Will you watch F1 in 2016?

[Javi013]

I will always be watching F1 full races

Yeah it sucks this year, and probably will be the same in 2016... But I won't stop following this

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[The Black Knight]

Schumacher
Fangio
Prost
Vettel

The only four drivers to have won four or more.

Schumacher, Fangio, Alonso and Prost I count among the all time greats. I can't say the same about Vettel, unfortunately, given his whipping from Danny Boy last year. People can excuse it all they want but it was a whipping. I can't think of any other "great" driver in his prime that got whipped like that. And there's no doubting Vettel is a great driver but is he amongst the all time greats? Maybe! I guess we'll see in time.

[The Black Knight]

Don't be too sure about that. The driver in question may not on his own, but the team may have other ideas.

These kind of rubbish stories do break my balls and have absolutely no foundation other than some desperate reporter trying to make a headline out of nothing. Moreover, it's worse that such an experienced F1 follower might actually take note of them.

[Nitrodaze]

As for Lewis I don't count him there yet. The only one on the current grid I class as being an all time great is Alonso.

The greatness of a driver comes from the number of titles they have won. Alonso is an exciting driver but not a great driver. Great drivers not only know how to win, they know how to ensure they are winning titles consistently and doing better than their last best achievement. Schumacher is the ultimate example. Vettel is demonstrating that trait. Hamilton has demonstrated that trait.

History seldom remembers the excuses but remembers reverently the successes and the titles won. Hence the top echelon of great drivers is as listed by Rollo.

[jens]

Alonso is great and possibly has a claim to get rated inside top 10 of any all-time lists, even though there are lots of contenders for such positions (out of current grid Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso can all have a claim to get included there, let alone the many drivers from the past).

But there is no way I'd take Alonso above Senna. Alonso reminds me more of someone like Lauda. A fast, smart and consistent driver, who can maximize point scores. And of course Niki was a triple champ, and also benchmark of the field for a while.

[zako85]

Schumacher, Fangio, Alonso and Prost I count among the all time greats. I can't say the same about Vettel, unfortunately, given his whipping from Danny Boy last year. People can excuse it all they want but it was a whipping. I can't think of any other "great" driver in his prime that got whipped like that. And there's no doubting Vettel is a great driver but is he amongst the all time greats? Maybe! I guess we'll see in time.

There are several examples of very fine drivers having one bad season.

Senna in 1992: Highly inconsistent. While driving arguably the second best car on the grid and with three victories, he finished WDC only in 4th spot, allowing Schumacher with just one win to clinch 3rd and Patrese also with one win to clinch 2nd, and finishing only one point ahead of his teammate, Berger.

Hamilton in 2011: Got embarrassed by Button, who managed to finish second in WDC.

I think the main problem Vettel had in 2014 is that he lost the fancy aero toolkit he was used to race with since 2009. Ricciardo came in with a Toro Rosso background, whose car probably was not so reliant on the aero diffuser effects the previous year. Confused and with car having incredibly bad reliability since the very testing part of the season and with significantly less hunger than Ricciardo, Vettel had probably subconsciously written the season off specially with his Ferrari plans already in place.

[jens]

I found myself almost switching off an F1 race for the first time ever through boredom today. I seriously wonder whether I will watch F1 in 2016. Un imaginable to me a few years ago.

I remember I indeed did switch F1 off due to boredom during the 2004 Hungarian Grand Prix. IIRC there was another sporting event going on at that moment too though.

[yodasarmpit]

As with this year and past, i'll be watching it on Sky.

[The Black Knight]

There are several examples of very fine drivers having one bad season.

Senna in 1992: Highly inconsistent. While driving arguably the second best car on the grid and with three victories, he finished WDC only in 4th spot, allowing Schumacher with just one win to clinch 3rd and Patrese also with one win to clinch 2nd, and finishing only one point ahead of his teammate, Berger.

Hamilton in 2011: Got embarrassed by Button, who managed to finish second in WDC.

I think the main problem Vettel had in 2014 is that he lost the fancy aero toolkit he was used to race with since 2009. Ricciardo came in with a Toro Rosso background, whose car probably was not so reliant on the aero diffuser effects the previous year. Confused and with car having incredibly bad reliability since the very testing part of the season and with significantly less hunger than Ricciardo, Vettel had probably subconsciously written the season off specially with his Ferrari plans already in place.

Both Hamilton and Button scored 3 wins in the 2011 season. Did Vettel score any last year? Yeah it was a bit of an off season for Hammy but it was one that was also blight with issues in the car and some silly errors towards the end of the season, yet he still won the 3 GP that year even though it was far from a top season for him. It was still nowhere near the humiliation Seb suffered at the hands of Danny. Besides, Danny was a relative new kid on the block compared to Button. Hamilton was able to prove that season a one off by beating Button again the next season. Seb, unfortunately, ran when the going got tough to a team with a driver no longer at his peak which, in all probability, is making him look better than he is in reality.

Losing the fancy aero toolkit is not an excuse. He's a 4 time WDC and making excuses for him like that is just desperation from people that don't want to admit they overhyped the guy to begin. There's no doubting he's a great driver but he has yet to show he's an all-time great. If he was an all-time great last year wouldn’t have been such an embarrassment for him.

[Bezza]

I will still watch... its a habit! But...

Mercedes have been so far ahead they manufacture a 1-2 as much as possible, trying to keep both drivers happy. We want to see them unhappy!! We want to see Hamilton undercutting Rosberg and upsetting him. We want to see them fighting. And vice versa. We don't want to see endless Mercedes 1-2's were they have not allowed their drivers to race. Considering how far they are ahead in performance, I cannot see how they haven't allowed this. It would be great TV.

I also find it convenient how Williams get a Mercedes engine but never attempt to beat Mercedes when they get a chance to - see Austria 2014, Abu Dhabi 2014, Britain 2015.

Mercedes for me are manipulating the whole of F1. It was clear in Abu Dhabi that Hamilton was made an example of to make a point to him that Mercedes know best when it comes to strategy. He could've potentially made those tyres last until the end. As it happened, they made him pit from a no mans land position and gave him the slower tyres to finish with.

And then there is farcical DRS - I hate it. Slower cars - they need to be faster. Stupid tyres - they need to last longer at full whack.

The argument that keeps coming up is that by getting rid of DRS / increasing speed of cars / having refuelling - we will see LESS overtaking.

I don't care. For me, F1 is not about how much overtaking there is in any given race. Overtaking should NOT be easy. If you want overtaking, go watch NASCAR. DRS falsifies overtaking.

I want to see strategic battles on track, drivers free to race for themselves and not bound by their race engineers. The drivers are what the public want to see. They should make their own decisions. And... the occassional brilliant overtaking manoeuvre - not assisted by DRS, or shoddy Pirelli tyres.

There is much that could be done. It is so frustrating to watch my favourite sport in these circumstances.