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Re: F1

Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 4:14 pm
by Libertas
ZoWie wrote: Sun Dec 12, 2021 4:12 pm They've done that, sort of. This year had some kind of budget cap without actually calling it that, and all these rules about when you can change the cars. Car racing will always be about money and who has it and how they get it, but I think we've seen the end of unlimited budgets.
Have you ever played the F1 video game, especially with a wheel and pedals?

I do, and love it.

Re: F1

Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:55 pm
by ZoWie
Once, but without the fancy driver type interface. I was surprised by how fast other cars get big. I checked race footage with a DVR and indeed they do suddenly fill your whole field of view even though they were tiny two seconds earlier. I'm just not wired to be an F1 driver, though I doubt that very many people alive on this planet are.

There's still a lot of flap about the way the race was decided, hence the way that the whole season and two very sought after and lucrative championships (driver and constructor) were decided. I get where they're coming from. It's like winning the Super Bowl on a holding penalty. All season long, every lapped car was let by. The relevant FIA rule says to let them all by, but apparently it had been trumped, in both senses of the word, by another rule that says something about how racing resumes when "safety car in this lap" is declared and the safety car goes in the pit lane. The race director declared that.

BBC made a good point that Charlie Whiting left awfully big shoes to fill, and obviously the new guy has had his problems filling them. He's made weird decisions all year.

My feeling is that the new guy just wanted a "real" finish, and so he made a subjective decision, and maybe too subjective, but too late now. What's done is done. I'm sure that the right wing US media conglomerate that owns the commercial F1 trademarks and assets is pleased with the way things turned out. Such are the times we live in. The play's the thing.

We have 3 months to talk about it, then it starts all over again.

Re: F1

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 11:46 am
by ZoWie
Needless to say, Mercedes is pissed.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/59686315
Lewis Hamilton is 'disillusioned' after Abu Dhabi, says Toto Wolff
Toto Wolff is a good team manager, but some of his quotes in this article make me wonder whether he missed out on a great career in writing dialog for the screen. They push every button.

Sample, short clip out of many:
Hamilton was "robbed" of the title and the decisions made over a late-race safety car "still feel like a nightmare", Wolff said.

He said he could not guarantee if Hamilton would continue to race in F1.
Guaranteed that if Mercedes had lucked into the win, Red Bull's manager would be saying something almost identical.

Obviously. Wolff is playing to the cheap seats here. As a team manager, he would be expected to stick up for his own people. HOWEVER, he speaks truth as regards F1 decision making in the recent season. It's always been iffy, but this season's drama gave global scrutiny to a fairly introverted sport descended from a pastime of European aristocracy, as infiltrated after WWII worldwide by Elon Musk types and finally by global corporate conglomerates. In the case of race control, it was clearly revealed by the greater illumination that F1 leadership was not ready for the big time. The last race made it look more like something the NCAA would do, only worse. Not so much bias as just ineptitude by people out of their depth.

Here's the underlying issue:

Charlie Whiting ran the races forever, but he shuffled off this mortal coil before this season started, and they never really found a competent replacement. The first few races were anarchy, and the last few were organized chaos. This is not my personal judgment, but that of every expert who writes about F1. Personally, I just liked all the drama.

This isn't the NFL, so only about 3 people seeing this will care, but I had to address those few anyway.

Re: F1

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 1:34 pm
by Libertas
I didnt read the article, yet.

Lewis is one of the richest athletes on earth, so he does not need my sympathy. And knowing him the way I do as in his talent and performance and attitude, this will just fuel him on to winning next year.

He was sort of robbed if they did ANYTHING different which they did, as you explained.

Re: F1

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 6:10 pm
by ZoWie
FIA is apparently doing damage control:

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/59675264
Formula 1's governing body says the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is "tarnishing the image" of the sport.

The FIA will conduct a "detailed analysis and clarification exercise" into the running of Sunday's race, with all the teams and drivers, "to draw any lessons from the situation".

It is an effective admission of mistakes in the running of the race that decided the world championship.

Race director Michael Masi's actions are at the centre of the controversy.

Re: F1

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 6:15 pm
by Libertas
ZoWie wrote: Thu Dec 16, 2021 6:10 pm FIA is apparently doing damage control:

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/59675264
Only way to make it worse is to now reverse the decision. Even though I am a huge and first Lewis fan, I think Max raced one hell of a year.

I have been thinking about how NASCAR does it, they have a simple rule about finishing green, with the 3 lap deal or whatever it is, always seems to work and be consistent.

Re: F1

Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2021 3:29 pm
by ZoWie
NASCAR's procedures are kind of weird, but the green-white-checker 3 lap finishes do seem like a good system. I doubt FIA would dare reverse the championship. Even they aren't that stupid, but then I don't know how many Americans really understand the FIA. It's Old Europe. Those people are not like us. Its headquarters are on the Place de la Concorde right by where the guillotine used to be, directly across the river from the National Assembly and next to the Navy Department, just down the street a bit from the French version of the White House. It's not the French government, but you get the idea anyway. It's not hard to get serious culture shock dealing with the FIA.

Re: F1

Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2021 4:51 pm
by Libertas
ZoWie wrote: Fri Dec 17, 2021 3:29 pm NASCAR's procedures are kind of weird, but the green-white-checker 3 lap finishes do seem like a good system. I doubt FIA would dare reverse the championship. Even they aren't that stupid, but then I don't know how many Americans really understand the FIA. It's Old Europe. Those people are not like us. Its headquarters are on the Place de la Concorde right by where the guillotine used to be, directly across the river from the National Assembly and next to the Navy Department, just down the street a bit from the French version of the White House. It's not the French government, but you get the idea anyway. It's not hard to get serious culture shock dealing with the FIA.
Reminds me my cousin just saw
The Last Duel

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4244994/

and said it was good...it does look good.

Re: F1

Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2021 6:33 pm
by ZoWie
Lewis Hamilton may be punished for not attending awards ceremony, says new FIA president

New FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem has refused to rule out punishing Lewis Hamilton for boycotting its awards ceremony on Thursday.

Hamilton and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff did not attend in protest at the handling of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last Sunday.

Formula 1 rules dictate that the top three drivers in the championship must attend.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/59705074

Re: F1

Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2021 7:01 pm
by Libertas
I wish they had gone to the ceremony, be the bigger people.


OT

Bubba Wallace story now on ESPN, cop shot his cousin for holding a cell phone. 2003...so so many AA families have lost family members to racist cops or cops who are not qualified to be cops because Black skin scares them.



OH and this was a good day, from a "support" by NASCAR teams


https://youtu.be/zl784idy-SY

Bubba and his sister are not convinced of the FBI conclusion.

Re: F1

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2021 7:45 pm
by Bludogdem
My take on moving the lapped cars ahead of the pace car was that it was to the disadvantage of Verstappen. If the 5 lapped cars were between him and Hamilton they would have moved aside and he would have had 5 DRS stepping stones to catapult him at Hamilton which would be the 6th DRS. Plus he had much better tires.

Re: F1

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2021 1:54 pm
by ZoWie
DRS is limited to a few specific zones on a track, and the remaining lap or two might or might not have offered enough DRS opportunities.

Re: F1

Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2022 4:39 pm
by Libertas
what?

Ferrari?

Mercedes 5th and 9th?

Tell me what happened I guess with Ferrari, Zowie.

Re: F1

Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2022 6:07 pm
by ZoWie
The Ferrari is more stable than the Mercedes, though the difference is less than a couple of days ago. Ferrari just got everything sorted faster than Mercedes did. Red Bull is also a major contender this year. They have the best aerodynamics designer, who is old enough to remember the last time F1 tried ground effect.

Re: F1

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2022 11:19 am
by Libertas
ZoWie wrote: Sat Mar 19, 2022 6:07 pm The Ferrari is more stable than the Mercedes, though the difference is less than a couple of days ago. Ferrari just got everything sorted faster than Mercedes did. Red Bull is also a major contender this year. They have the best aerodynamics designer, who is old enough to remember the last time F1 tried ground effect.
Why is young Schumacher‘s three letter name on the race screen not SCH, why is it MSC?

Is that because the original Schumacher retired those three letters or something?

——————-

Unless Lewis wins another championship no matter how many wins he has the same crowd will continue to say Michael Schumacher was the best which I’m not sure I agree with.

And watching Max and Charles racing each other this way does give hope for an exciting year. I will admit I mainly watch it to see if Lewis will win but this is fun. It has been boring for many years and maybe that will no longer be the case.

—————————

I just don’t understand how Mercedes could be this far off, I know there were a lot of changes to the car so I guess if it was going to happen this would be the year but it is surprising.

Re: F1

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2022 2:08 pm
by ZoWie
If this is any indication, F1 just brought in a winner. The release version sure beat the rough cut. They've improved the racing, and made it more of a driver's sport the way it should be. Drivers do the really hard parts, and risk their lives. Looks like now they'll be less like astronauts and more like real race drivers.

Now we go from Bahrain to Saudi Arabia next week. Yup, away from a nasty little island free trade zone with a history of torturing dissenters, and into the archetypal oil sheikhdom where they dismember opposition journalists and brag that they executed 81 people in one day. I guess sportswashing is next year's issue after they fix the dull racing problem, which they're well on the way to doing.

There's going to be a lot of resistance to any political changes on the part of the owners. They're Liberty Media, yes, THAT Liberty Media, which Bernie Ecclestone sold the commercial rights to when he bailed out and took the money and bought the biggest house in LA with it so his daughter would have a place to live.

But at least we've improved the racing. And how about hearing the Italian anthem again? Good rousing tune. Has to be the best one, France being second. Ours won't be heard unless either they get an American driver (there have been some great ones) or Haas gets a lot better. They look like a real racing team this year. Most Improved Player contender, for sure, but probably not enough to run with the hot shots.

Re: F1

Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 10:09 am
by Libertas
Mercedes looking off the pace again, what the heck is going on?

Re: F1

Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 3:34 pm
by ZoWie
I think that's what Hamilton wants to know. The car never worked right, and he qualified 16th. That's his worst in many years.

Weird qualification session. We start with the 4 hour meeting after practice yesterday, when the teams went to the FIA to discuss whether they should be evacuating the area after terrorists fired a missile at an oil facility 9 miles from the circuit, and the smoke was wafting over them. Apparently the government said not to worry, the terrorists only attack infrastructure, you're not important enough to be a target. This did not exactly cause a warm fuzzy, but they decided to carry on.

Haas was looking promising until Schumacher, son of the great driver that set all the records that Hamilton's breaking, put his car into the curb, lost control, and bounced off a concrete wall at 170 MPH. The car was instant junk. The driver is in the hospital but doesn't to seem to have any visible injuries. No blood, no bones sticking straight out, and he's conscious and coherent. Lucky guy.

Saudi Arabia is another sportswashing exercise. It's a street circuit at a seaside resort built to attract kleptocrats. It's at night, of course, meaning that along with the annual layout of many megabucks in US currency to convert it, they spend many more to light it. That seems to be the future of F1. Frankly, I prefer daytime races in Europe.

Oil sheikhs wearing burnooses sit at tables in VIP suites above the pits on the main straight. Even if you could afford to be there, you'd be so far out of your class that you'd still feel weird. That seems to be the present of F1. I still think the future is away from that kind of crap. Putin's kleptocrats gave us the latest demonstration of why we want to discourage that kind of thing.

Re: F1

Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 5:49 pm
by Libertas
I hate that they race in the ME.

Have not watched Q yet, just practice. I wait till it is over and watch the recap on youtube F1 channel, as it is in 1080P and I hate watching in 720P.

But I dont subscribe to the F1 channel that you pay for and if I did I assume it would be in 1080P.

Re: F1

Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 8:31 pm
by ZoWie
Good story on the whole Saudi kerfuffle here:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/60889883

---

I record it when it runs on ESPN in the dead of night. When I get up in the morning, it's there, and I can fast forward the commercials. This year they're putting commercials in the practice and qualifying, while telling us that it's commercial free courtesy of Mother's Polish. Guess that only applies to Sky in Europe or on the satellites, for a price.

Re: F1

Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 8:48 pm
by Libertas
ZoWie wrote: Sat Mar 26, 2022 8:31 pm Good story on the whole Saudi kerfuffle here:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/60889883

---

I record it when it runs on ESPN in the dead of night. When I get up in the morning, it's there, and I can fast forward the commercials. This year they're putting commercials in the practice and qualifying, while telling us that it's commercial free courtesy of Mother's Polish. Guess that only applies to Sky in Europe or on the satellites, for a price.
There is an overwhelming difference between 720P which is all broadcast TV and 1080P which you can get on Youtube or the F1 channel. It is real hard for me to watch it at 720P.

Re: F1

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2022 12:09 pm
by ZoWie
It's hard enough to watch it in 1080i. It's not made for TV. It's hard to cover something moving that fast without so much equipment and talent that you'd be paying $100 a race to make it profitable to cover them.

The advantage is that I can record it. It's on ESPN for "free." (Actually for the cost of however you get ESPN.) Right now, LA time, the Saudi GP hasn't started yet. It works better when they go to Europe for the summer and the races start at 3 AM local.

I could pay for some streaming thing, but what's the point when I'm already paying for the Dodgers provider, which also carries ESPN? Besides, like I said, the Saudi GP probably still hasn't started yet. Last I looked there were a bunch of rich oil sheiks in silly looking burnooses all standing around on the expensively prepared track in the seaside resort that our petrodollars paid for. Hot damn, another abuse of capitalism. Watching those assholes in dresses taking a break from decapitating women who try to drive, or flogging dissidents.

I can watch capitalism and the gospel of wealth be abused just looking out the window. That's still free, this year anyway.

Re: F1

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2022 3:38 pm
by Libertas
ZoWie wrote: Sun Mar 27, 2022 12:09 pm It's hard enough to watch it in 1080i. It's not made for TV. It's hard to cover something moving that fast without so much equipment and talent that you'd be paying $100 a race to make it profitable to cover them.

The advantage is that I can record it. It's on ESPN for "free." (Actually for the cost of however you get ESPN.) Right now, LA time, the Saudi GP hasn't started yet. It works better when they go to Europe for the summer and the races start at 3 AM local.

I could pay for some streaming thing, but what's the point when I'm already paying for the Dodgers provider, which also carries ESPN? Besides, like I said, the Saudi GP probably still hasn't started yet. Last I looked there were a bunch of rich oil sheiks in silly looking burnooses all standing around on the expensively prepared track in the seaside resort that our petrodollars paid for. Hot damn, another abuse of capitalism. Watching those assholes in dresses taking a break from decapitating women who try to drive, or flogging dissidents.

I can watch capitalism and the gospel of wealth be abused just looking out the window. That's still free, this year anyway.
I dont get DRS...when Verstappen and LeClerc at going at each other down the straight in those last laps, and the announcer says the car behind is using DRS (announcer doesnt say the car behind but refers to the driver who is behind), why aren't both using at the same time?


Lewis is pissed at the team, wasnt there a problem with when to pit?

https://youtu.be/pLgMpW1HoLU

Re: F1

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2022 5:55 pm
by ZoWie
DRS is one of those partial solutions they tried before they gave up and went to ground effect cars. The idea was to make it easier to pass another car without losing aero and slowing down. Opening the wing removes the primary source of drag in a car's aero and adds 10 or so kph to its top speed.

The way I understand it is that in the race it is restricted to two or three passing zones at the beginnings of straights, and that only the car that is following will have it enabled by the electronics that track the car's position and proximity to other cars. I think it's a one-second interval. You hear about drivers trying to get within "DRS range."

I'm kind of surprised that they retained DRS when they went to ground-effect aero, but they did, and I think it does help liven up the racing. You must have noticed that the drivers are now racing closer together, and in general the racing is already much better this year even though only a couple of teams have it all working right. That's the way it should be. The race should be a test of driving skill, not just a contest of who's car runs the best that week.

Re: F1

Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2022 6:35 pm
by Libertas
ZoWie wrote: Sun Mar 27, 2022 5:55 pm DRS is one of those partial solutions they tried before they gave up and went to ground effect cars. The idea was to make it easier to pass another car without losing aero and slowing down. Opening the wing removes the primary source of drag in a car's aero and adds 10 or so kph to its top speed.

The way I understand it is that in the race it is restricted to two or three passing zones at the beginnings of straights, and that only the car that is following will have it enabled by the electronics that track the car's position and proximity to other cars. I think it's a one-second interval. You hear about drivers trying to get within "DRS range."

I'm kind of surprised that they retained DRS when they went to ground-effect aero, but they did, and I think it does help liven up the racing. You must have noticed that the drivers are now racing closer together, and in general the racing is already much better this year even though only a couple of teams have it all working right. That's the way it should be. The race should be a test of driving skill, not just a contest of who's car runs the best that week.
Yes, closer.

My problem is I want Lewis to be at the front :lol:

I dont know what he meant today when he went after the crew, maybe his boss wouldnt let him pit when he wanted to? I havent watched all of it, did he have a bad stop? I will watch.