(Un) Official 2006 Formula 1 Thread

[TheRealEddie]

<p> </p><p>So....anyone excited about the return of Formula 1 this weekend with the Bahrain GP? Obviously I'm rooting for Scott Speed, the first US driver in the last 14 years.<br /></p><p> </p><p>(cue chirping crickets)</p><p> </p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by TheRealEddie on 3-7-06 @ 9:43 PM</span>

[Death Metal Moe]

<p>I honestly had no idea.&nbsp; Where do you watch the stuff?&nbsp; The Speed Network or something?</p><p>Just because of the international locations it sounds way more interesting than NASCAR.</p>

[suggums]

if formula 1 (or any other racing) used camera angles and editing like your avatar i'd probably watch more<br />

[Patches]

<p>His name is seriously Scott Speed?</p><p>Awesome.</p>

[TheRealEddie]

<p> </p><strong>Death Metal Moe</strong> wrote:<br /><p>I honestly had no idea. Where do you watch the stuff? The Speed Network or something?</p><p>Just because of the international locations it sounds way more interesting than NASCAR.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Well, if you want to learn about F1, let's start with what a typical F1 car looks like:</p><p><img width="599" height="400" border="0" src="http://f1.racing-live.com/f1/photos/2005/pitbabes01/diapo_401.jpg" /></p><p>See unlike NASCAR, F1 cars are open-wheel with more sophisticated aerodynamics.</p><hr width="100%" size="2" /><p> </p><p>Honestly, its impossible to sell someone on a sport. I will say that the difference between F1 and NASCAR are:</p><p>- cars are not stock and cars can be very different from team to team. This adds an extra dimension to the sport as following a team means more than just the driver, the competency of the engineering team really matters. The downside is, usually a couple teams will be superior to everyone else and thus win all the races. </p><p>- there is not much passing. Open race cars are pretty fragile so there isn't much bumping at all. The plus side is when passes happen its exciting, the downside is it doesnt happen often. (In some sense F1 is like the soccer of team sports).</p><p>- Tracks are very technical, no ovals at all. This again is one reason why there isn't much passing, there are much fewer parts on the track where passing can happen as opposed to an oval. But if you are a fan of driving, technical tracks are more interesting.<br /></p><p>Most NASCAR fans I know find F1 very boring. It will be on the Speed Network (the old Speedvision). Their coverage is actually very good.<br /></p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by TheRealEddie on 3-8-06 @ 9:31 AM</span>

[Freakshow]

<p>I think it's Raikkonen's year, as long as McLaren keeps his car finishing races.</p><p>I don't think Speed will be any factor.&nbsp; He's a good driver, but his team (formerly Minardi) just can't compete with the big boys.&nbsp; At least not yet (sorry to be a downer).</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by Freakshow on 3-8-06 @ 9:32 AM</span>

[Patches]

<p>(In some sense F1 is like the soccer of team sports).</p><p>You had me going until this selling point.</p>

[TheRealEddie]

<p>&nbsp;</p><strong>Patches</strong> wrote:<br /><p>&nbsp;</p>(In some sense F1 is like the soccer of team sports).<p>&nbsp;</p><p>You had me going until this selling point.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>That's what I get for trying to put the truth in advertising.&nbsp;</p>

[Freakshow]

<p>The GP of Bahrain was this past sunday.&nbsp; And despite the whole truth in adverstising angle it was a pretty exciting race from start to finish.&nbsp; Kimmi Rakkonen, who's McLaren was probably the best car had troubles qualifying and had to start from the last row.&nbsp; He spent the whole race passing his way throught the field and finished on the podium in third.&nbsp; </p><p>Last year's champ Alonso had a slightly different pit strategy from Schumaker, who was on the pole, and he came out of the pit less than a second ahead of Schumaker (who had already pit) with only a few laps to go.&nbsp; It was pretty exciting, although when Alonso took the corner ahead of Michael, it was pretty clear the race was over.</p><p>Nika Rosberg looks like the real deal, finishing in the points.&nbsp; If his car is reliable I could see him on a podium or two this year.&nbsp; Speed seemed to handle himself well enough.&nbsp; There was&nbsp;a lot of coverage before the race, but he was between 10 and 18 the whole race, and they didn't pay much attention to him once the actual racing started.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Interesting news I hadn't heard before--Alonso is going to McLaren next year.&nbsp; I wonder if that means the end for Montoya?&nbsp; Possibly Renault is not running a team after this year--and Schumaker might be taking the team over.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

<span class=post_edited>This message was edited by Freakshow on 3-15-06 @ 4:07 PM</span>