F1 2015

[TheGayTent]

Interesting things going on at Sauber...3 drivers for 2 cars!

[thegremlin_1999]

Interesting things going on at Sauber...3 drivers for 2 cars!

One of whom (the sueing one) might not have the requisite super license...

https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2015/03/12/oops/

[whisty]

As good as it is to see Hamilton win, that was as dull as dishwater.

[The Placid Casual]

Rosberg will whinge about Hamilton using him to keep Vettel back, but he won't comment on whether or not he'd have done the same. Sour grapes?

[willutalk]

Rosberg is obviously absolutely frustrated by coming second behind Hami all the time. One can tell that he despises it.

[lharris92]

doesn't it say it all when at the end of a race the winner gets a message from his team "great performance, a well managed race".

dull.

[WS_Jack_III]

It has been pretty boring so far this season.

Although the pit lane mishaps today livened it up slightly.

[whisty]

The only boring thing is constantly listening to posts like this. Its been this way for 50 years!

Not so sure, that was dull as dishwater, at a dull circuit. Next race will be as dull for overtakes, same can't be said of the circuit. Qualifying will be something to watch.

[TheGayTent]

Interesting article by Coulthard discussing some areas he thinks F1 could improve on for the betterment of those watching

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/32699924

[lharris92]

great pitstop there

[Bisque]

[WS_Jack_III]

Very sad indeed

[lharris92]

Was at Monza this weekend, the race itself wasn't the best but was sitting on the pit straight opposite the Williams pit (also directly opposite the podium). Good experience, typical from Bernie though to demand more money and put an iconic circuit at risk of not being on the calendar.

 

Raikkonen did a good job considering he was last by the first corner.

 

The championship almost looks over now.

[TheGayTent]

That's one from the bucket list! Have you been before or was this your first visit? How does the actual experience live up to expectations?

Spa and Monza are the only two I'm interesting in doing really.

[lharris92]

That's one from the bucket list! Have you been before or was this your first visit? How does the actual experience live up to expectations?

Spa and Monza are the only two I'm interesting in doing really.

First visit to a F1 race (for me, my dad had been before to several), we went to Qualifying and the race itself, the F1 cars were noticeably quieter than GP2/GP3 & the Porsche race that were going on beforehand. 

 

As the for the experience, the atmosphere was great (especially when ferrari got p2 and p3 in qualifying, and then when Rosberg's engine blew - although for a few seconds we thought it was Hamilton), even though you only see the cars go round 53 times then we struggled to see a big screen as it was on the main straight so they were few and far between - and slightly small.

 

Food and beer wasn't badly priced (€6 on saturday although the food went up to €7 on race day), water was €1 on saturday and €2 on sunday, so a bit of a price hike - but not much of one.

 

You could hear the cars going round the track from the park itself as you were walking up to it from a mile away, I honestly got really excited when you could hear it before you could see it (the buzz of seeing west ham at wembley a few years back/a kid at christmas).

 

Merch was expensive though (€15 for a programme which isn't dissimilar to other major events) and you were looking at €30 minimum for a hat, €45 for a t-shirt etc. although saying that they did have merch from previous years which was being sold cheaper (€15 for one hat or 3 for €30) - of which we found a Brawn Jensen Button hat within which was taken advantage of and others like a Ferrari Alonso hat. If you wanted commentary it was €50 minimum for headphones which was a bit of a joke, so we went without.

 

We got really lucky in when we were leaving managed to jump a cab instantly form the circuit back into Milan and got away before a lot of the crowds - could have been stuck for a few hours queueing to get away otherwise. getting there was easy enough and we just jumped out of the cab when hitting the queue to get into the park around it and then walked the extra bit.

 

overall, was a good experience, we used the Friday and Monday for sightseeing in Milan - if we went to another race it may be different, was a lot busier on the sunday so a bit more queueing which was to be expected.

 

 

edit: tl;dr version: was a good experience, few small things that could be annoying (people nearby who were as thick as thieves and talking about random things not paying attention to the race)

Edited September 8, 2015 by lharris92

[TheGayTent]

Thanks for the comprehensive report, appreciated. The noise and the smell is what I miss most from regularly going to the british Grand Prix, though sadly I think Silverstone, for the trackside fan, has got progressively worse since the beginning of the many changes in the 90s.

Monza still definitely on my list!

[lharris92]

I would suggest doing Silverstone.  The atmosphere is fantastic and everyone is glued to the action.

 

There used to be a thing called Kangaroo TV at the F1 races so you could have a personal TV set + data while watching the race at the circuits.  Cut out the problem of not having a TV close by.  Shame its no longer offered.  Another Bernie contractual dispute no doubt

http://formula1.about.com/od/resourcesandenhancers/a/kangarootv.htm

 

I haven't been since the new quieter engines have come out.  Its sad to hear the F2 is now louder.  The F1 cars where ear wincingly loud!

Glad you had a great time.  I really want to do Spa, Monza and Monaco.

after qualifying the gp2/gp3 have races, and we were just behind the grandstand when they started, it was deafening in the sense you couldn't hear yourself think. for the F1 race start you could have easily had a conversation and that isn't an exaggeration.

 

what you could also hear throughout was how horrible the Honda engines sounded compared to all the others - Mercedes/Ferrari/Renault were very smooth but the Honda sounded like it was coughing and spluttering. I just hope they turned attention to next year as this years won't improve much I'd suggest.

 

We're maybe thinking of Austria for one reason or another. Personally I'd like to go to Spa & Monaco but think I'd have to find others to go with as all the others I went with (bar my brother) have already done them and show no interest in going back.

Edited September 10, 2015 by lharris92

[lharris92]

Apparently Spa is a Wasp fest.  Place is a nightmare for them...  Only thing putting me off

only saw a couple of the buggers in the whole trip to milan/monza. although there were plenty of mossies to have a bite at you instead, which was probably a bit worse but oh well.

[TheGayTent]

Button staying on at McLaren. Good news, just need a competitive car now...

Have loved looking at Christian Horner's face this season now that smug grin has disappeared !

[TheGayTent]

Well after Alonso's comments about his Honda engine during their home race it won't be an awful surprise if he's allowed to leave.

Button won't like having a poor car but he's been given 3 1/2 million extra reasons to stay another year...

Edited October 1, 2015 by TheGayTent

[WS_Jack_III]

What a race that was today!

[WS_Jack_III]

It was mostly dull....

Highlights were obviously well edited then.

[lharris92]

The end of the race had some drama, as did the start, other than that I think I dozed off whilst watching it...

[WS_Jack_III]

Another great race and fantastic result. Congratulations to Lewis!

[TheGayTent]

No surprises in C4's 2016 line up other than Steve Jones presenting. Instinct says he'll be shite but happy to be proved wrong.

http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/channel-4-unveils-expert-formula-1-presenting-team