F1 formula one chat/stuff

[Specky]

Oppossed to the other Renault team.

Sniff petrol dot com were spot on with their write up the other week, at least Lotus Red bull won again.

At least Group Lotus/ Lotus cars are getting a return for their money.

TTFN

[clemo]

nothing like making it difficult for your team mate hey petrov?

[Rambo]

WOW What a race in China The best for a long while. I'm exhausted

[Monty]

Great race,

For me Webber was the driver of the day

[clemo]

Great race,

For me Webber was the driver of the day

yep.

[Monty]

16th for Kovalainen too

[lotos]

Button is so close to being top dog almost every race but misses the mark. I couldn't believe he lost the podium.

[Rambo]

Button is so close to being top dog almost every race but misses the mark. I couldn't believe he lost the podium.

It probably had something to do with going into the Red Bull garage for a new set of Pirelli's

[Monty]

Button is so close to being top dog almost every race but misses the mark. I couldn't believe he lost the podium.

It probably had something to do with going into the Red Bull garage for a new set of Pirelli's

was funny

[clemo]

ohhh my ,

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90907

caterham lotus f1 !

[Rambo]

Button is so close to being top dog almost every race but misses the mark. I couldn't believe he lost the podium.

It probably had something to do with going into the Red Bull garage for a new set of Pirelli's

was funny

I'm not sure who was more surprised - Jenson Button or Sebastian Vettel who was right up his backside at the time. Could have been a nasty collision but these guys have absolutely amazing reflexes. Just look at the start and numerous other overtaking events during the whole race.

I thought Jenson covered his embarrassment very well at the end of race interview. I bet the team principal gave him a bollocking though !!

I was entranced and excited by the whole race and it's been many a year since I can say that. Roll on Europe !!

[clemo]

i was at the turkish gp sitting at turn 8 ... (drove there on my grecian 3000 banger rally)
one would think amazing.
what a complete waste of time.
The new f1 fans have a lot to learn.
I have been to silverstone for years on end, and the race etiquette of the british , german and italian fans is one that understands motorsport and all to do with it,
broad sweeping statement "but" the new russian & turkish fan have a lot to learn .Standing up everytime a car (any car for the entire race) ruined my viewing fun.( and almost led me to have fisty cuffs )
For some the though of a track invasion 15 laps from the end whilst the race and pit stops we still going on beggars belief.

Istanbul park is great on the TV, but thats all. Tiny screens , bad stewarding , over enflated chancer taxi drivers let the whole thing down and just downright rude unthoughtfull fans. Silverstone may be expensive but it is in a class of its own for viewing and paddock entertainment.

on the plus side , i stayed in the 5* crown plazza hotel that all mercedes engine teams were at.

chatted to button , shuey , rosberg , de resta , ross brawn , sutil , hulkenburg ...

so for me the weekend was not a write off. but it wasn't for what i thought would be the best gp i would ever visit.

next gp possibly japan...

clemo

[Rambo]

And Silverstone will be even better this year with its multi-million £££ pits and paddock complex.

PS What did you expect Clemo ? You were in Turkey and it's full of mad Turks

[Monty]

Clemo, it doesn`t help you being a Crusader

Shame about the (Real) Lotus team today after Kovi starting in 15th

[lotos]

I've been contemplating heading to Austin next year for the race - how much do you get to see when there in person? I always figured you really have the best seat at home.

[tigerdog]

I've been contemplating heading to Austin next year for the race - how much do you get to see when there in person? I always figured you really have the best seat at home.

I suspect the Austin venue will be very spectator-friendly. Motorsports in the US has always carried a high degree of spectacle and catered to those viewing the race (say what you will about NASCAR or Indianapois but they're great for watching) and to reintroduce F1 to the US on a bespoke circuit implies understanding of this. Let's hope it works out well.

[MPx]

I've been to lots of F1 and MotoGP over the years and like many sports you (obviously) have to be there to get a feel for the atmosphere. But generally I prefer to watch on the box because you do see a whole lot more. Unique stuff at the race:
The noise (particilarly F1). If you are anywhere near the grid for the start you will need earplugs, and for some places they are necessary for just sequential drive pasts. Those cars on full chat are proper loud - much louder than you'll expect. Get lots of them together in a bowl surrounded by grandstands/banks/buidings and the sound moves the ground/grandstand so you do the feel as well as hear thing. Its awesome, but dont make the mistake of thinking it'll be even more awesome without earplugs - it will just hurt.
Its a long day. If you just buy entry then you'll need to get there early to get a good viewing place trackside and you wont be able to move or you'll loose your spot. If you pay for grandstand then you have a seat but in one fixed place and its a bit of a lottery whether it will be a good place or not. You cant know without having been there before, or without going one time and continually walking round (its usually about 3 miles or so to walk round everywhere you could go).
The grandstand: One technique I've used to pick a position at a circuit new to me is to go for the grandstand nearest the end of the start straight - did that when I went to Barcelona a few years back - and it worked. You can hear the start well, you see the top speed and max breaking point and usually its an overtaking place. Also at Barcelona you happen to be able to see turns 4 5 6 and 7 from that spot. But did the same at the Assen TT and it was hopeless - could only see a very short part of the track from my seat and not much else so got up from there and walked about to get a better feel for the place.
See "the other" battles: TV coverage tends to stick to the front runners. If someone breaks away then it may well be the first group rather than the leader, but rarely do they pick up on some of the best action further back in the pack. It can be really good to see someone start 20th and have a tremendous battle getting up to 10th. They probably wont feature on the TV coverage, but there's often something like that going on.
You may not know what's going on: Depending on your level of interest in the sport and knowledge of the teams/cars/drivers/tactics/strategy, you may find it hard to know whats going on. They pass very quickly, cars within a team can be hard to tell apart and even some teams (eg Red Bull, Toro Rosso) so you're not always sure who you've just seen. Once you're a quarter into the race, the cars will have spread out so there's not an obvious point when the leader comes past followed by everyone else, there's just a single car or small group every few seconds. It can be hard to keep track of who's leading, what the pitstop situations are, etc. We're so used to it all being clearly presented/shown on the TV we forget how hard it is to follow on track. Some track PAs, track radio, and large screens can help with this.
Unless you're very lucky, its quite likely that the key incidents in the race will happen out of your view and you wont know whats going on unless you can see it on one of the big screen TVs around the track.

Rereading that it sounds a bit negative which I didn't mean really - hence why I've been to many and not just one. Its certainly different to watching on TV. If you know someone suitable, I'd recommend going with someone whos done it before. If not you should be able to find someone suitable in the crowd by chatting to them - there's loads of knowledgable people about.

[lotos]

Wow - that was a terrific reply, thank you!

[lotos]

That was one of the best races I've ever watched. Weird to restart though, considering that they permitted tire changes, they had to know that passing would be almost impossible and the results would basically stay the same as if they'd just ended it at the red flag.

[cliff]

Hamilton pretty much cost Jensen the win at Monaco, would have liked to be a fly on the wall in the McClaren garage. Vettel was so lucky that the race was stopped.

If you get the Bronze tickets for Spa, they give access to pretty much the whole track except for the grandstands. It's definately worth wandering around and seeing the race from several viewpoints. In addition Kangeroo TV is great if a little pricey. A small portable TV linked into the circuit commentary and TV pictures so that you can have the best of both worlds. (Plus the numerous beer stalls around the circuit)