Formula 1 2017

[evilwebby]

Season start is still a couple of months away, but no reason not to start the 2017 thread as there is plenty to talk about.

What do we make of the off-season so far?

Bottas has been confirmed as the new Merc driver. I personally rate him pretty highly. It was never going to be Wehrlein, was it?
He seemed to get a bit stale at Williams in the last couple of seasons after he was linked with Ferrari but they decided to stick with Raikkonen, but I think that we have seen enough flashes of talent in a dog of a Williams that he will prove a lot of doubters wrong.

 

[Chewbacca]

Cars look miles better

 

[tommye]

Good driver Bottas. Likes a scrap as well. Could be interesting if he can get a grip of the car early.

 

[longers]

and its official...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/38723001

if his leadership skills are as good as his moustache grooming then F1 is in safe hands

 

[The binman chronicles]

and its official...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/38723001

Lets have a little sing along....(opens up with a virtuoso piano solo)

Ding dong the poison dwarf is dead...

 

[edge]

Boring like watching paint dry, fella gets in the fastest car goes to the front , stays there mostly others follow behind like a funeral procession
Then the commentators rabbit on for hours just waiting for cars to pull up get new tyres on and fill up, may as well hang around the local kwik fit if that's your idea of entertainment.

 

[peteblue]

I'm for Scottish Independence........

 

[Kantareller]

Too much tyre and fuel saving the last few seasons. Don't think it will be different but let's see.

 

[evilwebby]

Boring like watching paint dry, fella gets in the fastest car goes to the front , stays there mostly others follow behind like a funeral procession
Then the commentators rabbit on for hours just waiting for cars to pull up get new tyres on and fill up, may as well hang around the local kwik fit if that's your idea of entertainment.

..and football's just a game where the 22 guys run around chasing a ball and the same teams always win... may as well just watch it down the local rec'.

The changing of the guard at the top will be a good thing for F1. For too long now Bernie has not really understood his core audience and has chased the big money races to the detriment of the sport and its heritage.
In the 80s it was easy - F1 was new to TV and there was no pre-conception of how a race should play out. Today, you are trying to sell to an audience that is at the same time both more sophisticated and completely clueless.

Looking forward to the new season. Instead of knocking the new cars, I say they're exactly what we need at this time. F1 cars should look sleek and aggressive, not awkwardly designed to fit around a set of regulations that are designed specifically to slow them down.

 

[Philw]

and its official...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/38723001

if his leadership skills are as good as his moustache grooming then F1 is in safe hands

Lets have a little sing along....(opens up with a virtuoso piano solo)

Ding dong the poison dwarf is dead...

Got rid of Bernie already apparently!! Surprised by that, thought he would have been involved for a while, but glad! Going to be interesting to see what happens in the future. Should see some of the European tracks back, and possibly another one in the US.

 

[The binman chronicles]

Got rid of Bernie already apparently!! Surprised by that, thought he would have been involved for a while, but glad! Going to be interesting to see what happens in the future. Should see some of the European tracks back, and possibly another one in the US.

To be fair I don't mind Bernie, he did is best. Obviously he was employed by CVC to make money and he did that. He was always going to be too old school to keep up with times though.

Like you say, hopefully this will mean Silverstone is safe and maybe we can get a few classics back like Imola. If they can reduce ticket prices and get f1 back off pay TV even better, but I doubt that will happen now.

 

[Dylan]

To be fair I don't mind Bernie, he did is best. Obviously he was employed by CVC to make money and he did that. He was always going to be too old school to keep up with times though.

Like you say, hopefully this will mean Silverstone is safe and maybe we can get a few classics back like Imola. If they can reduce ticket prices and get f1 back off pay TV even better, but I doubt that will happen now.

Hmm, didn't he have a large interest in CVC?

And I think that he eschewed tradition in the pursuit of the almighty $$$ was a big downfall. I wouldn't call him old school.....I would call him greedy, only thinking about the bank balance rather than the health of the sport.

 

[The binman chronicles]

Hmm, didn't he have a large interest in CVC?

And I think that he eschewed tradition in the pursuit of the almighty $$$ was a big downfall. I wouldn't call him old school.....I would call him greedy, only thinking about the bank balance rather than the health of the sport.

Yes I would guess him to be a shareholder but as per Ron Dennis, even large shareholders can be booted out and CVC have tried in the past to move him aside. I guess we will never know to what percentage the tail was wagging the dog or vice versa.

I would say CVC probably wanted more profits and Bernie started taking the show to countries with questionable morals. That's not to say I think he is whiter than white though, far from it.

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

I've never cared for F1 if I'm honest

My main abiding memory of it was when Michael Schumacher deliberately crashed into Damon Hill and cost him the title, in one of the most blatant displays of poor sportsmanship I've ever seen, so much so that I almost admired it for it's sheer brazenness lol

I know he says it was an accident, but I'm not buying it

Aside from that I haven't ever really watched it. I can understand why people like it, but it's not for me

 

[Brendan Janus]

Joke sport, is it a sport, or a pastime !!