F1 Racing

[BarbGHG]

What are they thinking at Indy and elsewhere in the USA? F1 is the only motorsport that requires that the driver actually steer the car! Thus, driving talent is needed. The Indy courses that just go round and round in an oval are really dull to watch. We started enjoying F1 back in the 1950's at Watkins Glen when AJ Foyt was racing. :confused:

[kalasend]

"I like turtles"


http://www.break.com/index/most-insightful-interview-ever.html

[trumperZ06]

What are they thinking at Indy and elsewhere in the USA? F1 is the only motorsport that requires that the driver actually steer the car! Thus, driving talent is needed. The Indy courses that just go round and round in an oval are really dull to watch. We started enjoying F1 back in the 1950's at Watkins Glen when AJ Foyt was racing. :confused:

;) Hhmmm... there's a lot better "racing" to watch than sitting in the stands at Indy... watching the Formula 1 parade.

We have the ALMS series, Speed World Cup, even Grand Sham, the odd NA$CAR race... as well as SCCA events all held on road courses...

Such as:

Sebring

VIR

Road Atlanta

Barber

Laguna Seca

Miller Sports Park

Road America

Walkins Glen

and others !!!

:D The american race fan... doesn't need Formula 1... we have ample opportunities to see true road racing... in series with much closer action.

:p : Bernie's Dumb A$$ actions... will hurt Formula 1 sponsors...

much more than it's going to hurt the average American race fan.

[-Helix-]

What are they thinking at Indy and elsewhere in the USA? F1 is the only motorsport that requires that the driver actually steer the car! Thus, driving talent is needed. The Indy courses that just go round and round in an oval are really dull to watch. We started enjoying F1 back in the 1950's at Watkins Glen when AJ Foyt was racing. :confused:

No track in the U.S. is willing to pay a Eurocentric series to put on their overrated parades. So don't expect there to be another United States Grand Prix for some time.

But I don't think anyone will care anyway. The USGP was always pretty bad anyway. I'd much rather watch the Indy 500 or even a NASCRAP race at Indy.

I would LOVE if A1GP added an American date though. Forget F1 if that ever happened. A1GP at Road America or Laguna Seca please!

[truefan72]

;) Hhmmm... there's a lot better "racing" to watch than sitting in the stands at Indy... watching the Formula 1 parade.

We have the ALMS series, Speed World Cup, even Grand Sham, the odd NA$CAR race... as well as SCCA events all held on road courses...

Such as:

Sebring

VIR

Road Atlanta

Barber

Laguna Seca

Miller Sports Park

Road America

Walkins Glen

and others !!!

:D The american race fan... doesn't need Formula 1... we have ample opportunities to see true road racing... in series with much closer action.

:p : Bernie's Dumb A$$ actions... will hurt Formula 1 sponsors...

much more than it's going to hurt the average American race fan.

We don't need F1 but we would love to have F1. To me it is the pinicle of racing. I am not content at watching 2nd division football just 'cause it has 22 playes kicking the ball. There is a whole different level of quality and fanfare that surrounds F1. The stakes are higher and IMO more meaningful. Just watching racing because it's racing is too pure for me. I rarily see the other series and really don't find them that interesting.

[trumperZ06]

We don't need F1 but we would love to have F1. To me it is the pinicle of racing. I am not content at watching 2nd division football just 'cause it has 22 playes kicking the ball. There is a whole different level of quality and fanfare that surrounds F1. The stakes are higher and IMO more meaningful. Just watching racing because it's racing is too pure for me. I rarily see the other series and really don't find them that interesting.

Yep... we liked (past tense) the cutting edge technology that we have seen in Formula 1. With the current rules the FIA has dumbed down developement... and the pending rules are even worse.

:D Try following the ALMS series this year...

There is nothing second division with the action in LMP2 between Porsche and Acura, and this makes for mighty fine racing. Technicially, both brands are pushing the "State of the Art" in engine & chassis developement too.

[ShiftingGears]

Watkins Glen please Bernie! (Don't neuter it though)

[Breeze]

What are they thinking at Indy and elsewhere in the USA? F1 is the only motorsport that requires that the driver actually steer the car! Thus, driving talent is needed. :confused:

:confused: :confused: :confused:
Ever heard of Champ Car? Seems those drivers have to steer with their hands AND THEIR FEET!!! That's why Sebatien Bourdais will actually stand a chance in a Torro Rosso car in 2008 when TC goes away in F1.

[johnny shell]

very very few americans follow F1. I've been to the USGP at Indy most of its years and it looked like the croud was close to 50% foreigners to me.

That's why for the most part you have to have digital cable (not regular cable) or a satelite dis or something to watch all but four of the races.

Champ Car and the Indy Racing League aren't much more followed. but atl least you can watch them on regular cable or even broadcast television.

[Crypt]

:confused: :confused: :confused:
Ever heard of Champ Car? Seems those drivers have to steer with their hands AND THEIR FEET!!! That's why Sebatien Bourdais will actually stand a chance in a Torro Rosso car in 2008 when TC goes away in F1.

I don't watch Champ, but I saw Bourdais at LeMans and was VERY impressed.

[philipbain]

I watch pretty much anything with 4 wheels that can be classed as racing and I often feel that oval racing is totally misunderstood by many people that consider road racing to be the norm.

For a start oval racing requires insane levels of bravery and faith that the car will behave like it should and that the car will hold together, as Nigel Mansell said, if you have an accident on a oval its never going to be small. Also car setup is everything, a handling inbalance isnt just inconvenient, it can be plain dangerous and I have seen no end of times when fully functioning cars have a been retired due to being undrivable in oval races, hence ovals reward drivers and engineers that are knowledgable about how the different perameters of the car setup alter handling. Ovals appear to be featureless but due to the high speed nature of them the slightest bump or camber change can manifest it's self into being very significant, but the main feature of ovals is traffic. As ovals used for series such as NASCAR and Indycar are typically between 1 and 2 miles long and the speeds are so high even the slightest of speed variations between the front and back of the grid will result in a lot of passing of traffic which on an ovalprovides a real test as cars are not obliged to move over and let the leaders through as they are in road races, hence car often have to think ahead on how the traffic will move on the track and take the correct line accordingly, Nigel Mansell was especially good at this in his Indycar days.

In summary oval racing isnt just a case of easing the car around a bowl with your foot to the floor and F1 isnt the "only discipline that requires drive to steer" - there are many categories out there where i's say that the cars are harder to drive than F1, but for strength in depth talent wise F1 is still the best as it's the top of the tree, simple as that, it definately doesnt mean that its the most difficult to drive though!!!

[wmcot]

What are they thinking at Indy and elsewhere in the USA?

They're thinking, "I'm tired of getting ripped off by Bernie Ecclestone!"
I agree with several of the other posters on this thread. As much as I like F1, there are far more exciting races in the US to watch that don't cost a fortune to go to in person if you want.

I went to the USGP in 2004 and enjoyed it immensely. Then the American LeMans Series came to Salt Lake City and I've found a whole new level of great road racing. You don't see 4 classes of cars on the track competing in 4 separate races at the same time in F1! You want to see overtaking? Watch the ALMS series! I was actually able to talk to some of the drivers on the grid (no special celebrity status needed) and asked Allan McNish which form of racing he preferred. He said that he would much rather drive ALMS than F1! You could see how much he enjoys it! Mika Salo was very much the same way. This year, Jan Magnussen spoke the same about ALMS. When is the last time an average guy talked to the drivers on an F1 grid??? When is the last time you saw parents and little kids standing right next to the actual race car in the actual pitlane getting their picture taken with an F1 team? When did you last see an F1 driver let a little kid wearing an oxygen tank sit in the driver's seat of an F1 car?

I still enjoy F1 and will miss it, but I don't need it and obviously it doesn't need me!!!!! :(

[call_me_andrew]

That's why for the most part you have to have digital cable (not regular cable) or a satelite dis or something to watch all but four of the races.

If I've said it once, I've said it 1,000 times: SPEED is NOT a digital channel!


I watch pretty much anything with 4 wheels that can be classed as racing and I often feel that oval racing is totally misunderstood by many people that consider road racing to be the norm.

For a start oval racing requires insane levels of bravery and faith that the car will behave like it should and that the car will hold together, as Nigel Mansell said, if you have an accident on a oval its never going to be small. Also car setup is everything, a handling inbalance isnt just inconvenient, it can be plain dangerous and I have seen no end of times when fully functioning cars have a been retired due to being undrivable in oval races, hence ovals reward drivers and engineers that are knowledgable about how the different perameters of the car setup alter handling. Ovals appear to be featureless but due to the high speed nature of them the slightest bump or camber change can manifest it's self into being very significant, but the main feature of ovals is traffic. As ovals used for series such as NASCAR and Indycar are typically between 1 and 2 miles long and the speeds are so high even the slightest of speed variations between the front and back of the grid will result in a lot of passing of traffic which on an ovalprovides a real test as cars are not obliged to move over and let the leaders through as they are in road races, hence car often have to think ahead on how the traffic will move on the track and take the correct line accordingly, Nigel Mansell was especially good at this in his Indycar days.

In summary oval racing isnt just a case of easing the car around a bowl with your foot to the floor and F1 isnt the "only discipline that requires drive to steer" - there are many categories out there where i's say that the cars are harder to drive than F1, but for strength in depth talent wise F1 is still the best as it's the top of the tree, simple as that, it definately doesnt mean that its the most difficult to drive though!!!

I don't have anything to say to that. I just thought it was the most intelligent post here and deserved to be posted again.

If one form of racing were easy, no one would ever get paid for doing it.

Hell, even drag racing requires you to steer the car.