I'm loving the direction F1 is going. Sure, for the hardcore fans, the noise just isn't the same, and the cars aren't going as fast anymore, but I love that they are trying to force the manufacturers to improve their lower spec engines. Maybe the next rule change we'll have CVT as a requirement instead of a gear box.
As an F1 fan, it isn't the noise, and speed that are making this championship "boring". It's the fact that Mercedes is so superior that you really have to ignore them in order to enjoy the "real" racing / fights behind them. (It's true that the Hamilton-Rosberg fight in Bahrain was also fun to watch)
Mercedes' dominance is ridiculous - and I don't want to take engineering credits away, but there are no fights to watch at the top. Just take a look at the 22 second difference they managed to create in just 11 laps, the laps left after the safety car at Bahrain went in the pit lane. The fun was behind, Force India vs Red Bull vs Williams (vs Ferrari, sigh). Lets hope that other teams can catch up.
Were we watching the same race? The last 11 laps were an epic battle between Rosberg and Hamilton, and the mob contending for points was no less thrilling. I thought it was a great race, at least at the end.
And have you already forgotten 2013? Red Bull won every single race in the second half of the season. Yeah, Mercedes is on top, for now, it's not like a constructor has never been dominant before.
Is it though? We haven't even arrived in Monaco yet, anything could happen and the drama has been amazing to watch so far. Take tonight for example... Vetel being instructed to let Ricciardo pass and complying, Force India going 3/5, Hamilton and Rosberg dueling, Massa(??) blitzing the field on the start. The president of Ferrari walking out in disgust. That horrendous flip...
This doesn't even get into new arrivals like Magnussen and his amazing debut. This season is far from over and getting more interesting by the day.
We need to wait until we get to Europe, that's when the new parts will start arriving and the other teams have a chance to catch up. Development is going to be key this year.
Sorry. Pretty late night where I am, and a couple too many bottles of, uh, "rose water".
Anyway my point was - the lack of a real fight doesn't have much to do with the rule change, since it was present last year as well. And anyway, the season's just beginning - let's see what happens.
I don't think RB was nowhere near where Mercedes is this year. They are unbeatable like Brawn GP was on 2008. Others wont catch them this year. But otherwise very interesting season.
Just as ridiculous ( and remarkable) as Ferrari's dominance was for so many years with ol' Schumi at the wheel. As long as no one is cheating, whoever leads most certainly deserve to be at the top.
Barhrain today was nothing compared to the past 14 years. There are always instances of one team getting it more right than others, 88, 93, 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 09, 12, 13, 14. But those years (except 09 and 88) were pretty much one sided.
This year the cars look amazing on track, the torque out of corners is great to watch, the skill of the drivers is now more important than ever. Gone are the days of Vettel sticking his foot down and hitting the apex with ease. Other teams will catch Mercedes up, the the engine unfreeze at the end of the year if not before.
Also keep in mind that Formula E debuts this year; it will be the sport we all eventually follow (not sure how I feel about the passing cars sounding more like aircraft than cars): http://www.fiaformulae.com/
Who cares about the sound? I'm tired of seeing blog comments on Jalopnik complaining about it. Of the many dumb excuses car nuts use to whine about electric cars, "they sound different!" is by far the worst.
I have an old muscle car with a built V8. The crackling sound of the engine start, and the sound it makes when it 'digs in' under acceleration, is viscerally thrilling.
The smell of a hot engine, and the shaking of the car also add a lot of fun.
One of the best movie montages ever is the opening sequence of the movie "Grand Prix" where they start the engines and warm em up.
In "Rush" they ruined the movie by having a rock soundtrack laid over the sounds of the cars.
"Bullitt"s car chase has never been equaled because the director had the guts to let the V8s and various car noises be the whole soundtrack. The music overlay stops when the chase starts, the complete opposite of every other movie.
Maybe you're used to the modern cinematographic technique of quick cuts where one barely has time to focus on a scene. Older movies tend to use longer shots in action sequences.
Besides what I already mentioned, Bullitt is cool because:
1. the setup where the guy puts on his seatbelt
2. the total lack of dialog - the driver and the gunman understand each other just by looks
3. the deadpan expression on the driver
4. when Bullitt slides off the road, the slightest, most barely perceptible smile on the driver's face
5. McQueen's expression of complete focus and concentration
6. the 68 Mustang and Charger just totally rock. I never understand having a chase sequence with boring cars
7. the lack of CGI, models, and special effects
8. the skid marks from earlier takes
9. the amazing teleporting Green Beetle :-)
10. I love the shot of the rearview mirror when the hunter becomes the hunted - it's just classic
It needs more Michael Bay! Kidding aside, I do agree the Fastback and Charger are beautiful pieces of engineering. What I wouldn't do to own a Charger.
What stops me is I don't have the garage space for it, or I'd get one. If you don't need one fully restored, or numbers matching, or all original, the prices aren't too bad.
It's refreshing to see a car chase that looks and sounds a lot like what an actual car chase would actually look and sound like, as opposed to the very synthetic and stylized depictions typically found in modern movies and television.
At the end of the day sound is an inherent inefficiency. The aim is to maximise the kinetic energy output of the motor — any sound or heat energy produced is waste that could've better been produced as kinetic energy.
Not always. Did you know that in top fuel cars, the "waste" energy of the exhaust works like jet thrusters, providing up to 1000lbs of traction-boosting downforce?
I have to admit I love the sound of a good engine - and aeroplanes, and boats, trains, everything. It's the sound of power. Watching cars race without that sound is a far less emotive experience. One of the commentators on tonight's Bahrain race said that the safety car sounded much better than the race cars, and I wistfully agreed.
That said, I do think some people overdo it a bit and I actually like that FIA is willing to force innovation, even if it's (initially?) unpopular.
I haven't read the book but I think CanAm in the 70s was pretty much racing with no engineering restrictions. Hence you had the Porsche 917 putting out 1500hp+ and only weighing 1800 lbs.
When you go to a race, you can feel the thrum of the engines in your chest. It can be a part of the experience. The same way that 100mph on a motorcycle is more thrilling than 100mph in a BMW, because of the roar of the wind, the heat of the bike, and the scream of the motor.
Lots of people do - some were drawn to F1 just because they stopped walking past a TV or near a track and wanted to know what was making that unworldly racket.
That, to me, is equivalent of saying who cares what the cars look like? It's all part and parcel of the appeal of the sport - if somethings amiss, you've lost a little bit of that appeal.
Was completely unaware of the upcoming Formula E. Thanks for sharing.
I'm a bit surprised by the "single provider" system used there. Read the Wikipedia article and it sounds like McLaren will supply all teams? Doesn't sound ideal to promote research. Also would love to see a Tesla Formula E team.
Formula E is only going to be around along enough to prove the concept is viable. Once it is, its going to either be relegated to a feeder series, or the ideas merged into formula one.
Thanks for the link. I didn't know about Formula E! I watched a video linked off the front page and while I missed the roar of a petrol engine, but it had it's own neat sound.
>> "Sure, for the hardcore fans, the noise just isn't the same"
Hardcore fans don't care about this noise. They're there to watch a race not listen to it. Sure it enhances the atmosphere but it's the racing that's important and judging by todays race that's only getting better.
Listen on the downshifts. You can hear the turbines spinning at high speed, lagging behind the V-6's speed a bit. It almost sounds like a sucking sound as they lift off the throttle.
A lot of the hardcore fans seem to like the noise. I'm waiting for the teams to start pushing closer to the rev limit where the engines really start to scream (I think they use around 13000 of the 15000 available).
CVT's were previously used but they were banned pretty quickly.
I've only been to one F1 race in person that was 1988 in Montreal and I couldn't believe the noise, vicious! My teeth vibrated, even my bones I couldn't believe I could feel my freaking skeletal bones vibrate. Some friends and I went because the turbos were going to be banned in 1989.
I was 19 years old and the only thing I remember about the trip is 1) the noise! 2) crazy Italians 3) crazy Brazilians 4) strip club under a Burger King
The mid-80's turbo era was the best. The awesome sound, the cars twitching with the torque and sparks flying from the undertray made for good watching.
The JPS 98Ts are still possibly the best looking cars ever.
