F1 anyone?
 

Anyone here follow F1?
My italian heritage, and biology, require that I bleed scarlet and worship the "little team from Modena." (That'd be Ferrari for the un-initiated.)

Taking my 4 year-old to the USGP in a few weeks. It'll be his first F1 race. I can't wait.

I love F1, im pretty new too it, but I have seen afew races this year. Sato is my favorite driver, and BAR honda is my fav. team. I am hoping that Villeneuve will come back, and yea, good sport. It is definetly my favorite auto racing genre if you will.

F1 fan for many years. Went to the USGP last year. Can't make it back this year in June. Shumi needs to retire. Winning 6 of 7 races tends to lower interest. Would love to see Lotus return.

Big Fan.

Just waiting for Jensen Button to get that first GP win under his belt. It will come this season I hope.

A comparitive question - INDY. Haven't they heard of wet weather tyres? How can they justify delaying the biggest race of the year by 2 fucking hours because of a 10 minute shower!!!!!!! Thank God F1 moves with the times.

Long time fan...

Been bored silly with F1 the last few years. The tracks suck (beside Monaco) and there is nobody to challenge Schumacher. Had high hopes for Montoya as I watched his progress through the lower formulas, Heidfeld too. I like what Ive see from Sato the last few races, Im pulling fo him. Been to Montreal GP 3x (Hairpin).

i am fairly new to f1 since i only got speed channel like last year. but i have always thought it is the premier racing circuit. i would have to say my favorite driver is montoya. i think once he matures some more he will be awsome.

have you guys heard about the proposed rule changes. like moving to a v-8 and only one tire company. there were some others that i do not remember. but they are basically turning it into open wheel nascar. i do not want this. i think that is part of the beauty of f1, not only is a competition among drivers but it is also a competition among constructors.

Having followed F1 closely since I first found the 'tv on' button (around 1975), there is IMHO no sport more exciting or compelling.
That said, the formula is going through something of a difficult period at present. Some circuits have been emasculated (Hockenheim, Spa, San Marino...), new tracks are devoid of character (Bahrain, Sepang, Nurburgring), traction control and automatic gearboxes have taken much of the skill and car control element away. All this leaves us with what amounts to, well, a circus where once we had the full safari.
New proposals to limit engine size and power are not the answer. We really do want to make things more difficult for the drivers, instead of inviting the likes of Halx to roll up with a fighting chance in his 165mph Acura TL:D
How does one engineer or legislate the glamour back in? I think the answer lies with the aforementioned driver aids and tracks. An element of danger has always been key to the sport's appeal. I really don't want to see people hurt, but I'd rather there was a soupçon of risk involved so that we could begin to be able to tell the playstation jockeys from the die-hard, crazy racers once more. Watching the Indy 500 last night only reinforced this opinion - they may only turn in one direction, but they surely do so with their hearts in their mouths.

huge f1 fan, but i must admit i have been losing interest.
the current shcumacher dominance is one thing (boring) but more than that the big team dominance is killing the sport.

Ferrari + 1 (sometimes McLaren, sometimes Williams, soon maybe Renault and'or Toyota) is pretty uninspiring.

I hate to say it, because I'm against it with every fiber for all other sports, but I think some sort of profit sharing scheme must be considered.

The smaller teams must have more to work with, and a few more of them wouldn't be bad either, a Lotus return as mentioned above would be great, but who owns the brand now, Ford, right? Maybe forcing all the constructers to run a "B" team would make things more interesting. Sauber is certainly a competetive mid-range outfit as basically Ferrari's "b" team.

I dont know, I agree with removing some of the technology from the cars (though not at the expense of safety), but I dont think that's all there is to it. Larger fields, and more cars in the race with a legitimate chance of winning has got to be it.

Though I must make clear I am not proposing as was alluded to above as open wheel NASCAR. That would permanently tune me out. Ugh. NASCAR. I'd sooner watch wrestling.

Anyone heard of any rated up and coming drivers?

There was mention in the press of Nico Rosberg of Finland, the son of, but they say he's still pretty young, 17-18. I believe he has already tested for Williams. Bjorn Wirdheim is rated pretty high as well, from Sweden, and currently testing for Jaguar.

Any American drivers being considered for F1?

If there is one form of racing that needs to level the playing field on a mechanical basis, its F1. You can be the best damn driver in the world and not TOUCH the Ferrari boys, because they're technologically dominating everyone. Even with profit sharing, nobody else is going to be able to recoup from them being so far ahead to begin with.

Yes, an element of danger does add to the sport, but at the speeds these guys are moving these days, you cannot put their lives in jeopardy, just to please the spectators.

There had been rumors of Brian Herta, who tested a Minardi, and also Townsend Bell (sp?), who ran in F3000 last year and I believe there again this year.

Just recently Ryan Hunter-Reay has indicated that he is aiming for an F1 drive. f1-live.com/en has the article.

Every year, when the American races come round, rumours of American drivers surface. Its only hype by the powers that be in the sport to drum up interest in the Americam commerce, for F1.
When a real star like Montoya emerges he's already seen and signed at a very early stage.
If an american driver is going to succeed he has to race and win in the lower formulas in europe. it may not be fair and you would think USA would have the premier series in motor racing, but you don't and thats your problem.
As an Englishman, I think you guys over there should stop pussying about with Cart and IRL, Give us a real USA version of F1. Loads of Tech, it must be very expensive, Ford spend their money in Europe why?.
You have all the resources but you can't get it together so little old England
has to come over there and show you how to do it.
Joking apart, it would be great if you lot did get it together, you have some great tracks and I did enjoy Cart, the thought of Schumy, Button and Montoya
going down the corkscrew at Laguna, now that would be a sight.

Awesome man, I'll be at the USGP as well as will a few other TFP members. See ya there!

Thanks archer2371, as much as Iwould love to be there its too far from London to do on a day trip, but enjoy the spectacle and I wish all TFP's there, please do the same.
By the way, have you read "F1 complainers"

Yeah, I have, just haven't replied yet.

Im American, and I don't really care one way or the other if there is an American in F1. They don't deserve to be, they all suck. If Andretti is the best we can produce, then I hope an American never drives in F1 again. I get this strange feeling of satisfaction when European etc. drivers (Bourdais, DaMatta, Zanardi, Brack, De Ferran on and on and on) come to the States and dominate CART, IRL, the Indianapolis 500, and every other major auto racing body here.

Theres going to be a hell of a redneck uproar when a European driver enters NASCAR and starts dominating. Ill be the first one laughing my ass off.

Come on now Powerclown, do you think europeans have some inate genetic skill at driving a race care that the USA drivers don't.
The point of my original piece was that as a nation you have the power to get things done, to achieve anything you so wish, you should feel proud to be part of that.
F1 needs to have in its stable, the best the world can offer wherever it comes, thats why its spreading to places like China.
By the way when you say Andretti, I hope you are referring to Michael, a good driver in anybodys book but I would agree, not the best in the world,
but Mario is a different story great talent got himself in the best car of the day and won the F1 champinship although he wasn't the fastest driver. Over the years he has proved his talent in lots of different forms of racing.Don't forget Phill Hill either. They won a championship not really related to much in their own country.
Now thats the USA contribution without really trying, so come on you people over there PULL YOUR FINGERS OUT .
You spend a fortune to train a few sprinters to win in front of a world audiance of a billion once in every four years, we spend a fortune to show our skill and tech to an world audiance of 400mill 17 times a year, work it out yourself.
Have added a piece to the gas prices forum in Motors that you might find interesting.

Rule changes that are in the discussion:

cutting the engine budget by 50% to help the smaller teams
banning of all electroning driver aids
one tire manufacturer (possible that slicks make a return, YAY!)


AFAIK those changes would be for the 2006 season

I'm glad to see so many F1 fans here. I've been to the Montreal GP twice now. Went 3 years ago and watched my favourite driver, Mika Hakkinen, drive to a third place finish behind Michael in second and Ralf in first. I was a guest of HSBC that weekend so I was fortunate enough to meet Pedro De La Rosa who was driving for Jaguar at the time.

Went back last year with some friends. We fluked out completely and walked by a store just as a woman announced that Kimi Raikonnen would be signing autographs there in 45 mins. Needless to say we got in line :D Made it outta there with a few pictures and a couple signed pieces.

Unfortunately I couldn't be there for this weekend but I'll for sure be tuning in. Anyone else enter to win Kimi's balaclava on Mclaren.com?


SLM3

What would one do with one of those?

Really, what wouldn't one do?







SLM3