F1 - 2016 Season

I enjoyed the highlights. A good race.

G

I'm still amazed as to how Alonso managed to walk out of that one....

I’ve been a fan of F1 since before the regular TV coverage started. With the help of the odd recorded highlight and/or news item I got my fix in print. I can scarcely believe that in my dotage I’ll be back to just reading about it again.

I wish it was April 1^st. Still, look on the positive side.  In three years’ time I’ll have a choice to pay Sky or abandon watching the races. And choice is freedom. So I’m free to do as I wish. Lucky me, and others I suspect.

Terrestrial telly needs to vote with its feet and televise other formulae. Sooner or later they will get bigger and F1 will have to come with cap in hand. The cycle will take many years but it would come about, just like when Touring Cars were popular because it was on telly every other weekend and you could watch a Volvo estate shunt around with Alfas and BMs. The drivers became well known and it was all good soap opera as well as racing. Unfortunately it started blowing up its own exhaust pipe just as televising F1 got cheaper again, so the cycle shifted once more.

Clearly the drivers are concerned, F1's owners pretend they are but in reality they only care about the next dividend. 

I doubt I will live long enough but I live in hope. Premier League has shown the way. I wish people would refuse to keep being charged more for the same or less over and over again. Sky is ubiquitous round here. People just wouldn't understand my grounds for objection and will (perhaps rightly) think I'm being a bit stupid if I'm as big a fan as I say I am. I suppose I could always sit in with a neighbor. I expect I will in reality get more gardening done.

I remember yellow Volvo 850 Touring around Brands Hatch. More fun than recent F1 races I must say.

I thought the Australian GP was pretty good - for an Australian  GP. I just want to see a good race and I thought we saw  a pretty good one. 

I used to live near Brands Hatch and I well remember those Volvo estates. Hugely entertaining for different reasons.  

Could have sworn the Volvos were blue and white.

BigH47 posted:

Could have sworn the Volvos were blue and white.

That was many moons ago - early 90-ies.... . I've probably made that yellow colour up based on the road-going version of the T5 in 'bannana yellow'

BigH47 posted:

Could have sworn the Volvos were blue and white.

They were. Used to go to Snetterton quite regularly when i was at Uni and see these in action in the touring car series. Great racing. 

BigH47 posted:

Could have sworn the Volvos were blue and white.

The ones I saw were.

Classic Sniff Petrol page, sums up the present situation nicely:- 

http://sniffpetrol.com/2016/03...letter/#.VvOwzBKLTOF

"Sky have announced that they will exclusively show all the races while the British GP, together with highlights of all other races and qualifying sessions, will be shown on a 'free-to-air' basis."

This doesn't sound so bad. Providing Sky's interpretation of "free to air" is the same as the rest of us. 

I read that the Sky FTA race, the British GP, will be shown on a dedicated FTA channel, or possibly unlocked to Sky1 channel.

It will also be shown through I believe via LiveView, the over the air digital channels through your TV (as I think Sky News is) plus other outlets. 

Sky F1 is an over packaged filler fest IMHO. I read figures for CH4 2.7milion Sky F1 700,000, but this race was live very early doors of course being in Aus.

Better than nothing. 

Looks like qualifying will revert to the old system starting from the Chinese race.  Its reported that all the teams have voted against it.  Plus the public criticism.

I noted on the BBC 5Live sports news last weekend that the result of the Bahrain GP came after the football, cricket, Rugby League and even womens cycling results. A reflection of current interest in the sport diminishing?

BBC TV obviously no longer have the same level of interest but the 5Live still covers the race live on radio. For how much longer?

Bruce

C4 coverage could use someone with a bit more gravitas to anchor their coverage. The only one's bearable are Lee & Karun.

G

You may well be right Bruce,  & on a number of fronts.    BBC have opted out,  OK fine no problems they too have their own budget problems & giving silly money to F1 when a many of the population have a Sky package & prefer it to BBC (as it was & C4 is now) & more so as each Sky race is broadcast live.    

 Circuit ticket pricing seems to have reached the limit,  the F1 "host" fee seems to be one of the problems together with the various standards & safety controls, all adding to ticket pricing & now it seems a pushback is running around Europe - & forget the mideast & new country circuits, they are for ex-pats, the local idle rich & are Bernie's cash cow & bribery circuits.     However I see the most popular sections of Silverstone are sold out already.    

The other issue is the spectacle of the race itself,  apart from the start & some (sometimes) periods of close wheel to wheel racing,  the majority of the race is a procession, not great for watching on TV or at the circuit.  The tactical & technical detail might be interesting for some & in that respect TV is the only way to really appreciate that aspect of the race;  but a pit stop is not car racing is it.     The FIA has some challenges,  maybe the cost of the technology/power/speed is the issue & it's reached a point where the broadcast cmpy's & Joe Public is no longer willing to pay more - add infinitum.  .......  But deep down the interest in F1 & car (& m.bike) racing is probably not diminished as such,     

Proper Qualifying  ............  Whoopee !!!

Hamilton will start at the back of the grid.  He already had a 5-place grid penalty because of an unscheduled gearbox change –but  did not complete any qualifying laps because of ERS problems. 

Massa, Alonso, Button, Grosjean did not make from Q2.  Shame as Alonso looked like he was going well until the session was stopped on a red flag with 1:17 left.

Pole is  ..........  Rosberg, Ricciardo, Raikkonen & Vettel 4th      The Mercedes was a full 0.5 sec faster

Thanks for the reminder. I forgot that this was a racing weekend, must be a wake tomorrow morning. 

Shame for the McLarens they were both looking to get into Q3.

Should be good watching Lewis came through the field, assuming they fix his car.

Only a bit damp in China, my son reports the Qualifying at Silverstone for the WEC was cancelled for snow.

Huge posted:

They should drop football instead...

That would probably save all of the £150M, and it's already substantially covered by the commercial channels.  It would even allow the ITC to give the commercials permission to show more football (which would suit them as they profit from the advertising).

For the BBC, football is a vanity project as it's very expensive and they don't get any commercial benefit.

The football gives the BBC lots of games to cover so they can fill a few slots every single week.  F1 gives you a single 'race' every two or three weeks so I don't really think the beeb has made the wrong decision here.

More generally, looking at the new halo and wind shields on these cars, F1 has disappeared up it's own arse of health and safety risk aversion.  I predict, at this rate, that a few decades in the future, driver-less cars will be flying round the circuits with drivers sat in front of big screens or wearing virtual reality helmets controlling them with their Playstation 42 controllers.

It's time corporate sponsors and their cheque books departed from F1 and rolled up to races like the Northwest 200. A race where there is real excitement, skill and courage. A race where you can see exactly what the riders are doing and can appreciate their skills.