it again cheap, fix all the shit and sell it again not-cheap.
[/quote]

Hopefully Bernie will be dead by then. But that raises the question of who takes over: his daughter maybe? That'll go well. :-S

Fretwired

boogieman said:

Where do Sky go from there to retain the income? Pay per race?

You can already pay per race on Sky ... I've watched a couple for around £6 for the race weekend.

http://www.nowtv.com/sports/formula1

Fretwired

boogieman said:

stickyfiddle;1013474" said:

[quote="boogieman;1013465"]Mark Webber pretty much hinted at the same thing ^ before the race on the C4 coverage. I really hope Bernie is pressured into either stepping down and/or taking note of what the drivers and the public are saying, rather than looking at ways of generating more money for himself.

Pay per view is going to kill the sport though.

It won't kill the sport, but it will devalue it hugely while keeping Bernie's income reliable, so he can buy it again cheap, fix all the shit and sell it again not-cheap.
[/quote]

Hopefully Bernie will be dead by then. But that raises the question of who takes over: his daughter maybe? That'll go well. :-S

Bernie will sell up and go - I suspect an investment vehicle will buy the sport that may include a few teams. It's been mooted before. There's a lot of cash in F1.

Heartfeltdawn

Barney Francis, the MD of Sky Sports, had a piece out in the Telegraph last year. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/11375841/Sky-Sports-managing-director-asks-surely-no-one-wants-to-turn-back-the-clock.html

It is true that sport was underfunded and undervalued in the past. But if that is true of the pre-Sky days, then right now sport is overvalued and overfunded through pay television. One only has to look at the complete mess within English cricket since they took the Sky money, the way salaries within sport have rocketed up over the last decade, and the continual cash grab that is Premier League football. The modern analysis methods on all sports really don't add much to the commentary. Part of me will always prefer Murray Walker and James Hunt to the raft of Sky pads, new pointless camera angles and Johnny bloody Herbert. 

Pay TV sport: where you pay more for the same sport you used to see for the price of the licence fee 30 years ago. Not a bargain to my mind.