How long before Hamilton / Merc gets handicapped?

[kwhittle]

F1 is boring.
Qualifying is to see which MB is on pole
The start, by and large decides the result
Yawn.
How do they manage to put together a "Highlights" tv programme?
Every overtake is shown multiple times.
How do they justify spending huge sums for so little reward

If you like 'Racing', then watch Motogp
Not perfect, but wow they put it on the line, if its Moto3, Moto2 or Motogp

Real racing, do try it
Kevin

[Andy8421]

The best thing they could do for F1 (apart from driver safety rules) is throw the rule book away. Half the fun (for me at least) of F1 was the technical mastery of the car designers. Having a huge amount of effort expended on getting the last 0.1% out of a multi element front wing isn't my idea of innovative car design. Give the designers some rope.

To be honest, my main interest these days is racing classics - much more fun than F1. Covering the period of our cars, my favorite race remains St Mary's at the Goodwood revival, which for my money is the best racing to be had.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxduyNQQUDM

[h20hamelan]

I know F1 is boring to contemplate.
Who here has driven at those limits?

Seems pretty spectacular to I
or maybe Imola is just that, a spectacular old course?

[bitsobrits]

While I have always been a racing fan, my appreciation for F1 went up many levels in the 1990's when I competed off and on in the Barbour Formula Dodge series (arrive and drive rent a racer series). Every race weekend I would manage to occasionally get 1 or 2 corners on that exactly right edge of speed vs traction. Once every few races I would manage a nearly perfect (for me) entire lap. By my second season my lap times were only varying +/- 2 seconds (in the absence of external factors) unless it was a long (40 minute!) race then my lap times would drop as much as 5 seconds a lap towards the end because I was exhausted and getting sloppy. This in max 135mph 1.2G cars. Did I mention I was in my 30's then, and physically fit?

I continue to be amazed at the skill involved by F1 drivers in not only driving at a very high level, with 4+Gs cornering several times per lap for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at a time, but their ability to maintain absolute control over their laps times on command ("Lewis, we need 1.5 second quicker laps for the next 5 laps before you pit") beggars belief.

It is a bit unfortunate that the better the drivers and machines are, the less dramatic it looks. For the "racing is rubbing" crowd, I get that it's boring. FWIW, I do really enjoy more physical contact types of racing as well, but appreciate them for other reasons. F1 is the pinnacle of Physics in racing, if not in physicalness. So for me it's a STEM thing.

The thought of an all up (with driver) 1628 pound racer with roughly 1000HP hybrid engine, no (conventional) valve spring valvetrain functioning at 15,000rpm, a 4" clutch pack managing 3000+ shifts per race after several standing starts (practice starts and race starts), crazy amounts of downforce yet still capable of 200mph gets my engineering juices going even before the lights go out.

So I'm in, even if the wheel to wheel action is lacking some (okay most) weekends.

[kwhittle]

No one doubts the skill and commitment of the drivers.
Yesterdays Imola race had the cars at full throttle for 70% of the lap. Thats the problem

F1 has become a race between the engineers and pit crews. Not really what racing is all about.
I raced a Lotus F2 car from the 1960's, and later researched and wrote a book that covered these cars, and in particular the Lotus F2 cars..

The FIA rules said it was for single seat cars, min weight 420kg, max engine capacity 1 litre, 4 cylinder engines and Graded, iie F1, drivers were allowed. Simple rules that produced proper race cars and close racing