UN-Official Formula 1 Thread

[majorloser]

Are there any Formula 1 fans out there?

If so, what's your favorite team and driver?

My favorite driver is Kimi Raikkonen so I guess that means I'm a Ferrari fan now. I was a big fan of McLaren from back in the days of Mika Hakkinen so of course I went for the new "Ice Man", Kimi. They just haven't been able to keep their 8-cylinder engines running last year. Now McLaren has a new rookie driver Lewis Hamilton. He did well in his first race and has a lot of promise.

But I still have to go for Kimi and Ferrari.

Let's hope this weird one tire supplier thing works out this year.

 

[j_garcia]

Former F1 fan. Favorite driver was Senna, and I sort of lost the flavor for it once he died.

Schuey was a favorite after that, but just not quite the same. Hopefully Ferarri has learned enough about how to run things so they can keep up the same level now that he is gone. He is a great driver.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Are there any Formula 1 fans out there?

If so, what's your favorite team and driver?

My favorite driver is Kimi Raikkonen so I guess that means I'm a Ferrari fan now. I was a big fan of McLaren from back in the days of Mika Hakkinen so of course I went for the new "Ice Man", Kimi. They just haven't been able to keep their 8-cylinder engines running last year. Now McLaren has a new rookie driver Lewis Hamilton. He did well in his first race and has a lot of promise.

But I still have to go for Kimi and Ferrari.

Let's hope this weird one tire supplier thing works out this year.

Where do you think STRONGBADF1 comes from!

I was very impressed with Louis Hamilton and very happy for the season to start!

I'm a Ferrari guy from the Gerhard Berger/Jean Alessi Days and at the same time there was this new guy named Michael Schmacher I really liked. You may have heard of him. That being said I have liked Kimi from the jump and was very happy when Jean Todt said that he wasn't interested in Alonso. That meant Kimi was his man that he was targeting as Schumachers replacement.

Racing should be alot better because of the one tire manufacturer IMO. Like when Goodyear was the only supplier. Nobody had an upper hand with the most important part on any car, the tires! I expect to see alot of back and forth between Kimi & Alonso as well as a few others hopefully.

I knew I liked something about you Major,
SBF1

ps the STRONGBAD part of my moniker is from strongbad email over at homestarrunner.com. (My humor paits with a wide brush)

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Former F1 fan. Favorite driver was Senna, and I sort of lost the flavor for it once he died.

Schuey was a favorite after that, but just not quite the same. Hopefully Ferarri has learned enough about how to run things so they can keep up the same level now that he is gone. He is a great driver.

Watching Senna and Prost and Mansel go at it was great. When Senna was "on" he was one of the best ever and if it rained he was spectacular to watch!

SBF1

 

[majorloser]

Next stop in the tour is my second favorite track, the Malaysian Grand Prix. I just love that wraparound grandstand with the track on both sides.

My all-time favorite track is of course Monaco. When I win the lottery I'll be in that famouse corner balcony watching the race while sipping champagne

Third favorite is the Nürburgring in Germany. Talk about a beautiful track!

 

[stratman]

Love F1, haven't kept up for the last 3 seasons, maybe I'll start catching up now, I always check the FIA site to see stats.

Does anybody know how Montoya is holding up with the good ol' boys? That's how far back I am.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Next stop in the tour is my second favorite track, the Malaysian Grand Prix. I just love that wraparound grandstand with the track on both sides.

My all-time favorite track is of course Monaco. When I win the lottery I'll be in that famouse corner balcony watching the race while sipping champagne

Third favorite is the Nürburgring in Germany. Talk about a beautiful track!

Spa...best track ever!

 

[obscbyclouds]

Ah Finally, F1 season is back! I got to the Montreal Grand Prix every year, can't wait for June! Anyone else go to the Canadian or US Grand Prix's?

I just wait for the day when I'll be able to get F1 in HD, if there was ever something that deserved HD, it'd be F1! (hint, SPEED HD channel)

Anyone know if some of the races are going to be on CBS this year too? I loathe the CBS coverage, Derek Daly makes me want to rip of my ears, and the other guy is no better. No match for David Hobbs and Steve Matchett on SPEED who actually know what they are talking about.

Great first race, and a wonderful start to Lewis Hamilton's F1 career!

 

[j_garcia]

I like Spa, but I also have a soft spot for Suzuka. Nigel was another of my favorites, and I got to see him at Laguna Seca when he was doing the Indy thing...that was cool.

 

[annunaki]

Finally, I have found some true friends on the boards!

I am a big F1 fan. I follow Ferrari quite heavily. Was/am a Scumacher fan, I have been following Raikonnen for quite some time.

I have been to the USGP the last two years in a row. Anyone else going this year?

As for tracks, Spa is my favorite followed by Suzuka then Silverstone. Obviously, I love the old Nordschlief (sp?) but it is not used anymore. I do not mind Malaysia either.

 

[Mudcat]

I use to Love watching NASCAR, just...

to hear Chris Economaki er econobox (no that's not it) economizer or whatever say.

"Let's go to the pits and jack a root"

Now isn't that something that should be done in the privacy of one's bathroom or since it is at a track a port-a-john?

 

[mfabien]

Here in Montreal the F1 GrandPrix is nearly a whole week event.

If you come for the activities starting on the Wednesday, you will enjoy being on Crescent street... no other GrandPrix compares throughout the world.

You can visit (Free) the Team Pits on the Thursday.

The Gilles Villeneuve Track is on Île-Notre-Dame with downtown Montreal in the background. Extraordinary site:

http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Circuit_Gilles_Villeneuve

The sound of F1 engines is like nothing else.

BTW, the NASCAR Bush series will be at this track for the first time this year.

 

[johndoe]

I love F1. I've been to the USGP the last 2 years. I'm not sure if I'm going this year.
As much as I love F1, when I look at GPs from the 60s and 70s I like the fact that the cars looked very different from each other, remember the Tyrrell P34?
I just wonder what these cars could do if they allowed back things like turbo, active suspension, traction control, ground effects, fan cars, etc.

Anybody heard of the A1GP series, or World Championship? It seems interesting in concept, I hope it sticks.

 

[annunaki]

I must say I do not agree with many of the recent rules the FIA has passed down over recent years. I still think F1 is the best form of motorsport though.

We would have to have new tracks if they still allowed some of the rules from the 70's and such as the cars would simply be too fast for what is out there. They still use traction control.

The USGP is much like Canada (though the atmosphere is a bit different) in that you walk the pitlane for free on Thursday with a raceday ticket. I believe that was started at Indy for F1. Montreal is a nice circuit. Usually a great race to watch.

Who cares about Busch series racing though. Wait and see the huge difference in Lap times and tell me who the "best" drivers in the world are.

When they did an episode of "Tradin' Paint a few years back with Jeff Gordon's car (set up for a road course) and Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams BMW there was something near a 20 sec. per lap difference. The cars were even a bit slower then.

Let's keep this thread about F1.

 

[annunaki]

A-1 GP is not too bad to watch. It is fairly entertaining, but it is not F1. It is similar to watching GP2.

Keep and eye on Nico Hulkenburg though. That kid is going to be good. With Willi Weber as his manager he is going to go somewhere. I hope he gets a seat in GP2 soon so he can get an F1 ride in the future. He is dominating that series this year. I would not doubt that he wins in Mexico and China. At minimum he will be on the podium.

 

[majorloser]

I must say I do not agree with many of the recent rules the FIA has passed down over recent years. I still think F1 is the best form of motorsport though.

The loss of the V10's, traction control, launch control and other electronics changed the sport too much for me. To me F1 should always be at the limits. To try and make the sport so "poorer" teams can compete just doesn't make sense IMO.

But it's still the best racing out there. Any race driver can make left turns and swap paint all day. You hit another driver with a F1 car and your day is through. No coming into the pits for a little duct tape.

 

[stratman]

The loss of the V10's, traction control, launch control and other electronics changed the sport too much for me. To me F1 should always be at the limits. To try and make the sport so "poorer" teams can compete just doesn't make sense IMO.

But it's still the best racing out there. Any race driver can make left turns and swap paint all day. You hit another driver with a F1 car and your day is through. No coming into the pits for a little duct tape.

HA! HA! That's so true! Not only do you have to be lightning fast, but you have to take care of your ride. If the other teams are so poor, let them get into NASCAR. You're also right in stating that F1 is to be cutting edge, at the limit of the envelope, wether it's performance, mechanical or aerodynamical eventually this stuff trickles down to passenger cars, handicapping the engineering is not just bad for the sport, but for the car industry as well.

 

[Matt34]

There was a good article a couple months ago in either MotorTrend or Car & Driver on what it's like to drive a "de-tuned" F1 car. The author's biggest surprise is how fast they can stop.

 

[johndoe]

There was a good article a couple months ago in either MotorTrend or Car & Driver on what it's like to drive a "de-tuned" F1 car. The author's biggest surprise is how fast they can stop.

That was Gordon's reaction as well when he traded rides with Montoya as Annunaki mentioned.
I was at the Chicago Autoshow this year. Bridgestone brought a replica of Schumi's 2003 F1 Ferrari. It's a beautiful sight you could look at for hours. The shocker is that the crowd wasn't at all interested, there was nobody next to me looking at the car. They was a somewhat big crowd looking at the Porsche RS Spyder (the American LeMans race car), also beautiful, but not quite an F1.

 

[stratman]

That was Gordon's reaction as well when he traded rides with Montoya as Annunaki mentioned.
I was at the Chicago Autoshow this year. Bridgestone brought a replica of Schumi's 2003 F1 Ferrari. It's a beautiful sight you could look at for hours. The shocker is that the crowd wasn't at all interested, there was nobody next to me looking at the car. They was a somewhat big crowd looking at the Porsche RS Spyder (the American LeMans race car), also beautiful, but not quite an F1.

I've made that observation before, I guess if it doesn't look like a "real" car or a spaceship most people at shows don't care.