Is anyone as excited as I am for the new F1 season?

[Muusers]

Gonna be an exciting year with all the new and old drivers coming back. New point system, no more refuelling, top 10 qualifiers have to use the same tyres on the race, front tyre width decreased, no KERS this year, 26 cars instead of 24 cars, etc. etc. Gonna be real interesting what Schumi is gonna do this year, but personally I'm rooting for Kobayashi. That guy is insane!

[CrispyDelicious]

Izzat like Nascar, r somethin'? Ya'll don't wear a purse do ya?

[Muusers]

Oh, don't get me started on NASCAR.

[CrispyDelicious]

Originally Posted by Muusers

Oh, don't get me started on NASCAR.

Oh, but you see, I did!

[FL Knifemaker]

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

Oh, but you see, I did!

Yes you did!! I saw it!!!

I'll watch F1 when possible. I enjoy it. It's a great way to start off the day, before the real racing starts

[DeluxeRed]

F1 is great, and I'm looking forward to the season. I haven't checked-out too much of the advance stuff, so I don't have all the line-ups down yet. I wish they had kept with KERS and refined that a bit--F1 belongs on the cutting edge.

For anyone not really familiar with F1, the thing that distinguishes it from all other forms of racing is that the main rule in F1 is You Must Build Your Own Car. No buying a frame here and a lump there and goin' NASCARing. This is serious business by serious constructors.

The Ferrari F1 car is, pound for pound, the most expensive device ever built. That's commitment. The apocryphal anecdote I have heard is that Ferrari reports $10M in income to Fiat, and they spend the rest on racing. Now, since they earned about $750M on $1.1B in sales, that's a pretty big budget.

This is the pinicle of engineering and manufacturing. If you have any interest in either, you should check-out F1. Ok, check it out for the Grid Girls, but stay for the tech...

Clapton and May are big fans, and often seen on the Grid as guests.

[vene-nemesis]

Originally Posted by FL Knifemaker

Yes you did!! I saw it!!!

I'll watch F1 when possible. I enjoy it. It's a great way to start off the day, before the real racing starts

NASCAR, its almost like racing! .

Kobayashi is going to be one of the great drivers, im glad im not the only one who has seen that.

However Im afraid that the way things are going USF1 and Campos Meta wont make it to the start of the season, they havent even announced their second driver yet nor have the car ready.

There is going to be a lot of fight comming from Red Bull Racing, Adrian Newey (the genius) is designing a car thats gonna be very hard to beat, or so did say Jaime Alguersuari (Scuderia Toro Rosso driver) during a Spanish media interview.

[Muusers]

Don't count team Hamilton - Button out either. And remember that Brawn GP, designer of winning cars for some 3 seasons now, was bought by Mercedes.

[tycobb73]

Unfortunately I don't get the Speed Channel.

[becker4567]

NASCAR? Thats like watching traffic on the San Diego Freeway at 5pm. As for F1, I'm rooting for USF1 (as you should to), but the combo of Shumey/Brawn/Mercedes is going to be real hard to beat. I hate to say it, but the team of Lewis & Jenson will probably end like the Lewis/Ferdy debacle. Jenson has made some bonehead career moves in the past, and I think this is just another one. I wonder how long Massa will put up with Alonso? When the hell are we getting another F1 race? Now that Herr Mosley is kaput, when do we see Bernie sailing off into the sunset? Watch out for Red Bull/Toro Rosso. Out of the new teams, how many will make it to next season (my guess, none, or at the most, one).

[ugly_bassplayer]

Originally Posted by becker4567

. As for F1, I'm rooting for USF1 (as you should to),

Why is that?

[vene-nemesis]

Originally Posted by ugly_bassplayer

Why is that?

Because they are going to suck, no hard feelings but they are just another low cost team. Like Force India, who had been suspected to be allowed to race under the minimun weight requierement so they could keep afloat because of their lack of money and good sponsors.

[Atoz]

Originally Posted by Muusers

Gonna be an exciting year with all the new and old drivers coming back. New point system, no more refuelling, top 10 qualifiers have to use the same tyres on the race, front tyre width decreased, no KERS this year, 26 cars instead of 24 cars, etc. etc. Gonna be real interesting what Schumi is gonna do this year, but personally I'm rooting for Kobayashi. That guy is insane!

Kobayashi set the fast time at Jerez today. Too early to tell if he or Sauber are the real deal, but it's still nice to see.

Incredibly happy that Schu's back.

[NickInMesa]

I hate what F1 has become. It's all about how much money is thrown in.

I hate NASCAR because it's the exact opposite.

Middle of the road, so to speak, is open wheel racing and the now defunct Champ Car.

I also love motorcycle racing, especially motocross, which is probably the most competitive and physically demanding motor sport out there, enduro and rally racing, this includes the FIA Rally championship as well as the Dakar and Baja types.

By the way, I am so disgusted at the way Bourdais was treated that I have completely stopped following the F1 championship altogether.

[becker4567]

Originally Posted by vene-nemesis

Because they are going to suck, no hard feelings but they are just another low cost team. Like Force India, who had been suspected to be allowed to race under the minimun weight requierement so they could keep afloat because of their lack of money and good sponsors.

I really hate to say this, but your probably right! I'm rooting for USF1 for two reasons. 1. I'm from America and and feel obligated to cheer on the home team. 2. I've met Peter Windsor several times and he seems like a nice enough guy. But, the odds are not in any of the newer teams favor. Like you said, Force India will be lucky to finish the season and the new teams will be extremely lucky just to start. Even though they put on a happy face, the FIA understands that F1 has deep troubles and the next 3-5 years are going to be critical to its continued existence in its current form. We very well may see a return to the "garagista" era.

[Tony G]

Originally Posted by DeluxeRed

For anyone not really familiar with F1, the thing that distinguishes it from all other forms of racing is that the main rule in F1 is You Must Build Your Own Car. No buying a frame here and a lump there and goin' NASCARing. This is serious business by serious constructors.

This is not exactly true. With the exception of the major teams, the rest are buying their engines from Ferrari, Mercedes, Cosworth, etc. Same with frames too, I think, but not sure on that one. Granted, they are tweaking just about everything on them for their own needs..

[DeluxeRed]

Originally Posted by Tony G

This is not exactly true. With the exception of the major teams, the rest are buying their engines from Ferrari, Mercedes, Cosworth, etc. Same with frames too, I think, but not sure on that one. Granted, they are tweaking just about everything on them for their own needs..

Yes, the current era features full factory teams as well as privateers who build the car and are associated with a manufacturer that provides the engines (which have always been considered a component, even if they are a stressed member of the frame). And there are gray areas and things like Red Bull/Toro Rosso. But the general idea is that it is primarily a WC for Constructors.

[Tony G]

Originally Posted by DeluxeRed

But the general idea is that it is primarily a WC for Constructors.

Agreed.

[fo shizzle]

Originally Posted by NickInMesa

I hate what F1 has become. It's all about how much money is thrown in.

I hate NASCAR because it's the exact opposite.

Middle of the road, so to speak, is open wheel racing and the now defunct Champ Car.

I also love motorcycle racing, especially motocross, which is probably the most competitive and physically demanding motor sport out there, enduro and rally racing, this includes the FIA Rally championship as well as the Dakar and Baja types.

By the way, I am so disgusted at the way Bourdais was treated that I have completely stopped following the F1 championship altogether.

When was F1 not about the money? I must have missed it. I only go back to the late 70's.

[Ziltoid]

I miss Villeneuve