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Post by René on Apr 2, 2018 8:52:17 GMT
Thank you for taking the time to translate this article and share it with us Lucio!
It is an excellent piece that desbcribes a feeling we will all recognize very well. I am sure it is partly an age thing, there are die hard fans who started watching during the Schumacher years and for them the frustration will be less or at least different. But when you have been watching races since the seventies or earlier, the sport has most certainly lost a big chunk of its magic.
I remember the time I became even more nervous when a Ferrari was in the lead because you never knew if the car was going to last the distance. Everything was on the edge and that part has gone. I understand technology doesn't stand still so better reliability was inevitable but it has taken away a big part of the suspense. Time doesn't stand still so racing shouldn't either but damn.... It could be so much better.
Gilles' Jarama 1981 win is engraved in my memory. I watched it on a Wallonian (French speaking Belgium) channel with an indoor antenna! Image quality was very poor but clear enough to see who is who. As described in the article, almost no overtaking in this race but so much suspense and such a brilliant drive. Legendary stuff.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2018 10:40:07 GMT
F1 Festival.
F1 mascot.
Elevate the atmosphere.
Impressive urban dance skills.
To engage with the audience.
Maybe it's an age thing, but I recognize utter nonsense when I see it, age or not age.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2018 10:51:17 GMT
Quite.
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Post by charleselan on Apr 2, 2018 11:16:43 GMT
One is left with the impression that current "F1" is a continual April Fools Joke, but I ask myself very often who are the fools......
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2018 14:02:43 GMT
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Post by René on Apr 2, 2018 21:25:29 GMT
You have build up a few credits Lucio. It will need a very strong comment to get banned!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2018 7:41:23 GMT
It was a bit of melodramatic banter, Rene'...
But seriously, it's a different sport now. It's hardly sport anymore, really.
They have changed things, one by one, and this is the result: they can't find the way back.
First they introduced the pit stops for refuelling, with cars having small tanks.
Then, pit stops for tires was the next natural evolution.
Then, they messed up the engines, with idiotic requirements from FIA, as if Formula One applications must be installed in the cars sold to the public. At a certain point it was economy racing, not speed racing.
All through that, they haven't been able to reign in the aero, with meaningless proliferation of appendages and installation of dubious tricks (double diffusers etc).
Finally, as it is happening in most British businesses - mine too, engineering consultancy, for example - they have sold the sport to the Americans, like a company, without any semblance of regulation. Because F1 as such was British-owned. The Americans have billions of dollars to recoup and culturally don't have a clue of the significance of F1 as a "sport". All they know is "Super Bowl", NBA, "commissioner", Janet Jackson singing and dancing in the interval (not sure which interval...).
What irks quite a bit, is reading on the British press the representation that Ferrari are the only villains in all that. And I am not even a Ferrari fan.
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Post by robmarsh on Apr 3, 2018 13:20:34 GMT
I think Adrian Newey should leave Red Bull and go and design cricket balls for the Australian team.
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Post by charleselan on Apr 3, 2018 13:29:54 GMT
Looking on the MS Forum earlier I really thought this was an April Fools as it was posted 1st April. MCLAREN X GANDYS MCL33 'HALO EDITION' FLIP-FLOP Much like the McLaren MCL33, these flip-flops are going quickly (sorry), so you'll need to pre-order now for April delivery. An ingenious piece of merchandise which coincides perfectly with the adoption of the halo, and near-papaya orange to boot. Midfield challenger Force India followed suit and signed a flip-flop partnership just days later. From £24.00 – McLaren
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Post by Carl on Apr 3, 2018 16:11:04 GMT
Liberty may prove to be a poor steward of Formula One, but the first greedy bastards to degrade the sport were of course Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, who then sold to a piratical European private equity (hilarious word) firm. The template for the ruination of the sport had been set.
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Post by René on Apr 3, 2018 17:36:30 GMT
Looking on the MS Forum earlier I really thought this was an April Fools as it was posted 1st April. MCLAREN X GANDYS MCL33 'HALO EDITION' FLIP-FLOP Much like the McLaren MCL33, these flip-flops are going quickly (sorry), so you'll need to pre-order now for April delivery. An ingenious piece of merchandise which coincides perfectly with the adoption of the halo, and near-papaya orange to boot. Midfield challenger Force India followed suit and signed a flip-flop partnership just days later. From £24.00 – McLaren I already have mine, received them last week. They are wonderful and I feel much safer now.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2018 17:40:30 GMT
No doubt, Carl, the issue has a long history - born and bred in Europe - which Liberty have only inherited. I presume they believe they have bought a business and expect to make the most of it. One cannot blame them for that. I wonder what kind of advice they have been taking for their due diligence, besides Brawn.
I am reading today on Repubblica (second Italian daily, liberal, sort of equivalent to Graham's Washington Post):
- scrutineering on Thursdays open to (paying) public;
- two practice sessions on Friday, one hour each, instead of the current 90 minutes;
- Saturday morning 60 minutes qualifying, divided in the three usual Qs, which will determine the grid for a sprint race in the afternoon, which in turn will detemine the starting grid of Sunday's race.
It is claimed Liberty is aiming for shorter weekends, but more of them, from 21 to 25 races per year, but cars more on track.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2018 7:16:39 GMT
I left the news above for others to possibly comment. I will do now, won't refrain.
It seems increasingly to me that whatever the illness affecting Effwun (to distinguish it from proper Formula One, as I used to know it at least) that Liberty - and FIA - are not and don't have the cure.
As soon as I read those proposals above the first thing that came to mind was Cale Yarborough. I recalled I used to read about him on Autosprint, they raced every weekend from February to November. Nascar.
By increasing the number of races Liberty are trying to maximize their return, devaluing in the process the standing of the 'series'. They should do less races, in more compelling places, no more than 17, 18 at most, instead. It's - it used to be - the top of motorsport, it shouldn't be artificially inflated. It's not a Saturday night TV show for the masses.
Sprint race? Don't make me swear.
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Post by robmarsh on Apr 4, 2018 7:22:31 GMT
My thoughts exactly Lucio which I shared on another thread.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2018 9:00:46 GMT
One result of the above proposals is that there won't be anymore the "pole position".
They cancel one of the basic pillars of GP racing.
Seriously. What's the point with this lot?
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