1. The gap from Vettel to Webber has seemed to widen. Suggesting that Vettel has certainly improved over the last year. It could also be because team orders have been made legal and RB are hindering Webber but I do think Vettel has improved since Belgium 2010 and is a much better driver. I want to see him have a real fight with Hamilton & Alonso to measure just how far he has come. 2. Massa is no closer to Alonso than last year. But then I think Massa was pretty close to him until the infamous German race. He is a lot closer than post Germany but around the same as to where he was last year. In Bahrain 10 he outqualified Alonso by 0.7 secs. Don't write off Massa, I think he has a chance of keeping his seat at Ferrari for at least another year. 3. Hamilton is still a class above Button. He seems to be 0.5 secs a lap faster but Button certainly pushes him hard. 4. New commentary team are fantastic, my only gripe is I'd like more excitement during big moments of the race! 5. Buemi has stepped up a fair bit. Alguersauri has been nowhere near him at times. Red Bull next year?
My thoughts are, even though we have a german once again dominating the sport! it seems to not be a problem this time as we have exciting events happening behind him. Its like I dont care who wins anymore as long as its a good race welcome to the forum btw
I'm interested to see what Ferrari do with their drivers next season. They're not going to have Vettel/Kubica/Hamilton type there if they keep Alonso because he'll veto any move, anyone with any ambition won't want to play second fiddle to him, which means the only driver they can replace Massa with is another Massa. In which case they might as well stick with Massa who's familiar with the team. I think their line up will be exactly the same, or they'll replace both. I'd like to see Kubica and Kobayashi driving for them
I think how gruntled RBR keep Webber this year could play a part in whether Massa keeps his seat next season. I think Webber's a much better Massa than Massa, I think there are links between Webber and Alonso in management terms, I think Alonso could handle Webber but Webber would still push him and the team, and I think only a potential challenger to RBR would appeal to Webber. I'm not sure Vettel's improved significantly. I think he's maybe more confident - now he knows rather than just believes. I would like to see a few qualifying gremlins or the odd first corner spin to see how he recovers but I'm not expecting it.
My thoughts- Love coverage in HD. Commentators very good. Tyres are now such a pain - like pitstops used to almost determine the result. Where are the driver skills - its press this press that..... good job we have an engineered ability to produce overtaking else - BORING. I really want to see more even racing - RBs are just too good.
Every team gets the same tyres and the same allocation of tyres, if a team get an advantage because of better usage of their tyres then they deserve it.
The difference is the tyre stats/strategy determines the result not so much the driver skill. Why not produce a standard car for all teams - do a team paint job on each, and have the drivers draw lots for the grid.
If RBR favour Vettel then Moaner Mark has only himself to blame for his constant sniping at his own team all last season and during the close season. Who will be the best of the rest is gonna supply the excitement this season because Vettel will surely be WDC again,
I'm not sure Webber's attitude, or indeed his abilities, influenced any decision to formalise the link between driver, designer and team. Webber's sarky comments were probably made in reaction to a favouritism he perceived long before we were made aware of it. I've told you a million times - don't exaggerate. As daft ideas go, though, I've always liked the one about rotating the drivers for each race, giving each driver a go in each car. Surely that would open up the 'best driver/car' arguments greatly?
It's not too bad at the moment because last year was exciting as well as this year. But I think the patience will run out if he dominates more and more. But I do think McLaren & Ferrari will catch RB this season so hopefully LH and FA keep close enough to SV for a thrilling finale! Thank you!!
…Because it would not be Grand Prix racing. I understand your thinking Bergkamp and I share some of the thought about artificiality. But in its present guise, it is still a double competition combining driver and machine, and as such will maintain its prominent position at the pinnacle of motor-sport with top money, top sponsorship, top designers and (mostly) top drivers, commanding the top global audience in motorsport and being second only to Association Football. Nothing is perfect but most agree that on the whole these artificial 'improvements' have worked and global audience figures reflect this. Bear in mind that Grand Prix racing has to find this appeal, even if the purists such as you and I feel that it is becoming cheapened by gimmickry and would continue to be interested regardless.
It's called A1, it's ****. The whole point of F1 is that it is a team sport, it requires so much more than simply a good driver, there are so many other variables. Yes, a good driver is all very well and good, but with a crap engineer, he won't do anything. The holy trinity of perfect driver, perfect engineer and perfect strategist is so hard to come by, but when they do, they absolutely wipe the floor with everybody else. I'd love to see Kubica, Newey and Brawn in one team
A1 was a good idea, but it fell apart. I don't think the business plan worked at all, and was completely reliant on the input of someone rich. Sponsorship didn't work brilliantly, as all the cars were the same, there wasn't a dominant team companies would want to sponsor, and the viewing figures weren't brilliant. A surprising number of F1 and ex-F1 drivers competed in it though.
I'm sure its not just me but I like the cars being different. In an ideal world we'd have one which is fast in a straight line, one that has good aero grip and one with good mechanical grip, but overall fairly well matched. Have them playing cat and mouse round a lap of a circuit. Variation is all good with me
Loving it already, all the rest are crying and moaning that the WDC is already lost even though the rest of it is just as good as the 2010 season. Fact is, if either Alonso or Lewis were dominating they would be acting just like me and laughing at the other side. Vettel needs to win 7-8 races before I say it's pretty much over. No ONE! driver can get 1st that many times, and only if vettel retires an equal amount for the remaining season
It's interesting, outside of the dominant Red Bull's. Really enjoying the midfield battles and the battle for 2nd, 3rd and 4th behind the Bulls. Mercedes seem to have improved and Ferrari seem to be doing a few things to make the car better overall. McLaren need to step it up a bit, although they are doing well considering the torrid time they had in testing before the season started. Lotus Renault and Sauber really interest me though I really think given the right upgrades they could break through next season.
Team Lotus have impressed me a lot. They've probably worked the hardest out of all the teams on the grid. Hopefully one more season, and they'll be fighting with the likes of Force India for points - now that would be interesting! Theres a lot of teams in the midfield. (could but Renault and Mercedes as the front runners), so how they manage to score points regualy is amazing for them. I like that there are a lot less accidentds this year, to a certain extent. Its a shame though that all the drivers don't have the urgency on the forst corner that they had beofre, because other opportunities arise later, thanks to DRS. Which is why I think it should go. Surely the drivers should be making the most of every overtaking opportunity. If they pass someone early on, wouldn't it save some duration in the tyres for the rest of their stint? Finally, the BBC commentary is faaaantastic! The only minr problem I have is that Brundle needs to work on what he says at the start of the race maybe he should make his own catchphrase, like Murray Walker's 'GO GO GO!'
