To all the "F1 is boring now" haters

"Simplify, then add beer" (jeffoh) 05/11/2014 at 20:01 • Filed to: Formula 1, rant

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highmodulus, I'm looking at you.

Let's just review the last race shall we?

1st & 2nd were less than a second apart, and were straight up racing with no team orders, no Multi 21, no politics, no savings of fuel

3rd was a guy who got his first ever official podium.

4th was a guy who started from 15th and made it to 4th, in a track that is notorious for no passing

5th was a total dark horse, no one was expecting his performance. He only lost out because of a bad pit stop strategy

6th and 7th were another 2 team mates trying to beat each other, with some seriously good work from both drivers. Something you rarely see from Ferrari.

8th got their first point of the season, and shows that Lotus may still be a threat towards the end of the season.

Now you tell me, HOW IN THE ACTUAL FUCK is that a "ruined race"???

Last season we saw Vettel buggering off ahead to win every race. At least this time it is a) not him, and b) two drivers fighting every single race.

Formula 1 is kicking arse this year. Deal with it.

Brian Silvestro > Simplify, then add beer 05/11/2014 at 20:06

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Agreed 100%. Very good race. That ultra-long/awesome gif made me forget what else I wanted to say.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Simplify, then add beer 05/11/2014 at 20:09

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I'm glad you're still enjoying the racing but I've been watching formula one for years and while this season isn't completely terrible it's certainly a step down from the last couple in my opinion. You can tell even more now that the drivers aren't going as fast as they could be. Before it was tire management but now fuel too is a huge consideration. That bothers me. There are still some watchable moments though, I wont be giving up on it.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Simplify, then add beer 05/11/2014 at 20:12

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To paraphrase what I said in the other thread here - you can't level any complaints against this season that you can't against some of the "best" eras of F1 besides maybe whining about things not being loud enough. Mclaren/Honda with Senna/Prost swept 1988, Williams with active suspension crushed everyone under their constantly adjustable tires. Benetton and Schumi cheated to win in 1994. Ferrari had a schumacher straddling a nuclear V12 powered rocket to be THE winner in F1 for a few years. Brawn F1 came out of nowhere, had a clear technological advantage and used the inability of the cars to pass one another to sweep 2009. Red Bull outspent and outdeveloped everyone to do their impression of Ferrari these past few years. And in almost all of those cases, that was about it for storylines in the seasons. There are exceptions, of course, but seeing teams like williams and force india routinely cut into the established gentry of F1 is great racing to watch.

Simplify, then add beer > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 05/11/2014 at 20:12

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Knowing the cars aren't as fast as they were back in 2004 does suck, especially when you realise you could put a GP2 car on the grid and it would probably finish in the top 15.

The fuel concern however has turned out to be a non-issue. You've not seen any racers have to back off, and not a single driver has run out of fuel. Martin Brundle mentioned something during the race - he said they're using a new fuel type which gives them more HP whilst maintaining the same economy.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 05/11/2014 at 20:16

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I disagree 100%. Fuel saving hasn't been an issue for any of these teams. In fact, most are running less than maximum fuel loads at the start of the race. And yes you still have one team dominating this season but the rest of the pack is constantly shuffling and moving and passing. Say what you will, but it was entertaining today to watch vettel charge as hard as he can from 15th. I also enjoy seeing the cars be a bit more difficult to drive so it takes some real skill and talent to make it work.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Simplify, then add beer 05/11/2014 at 20:18

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I'm not so sure I definitely feel that the fuel affects the race, especially for the non-mercedes cars. I just want to see a little more parity to be honest, the mercedes cars finishing 50 seconds ahead and red bull 3-4 ferrari 6-7, show that the cars are what get you the place apart from obviously competing with your team mate, with only a really outstanding drive breaking it up.

Overall though the sport has been like that before and it'll happen again the next time the rules change. Next year once everyone is used to the new rules it'll even out again, just a little annoying now.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Simplify, then add beer 05/11/2014 at 20:18

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Building off of this - imagine next season. Or the season after that. We KNOW these teams can wring massive power amounts from a turbo motor. Each season they will learn more and get faster. It is only a matter of time before these cars are the new fastest things on the block.

I also find it funny that only in F1 is it unacceptable that the older cars were faster. I believe the older WEC cars such as group C are technically faster than cars like the Audi R8 yet no one complained back then. New cars = new challenges to overcome.

Simplify, then add beer > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 05/11/2014 at 20:26

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That is something that I've been thinking about. If they didnt have the restrictions on engine development mid season we'd see 3 or 4 teams with the same power output.

Mercedes aren't going to pull another developmental miracle next year, so I think 2015 will be quite balanced - unless adaptive suspension comes back.

PheeNoIVI > Simplify, then add beer 05/11/2014 at 20:42

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It was a good race. It would be better if Mercedes wasn't that far ahead of everyone though. But there were good competitions for places farther back. 15th to 4th is amazing.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Simplify, then add beer 05/11/2014 at 20:47

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We already saw teams pull more power simply from better fuel in this race. It can only get faster from here. I just hope the tight racing hangs with it. I hope Williams and Force India get more sponsorship and development dollars to spend so they can keep moving forward. I hope Sauber find some mojo next year and maybe be an underdog podium winner. I even hope Caterham or Marussia finally score a point. What I hope happens is maybe the midpack order becomes a little more predictable with some interesting fights for the last few points but hopefully we see the RBs and Williams bring the fight to Mercedes next year.

BeaterGT > Simplify, then add beer 05/11/2014 at 20:58

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Couldnt have said it better myself. GO GROSJEAN! I agree with Martin Brundle, take even more grip from the cars. I wanna see them squirm

Simplify, then add beer > BeaterGT 05/11/2014 at 21:34

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How good was Kimi's drift!

BeaterGT > Simplify, then add beer 05/11/2014 at 21:37

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Oh yea, that was in qualifying! So sick

DasWauto > Simplify, then add beer 05/11/2014 at 22:48

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The last 5-10 laps were somewhat exciting because of the Mercedes' battle at the front. The rest of the race was generally bland and processional.

Aside from the already mentioned Mercedes, Ricciardo's result is deserved and it's where he/RBR are expected to be. I'm happy for Ricciardo, he's a good guy and deserves this result but he was unable to pass Bottas on-track.

Vettel drove well but in a car so superior to those around which he started, his charge through the field is to be expected. Aside from that though, the track lived up to its reputation of lacking passing. To support that claim, here's a lap chart showing positions through the race:

Aside from the two major jumbles around lap 18 and 37 for pits stops (2-stops for most of the field) and the few odd 3 stoppers, there was little on track passing beside Vettel's march through.

As you mentioned, Bottas might've had a better result if his pit strategy had worked out but I doubt it. The Williams hadn't been as kind on the tires as the RB10 this weekend. Also, very much NOT a black horse in this race. The Williams is the 3rd or 4th best car on the grid (Merc, RBR, Ferrari & Williams). They are due this sort of result.

The Ferrari battle was good to see, though Alonso was essentially stuck behind Kimi for a large portion of the race, unable to pass. Again, the track.

Good for Grosjean. I hope Lotus continue to improve. He deserves it (Maldonado should be replaced).

I'm one of those 'F1 is boring now' haters (IMO 2010, 2012 and the first half of 2013 were excellent all around, both in terms of in-race action and the battle for the championship - some of the best seasons in recent memory) so I'm not trying to get down on F1 but this race was not a great one.

Gimmi-Sagan-Om-Draken > Simplify, then add beer 05/11/2014 at 22:57

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