This years F1...and what do we think?

[Garry Spice]

Congrats to lewis right man right car...
but the whole V6 HYBRID idea????
is this the way to go?...for manufactures to show off there skills?
does it work on tv?
what if any thing should be changed?

[Essex2Visuvesi]

Worked well for this years Le Mans 24h, from memory at least half the top 10 finishers were hybrids

[RogerM]

Originally Posted by Garry Spice

what if any thing should be changed?

The red cars need to be faster .......

[MattW]

I think for F1 to retain any kind of "relevance" they have to stay with the hybrid power units (I hate that term, but hey ho!). It was no secret that Renault were planning to walk away if they stayed wtih V8's and I'm pretty sure I read Merc weren't entirely convinced about staying with the V8's either. Add to that, no chance Honda would have joined.

For me the racing has been ok as well. Racing between the 2 Merc's has been good, and in all honesty between Williams, Red Bull and Ferrari hasn't been bad either. Sure, the gap to the Merc's needs to close up so there can actually be a race at the front.

One of the fundamental problems for me is the Engine / PU freeze. It's probably the right thing to do on cost, but for racing I think it's bad. Everyone knew that there was a good chance that one of the manufactures would "get it wrong" and it's clear that essentially 2 of them did. Then because it's frozen, there's nothing that they can do to fix it. I'm not sure how they fix this, as it's the costs of these units that has at least helped to hammer the nail in for Caterham and Marussia

[Sean T]

Bring back the V8s.
I prefer the older F1 cars.

Well done to Hamilton he made the right choice in changing teams when he did.

Those V6s just don't sound right.

I can understand we need to look at new technology but does it need to be in F1.

You don't get all that technology in a NASCAR and people haven't stop going to watching it (the yanks are easily pleased as long as its got beer involved)

The appeal of F1 for me has now gone, I'm still interested in the technical aspect of it all. Put the racing just isn't the same.

Sean.

[bodgit]

Started watching every race since 1994 while in hospital. Only missed about 2 live races until about 2 years ago when red bull and vettal race after race got to the front and it was over. Lost interest half way through last year and to be honest I haven't bothered watching a single race this season except the repeat of the final race.
Too many rule changes, too many stupid tyre regs . When you had to refuel other teams no idea of what sort of speed you'd have at the start of the race so it was all a gamble how to work out the pit stops. Small engines replaced the great screaming noise they made has gone and I don't think I'll be watching next season either.
Its supposed to be a race not how to look after your tyres and manage your fuel. They also need to share out the money equally between all the teams racing or the devide just gets greater.

[bretts]

I used to love F1 when it was on ITV the ad breaks really worked well!

Anyway F1 is what it is and controlled by an odd ball with loads of dosh. It isn't as good as it used to be to many silly rules and tech, but isn't WRC a bit naff these days too! and what about Formula E !!!???

What I miss really miss is that edge of seat feeling thinking that someone might be caught and passed before the end. Massa had a go but everyone knew it wasn't going to happen. His tyres went 'off' after 5 laps, now that's top level motorsport for you

Just don't really mind if I forget it's on these days.

Now what was really good was the Ginetta Supercup that was awesome racing, not kidding either!

[mark christopher]

Stop restricting fuel but why would Bernie listen to us, were only the fans....

[Steve.T]

Great racing, shame about the noise but why complain too much when there's a British world champion

[SlowOne]

I enjoyed this year's racing and agree completely with Matt. Hamilton won all the battles that mattered, and Rosberg failed to put a move on him that stuck in any race all year. The best driver in the best car won - well done Lewis Hamilton.

I enjoyed the new technical aspects and the races further down the field. With the ERS technology it turned the DRS into a 'nice to have' and not an essential weapon for overtaking. For some reason many drivers found their racing mojo in the new cars.

I enjoyed the 'battle' between Ricciardo and Vettel. Vettel proved what Alonso said on 2013 - if Vettel is to be a great he has to perform in a less-than-perfect car. Not a great then...!

But most of all I enjoyed this post below the line on the James Allen website. It's a compilation of the posts people made two years ago when Hamilton left McLaren. Now you can make a prat of yourself in front of millions instead of just your family and friends!

“I think it is great for Perez, but a bad move for Hamilton.”
“Lewis’ best days may well be behind him at 27 years of age.”
“The move makes no sense if the guy truly (as he did say himself) thinks only about winning. McLaren have long been and are today vastly more competitive than Merc and if you are rational you should stay there if what you value mostly is winning. So what is left as motive for still making the move is money.”
“There is no evidence anywhere to suggest that Mercedes is a better place to be than McLaren going forward.”
“He’s leaving a team who will almost definitely produce a challenger year in, year out to go to a team who haven’t yet produced a challenger at all bar a one off in 2009 and that was only because they spent a full year developing. Even then they were slow come the end of the season. For a man who says his only priority is winning races this is complete and utter stupidity.”
“Mercedes are clearly lacking a stand out designer and I feel Hamilton’s career really is mimicking Villeneuve’s.”
“Why go from a regular winning team to another that does so sporadically, if not for the money? It can’t be for the winning, whatever Lewis might say.”
“Just enjoy the ear-ring clad, “I dont have my girlfriend or dad anymore” 1 time champ, who has a history of being given everything on the platter right from his youth for once having to fight in what i think will be a sub-par car.”
“I fear Lewis has chosen unwisely in his management – his actions are those of a wannabe global celebrity, rather than someone with a desire to be seen as an F1 all-time great. (Something I believe he clearly has the talent for). Disappointing.”
“Yes, Ross Brawn delivered many WDC’s to Shumacher, but Shumacher had that hunger for success already! Hamilton might have a hunger for success, but his hunger for fame over-rides his hunger for wins!”
“The grass may not be greener, but it’s got more bling I guess. If that’s what motivates him.”
“And there goes his career. I just can’t see Merc becoming a top performing team any time soon. The Brawn went from championship winning car to also ran Merc in one year, and hasn’t improved much since. They show early season pace and then it drops away.”
“Terrible decision, despite all his difficulties at McClaren. Turned himself from one of the big players into an also ran in one foul swoop.”
“It’ll be a great shame to see a driver of the quality of Hamilton in the mid-field, knowing that he chose to be there out of sheer greed.”
“Funny that he should move from a team that doesn’t let him have his trophies, to one where that’s not likely to be much of a problem.”
“Hamilton will be left struggling for 5th and 6th place finishes, whilst Vettel and Alonso will be fighting for championships in the years ahead. This will be the start of a very wrong turn in Hamilton’s career.”

Paying an F1 driver - £20m. Paying for your uninformed opinions - priceless!

[Alan - South West RC]

In the end I think the right man won, well done Lewis

With regards to the noise I was very fortunate to be able to travel to the race in Singapore this year and it was still very loud. I actually liked the noise live as you could hear the squeal of the tyres and the noise of the brakes as they went into the corners. I do agree though that for television the noise is a lot quieter and not as good as it was.

Roll on 2015

[alex97]

A much better year that 2013 as we knew both the race and pole was between lewis and nico unlike last year where seb won everything by miles. The close racing between team mates has also been good and I'd like to see more of that next season as it good for the fans to see the same car going head to head to see who's the better driver. Its been great to see a comeback from Williams but I hope that it's a long term thing not just one season.

A downer of the season is what happened to jules bianchi and I hope that we see him again in f1 very shortly.

It's been a shame to see that two teams were almost lost and how little that the other teams did for them but most importantly how little the f1 business did for them, f1 needs a whole remodel as the smaller teams are losing out big time.

Over all its been a good season and a great result for lewis.

Only 109 days to go!!!!

[SlowOne]

Forgot - a great year for British car racing talent. Brits now hold the GP3, GP2, F1 and WEC world titles. I don't think that has ever happened before, right back to the days of F3, F2, F1 and WSC. Good year for British motor racing.

(I also like this statistic. How difficult is it to win in F1? Since 1963, over 450 people have been into space and 12 have stepped on the Moon. Since 1950 only 105 people have ever won a GP, only 32 have ever won the WDC and only 16 have ever won it twice. How difficult is it to win in F1? - four times more difficult than being an astronaut!)

[MattW]

Yes Japan was a massive low light for the season.

There were a few interesting things that came out - if you believe purely the stats (which I don't btw!!)

We're now told that Vetell is a very average driver because he can only win in the best car - well, what does that make Mark Webber!

F1 needs to sort it's financial structure I believe. I don't have a problem with high costs, it's considdered the top of the motorsport tree, so the costs are likely to reflect that. For me, the smaller teams need some way of getting in more money - as that would also close the field up. The financial structure that Joe Saward posted up on his blog a few weeks ago (although no one will confirm 100% that it's true) really is shocking. There is no chance that the "smaller" teams will ever compete, and they will always struggle to survive.

Good shout on the success for British motor sport PDW, and I love the F1 vs space travel stat!!

[SlowOne]

Originally Posted by MattW

We're now told that Vetell is a very average driver because he can only win in the best car - well, what does that make Mark Webber!

It makes Webber a below average driver, which he has always been.

Vettel was brilliant at using the exhaust blown diffusers and developed a driving style no one else seemed able to copy. That has let him down this year with the ban on those diffusers... like Ricciardo! And then there's Alonso wringing the neck of that Ferrari, and Hamilton showing how you race, not just drive. Vettel is not a great IMHO, just an above average driver.

Yes, the accident in Japan was a definite low point. #ForzaJules