Rate the Race - Spain

[steveaki13]

I imagine there wont be many 10 out of 10s for this Spanish GP :p

[N4D13]

I'd give it a 4 out of 10 for the excitement in the last laps and maybe I'm stretching it a bit already.

[steveaki13]

Yer, the first 40 laps for me were border line 2-3/10 but it livened up at the end so overall I give it a 4.5/10

The race was amazing in the fact that Mercedes still have a significant time gap to the rest.

[MrJan]

Terrible. Far better watching the historic F3 in Monaco

http://cdnx.livetv.sx/webplayer2.php?t=letontv&c=kcsrer00sorlvkc&lang=en&eid=231958&lid=210792&ci=881&si=7

[longisland]

I ll give a 7/10. Pretty good race for Barcelona. Good strategy battle in both Mercs & Ferrari. Close battles in top 10.
Rather than just giving a score, I suggest we have a race standing as each race progresses.

1 Bahrain
2 Spain
3 australia
4 china
5 Malaysia

[A FONDO]

http://www.northstandchat.com/images/smilies/yawn.gif http://www.wiredjc.com/Smileys/default/yawn-new.gif 3/10

[steveaki13]

What i will do for fun then is work out the average score for each race and rank them.

[MrJan]

2/10 and that's being kind.

Seriously though guys it's worth checking out the link I posted above to the live race day in Monaco. I went to the last running of the event 2 years ago and it's possibly the best motorsport I've ever been to. F3 race that's just been on had some pretty good moves and a nice battle at the front. Not sure what race is up next but I don't think it'll be dull!

[Tazio]

I'll be generous and give it a 4/10, some decent battles, and strategy, but mostly a snoozer.

[MAX_THRUST]

After watching Indycars from Indy last night, which was fantastic, even with fuel conservation happening. It was hard to watch F1 today. Cars sounded C***, the racing was C**p, I am really loosing interest in F1 this year. There were so many possible winners in Indy Car last night, and the fans watching were the biggest winners. Really loosing interest in F1 after a few really exciting years. Shame its over.

[steveaki13]

The Indy car was good yesterday. I was hoping Hawksaworth was going to win, but it wasnt to be.

Anyway to be honest I actually watching the race again enjoyed it more. It was a strategical race, but still a good one.

[pino]

3/10 for me, fortunately I could switch to Giro d'Italia, which started from beautiful Ireland :up:

[Storm]

3/10 for me too...for the first time this season I did not see it till the end....instead took a nap with 20laps to go so as to save myself for the footie late in the night. That track is a bore and has been for ages.

[henners88]

A 3/10 for me as well. A Hamilton fan bored of how easy it all looks for him. How did Vettel fans stay enthusiastic for 4 years?

[steveaki13]

A 3/10 for me as well. A Hamilton fan bored of how easy it all looks for him. How did Vettel fans stay enthusiastic for 4 years?

poking the bear much? :p

[henners88]

More of a rhetorical question. I don't think it needs a comparison as we know what we've got.

[jens]

A 3/10 for me as well. A Hamilton fan bored of how easy it all looks for him. How did Vettel fans stay enthusiastic for 4 years?

From Vettel perspective.

2010 was a very messy season. Vettel didn't look like a championship favourite for much of the season. He was an outsider even going into the final race. This created excitement.

2011 was an odd season. Despite Vettel winning it all, we had several quite interesting races. China, Monaco, Canada - some truly exciting races. Even Spain was good by Spain's standards! In mid-season Hamilton-Alonso-Button won races. But late in the year it got stale.

2012 we had 7 different drivers winning the first 7 races. It was open for most of the year. Vettel won 4 races late in the year, but never pulled away and came from the back in Abu Dhabi and Brazil. The season concluded in an excitement.

2013 had 4 different teams winning during the first half of the season. I remember German GP, which Vettel won, but Lotuses were hunting him down. But it was the second half of the season that really got me and I lost enthusiasm. Already the Belgian GP, which usually is historic, felt bland. And from there onwards the real lust was gone. Only interesting thing was watching Grosjean racking up an impressive string of results, by far his career-best. Will it remain his career-best?

[henners88]

From Vettel perspective.

2010 was a very messy season. Vettel didn't look like a championship favourite for much of the season. He was an outsider even going into the final race. This created excitement.

2011 was an odd season. Despite Vettel winning it all, we had several quite interesting races. China, Monaco, Canada - some truly exciting races. Even Spain was good by Spain's standards! In mid-season Hamilton-Alonso-Button won races. But late in the year it got stale.

2012 we had 7 different drivers winning the first 7 races. It was open for most of the year. Vettel won 4 races late in the year, but never pulled away and came from the back in Abu Dhabi and Brazil. The season concluded in an excitement.

2013 had 4 different teams winning during the first half of the season. I remember German GP, which Vettel won, but Lotuses were hunting him down. But it was the second half of the season that really got me and I lost enthusiasm. Already the Belgian GP, which usually is historic, felt bland. And from there onwards the real lust was gone. Only interesting thing was watching Grosjean racking up an impressive string of results, by far his career-best. Will it remain his career-best?
All valid points, but we all knew regardless of who was winning the odd race and mixing it up, Vettel would be champion ultimately. Red Bull had the most consistent package after 2010 and even though Alonso, Button, Hamilton, and Webber were regular race winners, Vettel was always up the order keeping his points tally healthy. The other teams couldn't compete at a level Red Bull had maintained even if their speed produced wins that broke the seasons up a little. I enjoyed parts of those seasons I have to admit but my interest waned more often than not. I just hope Mercedes don't hit the same groove. It seems strange to say for me because at the moment its the driver I follow getting all the success, but winning isn't everything for me and I like seeing a race at the front and a race win decided by racing, not grid position from Saturday.

[schmenke]

Girls, let’s not lose sight of the fact that F1 is a constructors' series. The weekend races that are televised is only a small piece of what the sport is all about, that is establishing a team, engineers, mechanics, drivers and building a car from the ground up for the purpose of dominating the rest of the field. From this perspective to see a team like Mercedes accomplish this is exciting because it encapsulates the objective of F1.

If it’s a weekend race that you want to see, cheering a particular driver, then I’d suggest a different formula :mark: .

[henners88]

I've had 25 years supporting drivers rather than teams and have usually found enough in it to enjoy. I know F1 is a team sport, I grew up in an area surrounded by F1 teams so haven't failed to understand this concept either!

Your last sentence suggests you have no idea about sport on British television. What other single seater form of motorsport is shown every other week live and in full which could possibly be a realistic alternative to Formula one? Watch something else or watch another formula doesn't cut it as a reasonable response for this type of discussion.

[schmenke]

Fair enough, but I too have been following F1 for over 25 years now and although I have viewed almost every weekend race, I’ve always more enjoyed observing the development of the teams. It’s this team evolution that sets Formula 1 apart from other series.

And you’re correct, I have no idea about sport on British television as I don’t live there. If the priority of Formula 1 is for the progression of popularity within the British fans, then I apologize for I have completely misunderstood its purpose. I thought F1 was an international sport.

[steveaki13]

I've had 25 years supporting drivers rather than teams and have usually found enough in it to enjoy. I know F1 is a team sport, I grew up in an area surrounded by F1 teams so haven't failed to understand this concept either!

Your last sentence suggests you have no idea about sport on British television. What other single seater form of motorsport is shown every other week live and in full which could possibly be a realistic alternative to Formula one? Watch something else or watch another formula doesn't cut it as a reasonable response for this type of discussion.

I agree Henners. After all surely F1 is a sport because people want to see competition. As much as its great for Mercedes there is no doubt F1 is about fans and generally fans get fed up with F1 like this.

That said I enjoy F1 whatever.

As for other Formula's. As Henners said over here the only other single seat championships you get are Indy car and most others are highlights a week after the event.

Of course there are sports cars which I also follow a few of us here now follow. BTCC, GT and Le Man and Endurance.

[henners88]

Fair enough, but I too have been following F1 for over 25 years now and although I have viewed almost every weekend race, I’ve always more enjoyed observing the development of the teams. It’s this team evolution that sets Formula 1 apart from other series.

We all enjoy seeing the development of the teams, that's a major part of the sport. The drivers championship is still a major pull for fans too and part of it I enjoy the most. I enjoy seeing the best drivers in the world racing against each other and demonstrating their abilities. I don't enjoy seasons so much when the best cars in the world get put on fuel save mode after lap 19 and one of the best drivers in the world walks his championship and declares how difficult it was for PR reasons however.

We enjoy the sport how we see fit and what is good for one person might not be so for another.




And you’re correct, I have no idea about sport on British television as I don’t live there. If the priority of Formula 1 is for the progression of popularity within the British fans, then I apologize for I have completely misunderstood its purpose. I thought F1 was an international sport.
I don't really know how to respond to this sarcastic load of tripe I have to say. You haven't misunderstood the concept of F1, you've completely misunderstood anything I've said. I've never seen this side of you before.


I agree Henners. After all surely F1 is a sport because people want to see competition. As much as its great for Mercedes there is no doubt F1 is about fans and generally fans get fed up with F1 like this.

That said I enjoy F1 whatever.

As for other Formula's. As Henners said over here the only other single seat championships you get are Indy car and most others are highlights a week after the event.

Of course there are sports cars which I also follow a few of us here now follow. BTCC, GT and Le Man and Endurance.
Thanks Steve, it just goes to show F1 is just about the only form of Motorsport given priority here and it's not even the most popular in terms of fan base. It's not as easy as 'just watching something else'. For a country that has such a rich racing heritage, we haven't half pushed them into the shadows for mainstream fans. F1 is heading that way too so in a few years we might not have much choice but to watch something else, possibly not even Motorsport related.

[Mia 01]

As I have for many years I will follow every practice and race in F1.

For me this last race was interesting, the fight between Kimi and Fernando.

[steveaki13]

As I have for many years I will follow every practice and race in F1.

For me this last race was interesting, the fight between Kimi and Fernando.

I agree Mia

[zako85]

Despite the Mercedes domination, I still like this season a lot. Finally we have been treated with some exciting new teammate pairings. It was so boring to watch the static pairings like Alonso-Massa, Vettel-Webber, Rosberg-Schumacher, Barrichello-Maldonado, etc for years. This year we're finally seeing a lot more exciting pairings that pit relative rookies with a lot of promise against far more accomplished senior drivers (as in McLaren, RedBull and Williams) as well as drivers of roughly same vintage with comparable skills (like at Force India and Ferrari).

I also don't discount the possibility of a Red Bull comeback later this year. Adrian Newey always works relentlessly to improve the car during the season. Just remember 2009, 2012 or last year.

[Whyzars]

I couldn't believe the commentary team having orgasms but I guess they are out of a job if F1 turns turtle.

Without doubt the most interesting part of Spain was the body language of the Merc drivers after the race. It looked liked someone caught someone else putting something somewhere.

I must have missed whatever the news was around Nico and Lewis but they certainly didn't seem as chummy as usual.

As for the race they get a point each. I think Lewis has Nico's measure at the moment but Nico will come back. Season will be a nailbiter to the last race.

Ricciardo smiling even though he finished a minute behind the car he was chasing deserves a point. Good Onya Daniel. :)

Vettel rehearsing his moves for Monaco deserves a point. Methinks that Sebastian has sussed that Monte Carlo will be the best time to shine in 2014.

Maldonado definitely deserves a point. He is one driver who doesn't rely on DRS to get past someone.

Alonso and Raikonnen get a point each because they make their Ferrari's look much better than they are. Even though they only have six cylinders they are still Ferrari's.

7 out of 10 and I seriously wonder where F1 would be if it wasn't for DRS position changes.

[baker]

This was a great race. The 2 Merc drivers pushed each other the whole way, finishing less than a second apart. Both Ferraris neck and neck for much of the race despite different strategies and Vettel's drive through the field.

9/10.

[MrJan]

Girls, let’s not lose sight of the fact that F1 is a constructors' series.

I completely disagree.

I've always watched it for drivers rather than teams. Although I have opinions on teams it's always the driver that I support. For example I'm an LH fan but don't really care for McLaren however that didn't stop me wanting Lewis to succeed.

Over here it's certainly always the drivers that get the attention too. In both the mainstream media and the specialist media the news that X driver has won X race or the championship will always trump the news that X team has. F1 is not generally regarded as a team sport at all, and certainly not in the way that rugby or football are. In fact the only motorsport that I watch and follow as a 'team sport' is endurance racing, other than that for me it's all about drivers, whether it's F1, rallying or touring cars.

[henners88]

I completely disagree.

I've always watched it for drivers rather than teams. Although I have opinions on teams it's always the driver that I support. For example I'm an LH fan but don't really care for McLaren however that didn't stop me wanting Lewis to succeed.

Over here it's certainly always the drivers that get the attention too. In both the mainstream media and the specialist media the news that X driver has won X race or the championship will always trump the news that X team has. F1 is not generally regarded as a team sport at all, and certainly not in the way that rugby or football are. In fact the only motorsport that I watch and follow as a 'team sport' is endurance racing, other than that for me it's all about drivers, whether it's F1, rallying or touring cars.
Indeed. I think a team winning is very secondary to a driver even if we take great interest in the team environment our favourite driver works within too. I supported McLaren whilst Lewis was there and now I will support Mercedes. In the past I have supported Williams as a secondary following and think this provides a bit more variety when following the sport. There are no teams I feel particular allegiance to and it will always be drivers first, team second. I don't like limiting my options for enjoying motorsport. :)

[schmenke]

... There are no teams I feel particular allegiance to ...

Nor do I, nor do I necesserily "follow" any one driver. I just (used to) enjoy the sport.