Comments on: 2006 F1 season approaching — what’s happening?

By: Jason - sydney

Jason - sydney — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 02:37:26 +0000

I’m wrapped I have found some knowledgable (thats not how u spell that is it?) F1 fans in Aus, maybe I’m niave but I haven’t met anyone with the passion for it like I have yet.

I’m a recent convert of only 4 years and I’m not the almanac, statistic memorizing fan some are, but I watched most of Bahrain standing up last Sunday I missed it so much.

Race 1 is always a buzz and usually throws up the odd upset but I found this year that the front runners were already fairly reliable, consistant and quick!

How brilliant is Raikkonen? He is the future of F1. Michael and Fernando are proven quantities to him but I’m sure he has sat alone somewhere yesterday or today with Nico Rosberg’s telemetry having a close look.

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 22:23:06 +0000

Interesting indeed, and good points for the most part.

I was interested to see one person’s view that China is a GP best watched on fast forward. I’m inclined to agree with that — although we do have to be sure to watch the pre-grid laps carefully, as there is sometimes action then… Or when the drain-covers come loose.

I thought Turkey was the best of the new breed of tracks. Some interesting gradient and a pretty good race.

But in the end, Spa is magic and we will miss the magic…

(The first GP I ever watched on telly was the 1981 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder. At the start of the race, Ricardo Patrese stalled his Arrows. A mechanic jumped the fence to try to restart the car, but the race was started while he was still working at the back of Patrese’s car. He was struck by team-mate Siegfried Stohr, but fortunately was not seriously injured. After a restart, the race was eventually won by Carlos Reutemann (Williams-Ford). The last F1 race at Zolder was in 1984. The track is still operating, but in the midst of a major upgrade.)

By: Pete

Pete — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 00:36:33 +0000

There’s an interesting discussion of the loss of Spare at the ITV site:
http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=TalkBack

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:47:58 +0000

Gee, thanks Liz. Dad.

By: Lizzie

Lizzie — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:16:42 +0000

ummmmmmm……. very long! Only my dad would write that.

By: Pete

Pete — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 01:30:27 +0000

I too miss the old Hockenheim… Cars zooming through a forest look fantastic on TV but there’s no ‘gate revenue associated with a forest.

I’m hoping Super Aguri is competitive because I believe part of making F1 more exciting is having more passing, which is related to the number of cars on the grid.

I’m also saddened that Alonso is jumping to McLaren in 2007. Renault to me comes across as equal parts French-style and cut-down/focused engineering. Besides, they’re my team!

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 02:25:14 +0000

Yes, it is sad that the mighty Spa circuit won’t see a GP this year, but it will be back in 2007 (if the press is to be believed).

I wouldn’t miss the (new) ‘Ring. And I do miss the old Hockenheim. The emasculated version that they race on today is no fun at all. They left in the dreary infield section and deleted the fabulous forest sections!

And while we’re on the subject of circuits, let’s take the French GP back to Paul Ricard (the LONG circuit). And who can remember Dijon-Prenois, home of the French GP 25 years ago and the Swiss GP in 1982 — a fabulous circuit with real gradient. The up-hill hairpin is my favourite part…

By: Pete

Pete — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 02:04:25 +0000

Interesting discussion of the issues.

I’m sad that Spa is no longer on the calendar, and hope that Europe and Germany manage to lock down their funding.