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

I wish theyd remove the chicane before the hairpin leading to long straight. That would add another place to overtake.

Well, maybe theres not enough runoff area in the hairpin...

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Originally Posted by ArrowsFA1

Does this look like an F1 paddock to you?

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FFS....

whose to blame for the luxury villas? Team bosses or Bernie?

Are they there to go racing or speculating the price of crude oil?

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Originally Posted by ArrowsFA1

http://www.autosport.com/gallery/pic...345034_HiRes-2

Does this look like an F1 paddock to you?

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and what exactly should one look like?

it is perfectly suited for its environment and blends nicely.

Why are you so adamant about not liking the track. I think it is more jealousy than anything else. I'm no fan of tilke, but this track is probably his best work to date.

It's a big world out there, and no one needs to conform to a narrow view of what things should look like based on a westernized ideal. Good for them, they have an F1 track and a spot on the calendar. Time to deal with it.

I'm sure that you ill have plenty of negative things to say once S. Korea rolls around next year.

I'm not trying to have a go at you, but it just seems like you are trying hard not to like the track rather than simply embracing it as addition to the variety that makes F1 a golbal series.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wedge

FFS....

whose to blame for the luxury villas? Team bosses or Bernie?

Are they there to go racing or speculating the price of crude oil?

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...see post above

Quote:

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Originally Posted by truefan72

and what exactly should one look like?

it is perfectly suited for its environment and blends nicely.

Why are you so adamant about not liking the track. I think it is more jealousy than anything else. I'm no fan of tilke, but this track is probably his best work to date.

It's a big world out there, and no one needs to conform to a narrow view of what things should look like based on a westernized ideal. Good for them, they have an F1 track and a spot on the calendar. Time to deal with it.

I'm sure that you ill have plenty of negative things to say once S. Korea rolls around next year.

I'm not trying to have a go at you, but it just seems like you are trying hard not to like the track rather than simply embracing it as addition to the variety that makes F1 a golbal series.

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I think that reason is that some oldschool F1 fans do not like street courses as they tend to be decided in the pit and not with on track overtaking. But for me overtaking is no big deal, I like Monaco-like street venues and definetly prefer a strategy battle like Valencia then snorefest on a "classic track" a.k.a. Silverstone 09 /although I believe that Silverstone should stay in F1/.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by truefan72

and what exactly should one look like?

it is perfectly suited for its environment and blends nicely.

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Totally agree :up: My point in showing was that there is no other paddock like it in F1, and I didn't think it even looked like an F1 paddock. Thats all :s mokin:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by truefan72

Why are you so adamant about not liking the track.

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The track? I haven't commented on the track directly as we haven't seen any on-track action yet. I have said the location is stunning and the circuit facilities are second to none.

Tilke has built very impressive circuits - Turkey being one - but the main aim of many new venues like we are seeing this weekend seems to be as a promotional tool. Now that may impress a lot of people, particularly the VIP's doing business in the air-conditioned paddock, in the first year, but after that there have been venues - was it Bahrain where spectator numbers were reportedly around the 5,000 mark - where interest fades away.

I do wonder what some of these new venues will look like, and be used for, in 20yrs time. In some ways F1 has become like the bidding process for the Olympics, and all that a winning bid entails.

It looks stunning, certainly, but I'll judge Yas Marina on Sunday afternoon once I've seen an actual race. All the money in the world can't necessarily produce good racing (see Bahrain or China for example) whereas sometime a complete dump can conjure up not only some amazing action but also a phenomenal atmosphere (see Interlagos, Silverstone).

I am struggling to see the comparison with Monaco. Grand Prix racing went to Monaco because someone thought that the roads would offer a great driver challenge, with elevation changes and corners with a variety of radii and camber. The location what just an added bonus.

This grand prix is about the location, does not have elevation changes and does not have corners with a variety of radii and camber.

It's not looking promising so far, near the end of first practice. The biggest problem for me is that the track is far too forgiving of errors, the massive runoffs don't punish drivers nearly enough.

Still, early days.

Hamilton and Button trading fastest laps at the moment, it would be nice if that carries on all weekend :D

first impressions;

The track looks amazing, the drivers seemed to have adapted quiickly and the pit exit as I predicted isn't a problem.

I look forward to the day to night practice session to see the place light up. I hope the race will be exciting.