Yas Marina looks amazing! Who do you think will win?

I'm no objector to new circuits but dislike the general dreariness of the new street circuits. I think visually as a spectator Yas Marina was great, however I can't help feeling it must be incredibly dull as a driver to see nothing but tarmac and barriers for up to 2 hours, especially at Singapore and Valencia. Places like Spa are wide open tracks where you can see the driver in front seconds ahead of you. Its only my experience of racing games but I tend to up the pace when I can see the guy in front as a speck in the distance.

First, about Babel and Babylon, I am pretty sure that it is the same town. IMO this is another religious trashing of one great ancient culture (like the myth about the plagues which hit Egypt), and a myth which teaches humans to be sheep, but I guess that this is a topic for other discussions, so I'll leave it. The racing topic is interesting enough, after all. Some of the points K-Pu made are very good, but in my opinion we shouldn't choose between Spa and Abu Dhabi - we can have both. Also, for Abu Dhabi, all tickets were sold, from what i heard, so it is not true that it is not successful. I think, although I am not entirely sure, that Singapore was also very successful. The Spanish races struggled really, but I do think that this is because Alonso was not in an competitive car. Had the Spaniard been able to fight for the win, I think that the grandstands would have been full. About the fact which track is interesting and which is not, that obviously is a matter of taste, but I love Marinas. Don't get me wrong, I'd too choose Spa over Abu Dhabi or Singapore (not over Monaco, though), but I'll happily have the Marina tracks over Hungaroring, Sakhir, Sepang, Istanbul Park or even Barcelona. My opinion is that the racing is hurt more from aero than from tracks. The GP2 races in Abu Dhabi was super. The F1 race was a snorefest. But it was exactly the same snorefest as Silverstone, IMO. So the track is not to blame and also we can not realistically expect every race to be a cracker. Sometimes one team is just very well prepared and dominates, the others are simply well prepared and duly follow. I bet than a final caution would have spiced the race, but do we want this? I think not, I actually think that we want a fantasy sport in which every lap is like Star Wars podracing, but this can't really happen. And for what was many years before, well I have never seen it, but I have read many opinion that every era had its own share of dull races. This is a sport, not a movie. Sometimes we have dull races or even dull seasons. But with stunning fast cars and a beautiful track I can enjoy even a dull season.

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Originally Posted by Saint Devote

Yas Marina is crass, ostentatious and ugly. If ever there has been a statement that shows the sport has become more about the overfed and overpaid people of f1 then this is it.

Stupid statements by the idiot f1 journalists at Autosport saying that this is THE BEST grand prix EVER only confirm how disgusting the sport has become.

Is this what we want as fans? A grand prix in the middle of nowhere in a place that cares NOTHING about motor racing and exists only because money is no object - courtesy of petro-dollars.

Just thinking about this so-called racing circuit raises my ire. It disgusts me. And if this is what Bernie sees as the future of f1 then I will for the first time stand against him.

And if they had shown one more shot during the grand prix of scruffy unshaven, greasy men in white sheet-like robes I would have thrown up. Was that Nicholas Todt unshaven in a white sheet walking with Massa or am I mistaken??

And yes I DO object to holding grands prix in places that view women as second class citizens.

This, as much as China and Bahrain and Malaysia is f1's disgrace.

This is what we get in place of the great circuits of the world? A serenade of dictatorships?

F1 is becoming the disgraceful sport with its god, money as its only goal.

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just so you know, Europe and much of the west still treat women as second class citizen's with unequal pay compensations and more.

you come of sounding like someone with a serious problem that has little to do with sports. And this isn;t the first time either that you have injected your own shallow world views into a discussion about sports. Ever the more sensitive you should be based on the flag you waive in your profile. So I suggest you leave the politics and rude comments about people's appearances out of these discussions quickly.

This post is a new low.

I personally like to see new circuits in any form of motorsport and Yas Marina is no exception. It is a fantastic track but hey, no track will ever live up to Spa and Nurburgrings sweeping forests, and we have to come to grips with that.

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Originally Posted by truefan72

just so you know, Europe and much of the west still treat women as second class citizen's with unequal pay compensations and more.

you come of sounding like someone with a serious problem that has little to do with sports. And this isn;t the first time either that you have injected your own shallow world views into a discussion about sports. Ever the more sensitive you should be based on the flag you waive in your profile. So I suggest you leave the politics and rude comments about people's appearances out of these discussions quickly.

This post is a new low.

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Formula one has double standards - there was a time when South Africa was excluded because of apartheid.

I am against nations having grands prix that are fundamentally opposed to every Western principle. And there are unfortunately too many in f1 today that hold grands prix.

And looking at the geographic map where races are held, calling it a WORLD championship has become a name not the reality.

No grand prix in North America - Canada is not at all confirmed - and two in the despotic part of the mid-east with races in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi is just the most laughable situation if it were not the way it is.

And regardless of the above the Yas Marina circuit would not impress me. It reminds me of corporations with more form than substance. They too have opulent surroundings, gawdy and crass demonstrations with gimmicks galore.

Because there is nothing there and ultimately it fails.

You may not like what I say, but that is my observation, how I see it and nothing more.

You have introduced politics into this discussion not I - I discuss ethics and it does offend me that a capitalist sport like formula 1 is held in places that hate capitalists and the nations they come from.

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Originally Posted by wedge

I'm all for a world championship but why stick with Tilke-dromes?

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Bernie wants it that way. You as a fan are not important. As long as he can fill 50,000 seats - anywhere - and get paid, with tv rights to follow, he will.

Sadly we are indeed looking at a time where there will maybe only be a race in Europe at Monte Carlo [with wannbees and can never bees such as Yas Marina pretending that they can compete with Monte Carlo] and Monza.

The rest scattered amongst countries that the US State Department has on a "travel warning" list!

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Originally Posted by MakinenLoeb

I personally like to see new circuits in any form of motorsport and Yas Marina is no exception. It is a fantastic track but hey, no track will ever live up to Spa and Nurburgrings sweeping forests, and we have to come to grips with that.

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It did not have to be this way. The prblems began when the aerodynamicists got hold of the sport. The cars became unable to handle the great circuits.

The real racing drivers would accept the challenge of the old circuits gladly and the fans would applaud in joy.

After the Japanese Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg made a fan of me. He was asked about how "dangerous" Suzuka had become and the comments by that little girl named Mark Webber who always bleats like a wounded sheep.

He dismissed that Suzuka was dangerous and commented that "nobody got killed" and that they should learn to drive properly. His father must have been so very proud. I was.

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Originally Posted by Saint Devote

I am against nations having grands prix that are fundamentally opposed to every Western principle. And there are unfortunately too many in f1 today that hold grands prix.

And looking at the geographic map where races are held, calling it a WORLD championship has become a name not the reality.

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But then you want then a Western Championship, not a World one.

I'm confused here: What is a Western Principle?

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Originally Posted by Valve Bounce

I'm confused here: What is a Western Principle?

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Capitalism, imperialism, alcoholism and fornication? All the good things in life basically... :s mokin: