F1 2005...

[MarcRitchie]

Watched my first GP in ages yesterday, and was pleasantly suprised and managed to stay awake.

Some really good performances, Fisi coasted through the race, Alonso and DC were superb and excellent first race for the Red Bull Team.

Was expecting a real charge from both Kimi and Micheal they both seemed to be out for a Sunday drive.

Some awful camera work at times missing/not seeing replays of the intresting incidents.

So who do you think will win it this year?

[Big Gordy]

Like you Marc I was pleasantly surprised with the new rule change regarding the no tyres changing pit stops :shock: Although there does appear to be an awful lot of people doing nothing standing around the cars when they come in which is a bit weird :? I'm glad to see the old shuy blocking trick didn't work this time :twisted: (He was going no where anyway)
I bet Coultard gave Ron Dennis a 'friendly' wave as he finished in front of both his drivers :wink: If there all like this I might just start watching it again..................... :roll:

[Big Bruce]

It wasnt the best race in the world, but it points to a competitive season ahead...i think it was made interesting by the fact there was some new faces in the top places :D Well done fisi, spent years in mediocre cars and now he has some decent machnery hes used it right away!

For once i felt a topsy turvy grid wasnt the best thing for the show, i would have liked to see the McLarens and Renaults trying to push each other along.

DC drove a cracking race, really lucky to only tap the minardi, but had the presence of midn to make sure webber had to put all his 4 wheels on the grass if he wanted to get by...

The MS and Heidfeld incident was definately michaels fault, as it happened the main thought going through my head was...right nick hes pushed onto the grass, and therefore out the race, just make sure you hit him!" which he did and thats the best caffeine at 4 in the morning!

Im really looking forward to the 2 'hot' races coming up, Malaysia and Bahrain always have super high track temps, and how a grand prix trye lasts 70 laps of that i dont know...

As far as the season goes, if its not Michael its been a good year!

:D

[Big Bruce]

Just finished watching GP Bahrain...

Ferrari have a really mountain to climb for the first time in years, first time their new car hasnt won since 1998 and not only does it not win it breaks down (MS's first Mechanical breakdown since Germany 01, 60 odd races ago!!?!!)

Good race with lots of action to the end, the first lap was pretty manic and there was bursts of it in the race, pleasantly surprised.

Alonso looking good, Toyota really on the pace and finally a sign from McLaren...roll on Europe!

[Malcolm Williams]

I agree its about time the racing was more than just a procession and lets hope DC gets it all together this season and shows how good he really is

[Big Bruce]

As ever the San Marino race wasnt the best, until the closing 10 laps, i really thought he was going to get past in the last few corners!

That Ferrari is too damn quick tho!

[Grant Barclay]

well...

guess whos back!

[frickinevilpaint]

It is clear from the San Marino GP that this years Ferrari is pretty decent. It is clear from Schumacher's performance that he is still the best driver in the sport! However, I feel that Ferrari might as well go down the local scrappy and find some part worn's as opposed to use Bridgestone the rest of the season.

[Maxxed_Ross]

I don't think that's totally true Stu, :?

They were big headed enough to come into the first race with the old car and expect to win anyway :lol:

I think it's good to see the other teams and lesser known drivers "worrying" the Ferrari's now and then.

But it's still a flippin' boring sport to watch for almost half a day :(

Now the Moto GP, now there you have some real action (anyone else see Rossi remove all the paint from his fairings trying to get the lead back in the final corner and not fall off? Awsome! You can keep your snobby overpaid overrated F1 any day :D )

[Big Bruce]

Have to say i really enjoyed (especially the last 20 or so) laps of the Monaco GP on Sunday...

It kept Scottys good weekend going with Raikonnen showing how its done at the front, aswell as Renault having a poor one...rated Trullis effort at passing Fischella (shame it broke his car :roll: ) and Heidfeld really caught FA by surprise...

Some Pics

http://www.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/33136_2.jpg

Pile up at Mirabau

http://www.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/33150_2.jpg

Fernando Holding off the queue

http://www.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/33131_2.jpg


And for all you ex-f1 fans, heres something that might interest you...the FIA are running a survey on the future of the sport...might be worth a look...http://www.fia-amd-survey2005.com/

[Maxxed_Ross]

That was possibly the worst survey I've ever seen! What can one question possibly tell you? :lol:

[big si]

were you on the same survey as me cos there are loads of questions spread over about ten pages very comprehensive i thought

[Maxxed_Ross]

It asked for my name email, ect then "how interested are you?" .That was it :?

[Maxxed_Ross]

Sorted now - I answered not interested (which is true now) to the first question. :roll:

[Big Bruce]

That was the very last thing it asked me...as si said a very comprehensive survey, hope it gives the right results, which are published in July

[stulec52]

I am old enough to remember James Hunt winning his championship back in 1976.
I watched pretty well every GP since then, and any qualifying I could.
I really think the product is just too diluted these days.
By that I mean, too many races ( especially too far flung- read expensive to get to- places) and FAR too few teams.

I hate to say it, but these days I will invest my time in watching NASCAR over getting up at an ungodly hour to watch the F! procession.

[big si]

i feel the driving standards have gone down

by this i mean the cars do too much for them.
i say bring back an H patern gearbox and put big carbs back on the engines with no electronics

that will show the real drivers

it would be nice to see more teams but this would only be possible with the above and bringing costs down.

as for locations i say the more the merrier i love a long fought out season

[Grant Barclay]

f1 wouldn't be the same if you went backwards with the technology instead of forwards. the sport is ment to show how the latest technology can make cars faster ad more controlable. i think the way it is just now is fine with the banning of launch control and abs.

[big si]

but where is the driver involvement

[Maxxed_Ross]

.....in the pit lane...where it has been for quite a while now :roll:

Banning of driver aids would improve the viewing alot. I think the problem is that now the cars are so fragile and delicate that no one wants to risk their car by trying to overtake unless it's handed to them. Ok I'm not expecting door banging seen in saloon car racing but a few more daring moves would be good :D

[big si]

thats why i say take away driver aids it will make the drivers show what they can do and if they make a mistake they will be severly penalised by losing places it would just make it so much more fun to watch

[ross minimad]

i think the best thing that can be done to help F1 is if all us car 'racing' fans were to stop watching it. this would then mean the advertisers would get worried and then the F1 circus would be forced to make drastic changes.

[big si]

not even a realistic idea that would never happen :!:

[ross minimad]

i'm not sure, the racing has become so boring that its almost an insult to the word 'racing' to call it that! F1 is all about money..... the racing is just a side effect.

[big si]

agreed but if you watched the grand prix at the weekend you had to be impressed it was excellent

[stulec52]

it was far from excellent, in my opinion.
Monaco is still the oddball race on the calendar though, and as far as I can see only still there due to sentiment, and maybe the fact that most drivers call it home.
We need more racing, dicing, passing, wheel to wheel racing etc.
I also agree that as the very pinnacle of motorsport it should be the most technological formula, I mean if not for F1 our every day cars would not have ABS amongst many other improvments going way back to things like radial tyres !

[Big Gordy]

Maybe I'm just getting old :roll: but the gp's no longer hold any excitement for me :cry: There are no 'characters' anymore :( Mansell, Senna, Hunt, Rosberg and the like were all guys who said what they felt :twisted: This latest bunch are all corporate flunkies too scared to say boo to a goose in fear of losing there seat and wads of dosh IMHO
But the bike GP's..............now thats a different story........those guys are awsome 8) And I'm not just saying that as a biker. Rossi had a go in Schumukers Ferrari tail end of last year and was putting in lap time only 2 seconds slower than he was :shock: I'd like to see Schumucker go 2 seconds slower than Rossi on Rossi's Yamaha.............ehhhhhhhhhh NO :shock: :wink:

[Maxxed_Ross]

Anyone see the 5th gear a few weeks back looking at that new A1 championship?

It's been started by some Dubi billionare who built his own 3 mile international circuit....in NINE MONTHS!

And the good thing for all you deluded F1 fans, it's over the winter months.

The grid is formed of 25 F1 style cars with identical components, engines and gearbox. It's down to the teams to tweak the setup and the driver to....erm....drive for a change :D Each country will have only one driver represented - so that instead of Schumacher v Schumacher it'll be Germany v UK ect. I looked up more on the Net and it sounds like it will be great to watch.

The first round kicks off at Branshatch this October. CAN'T WAIT! 8)

[Big Bruce]

Yeh, been reading about A1 for a while now, good thing to liven up the winter (typical) motorsport break...

The British Driver is being decided in the next few days/weeks...

[Big Bruce]

Enjoyable race today. Well Kimi had a less dominant race today, resulting in a big one on the last lap!

32 points behind Alonso...slipping away unfortunately with the renaults reliability...

[stulec52]

that was a good race, there was a lot going on.
Good to see Coulthard in a supposedly inferior machine still able to do well.

Actually Sunday over here was a great day to sit in front of the TV.
6.00 am GP, break at 8.30 for a breakfast, then Indy ( featuring Danica Patrick... and apparently no one else if you listened to ABC's commentry...) then NASCAR Coca Cola 600. that took me up to 9.00 pm
throw in an NBA playoff game with my favourite team ( Miami) and you have the perfect TV day !

[Big Bruce]

Indy ( featuring Danica Patrick... and apparently no one else if you listened to ABC's commentry...)

Yeh, heard they were giving her the full fanfair...shame she didnt win, that would really be a real milestone for the motorsport world.

Well done to Dan Wheldon though, first Brit since Graham Hill and Jim Clark in the 60's to win at Indy!!