Justin:
My review of the Australian GP was pretty positive I think.
Then this.
I need to write about the last few days.
Driver statement
Andrew Benson, from the BBC, reviews the statement here. The statement/ letter in full is here.
I read the letter and it made a fair amount of sense. They spoke of "changing landscapes in TV viewing" and the "current global economic climate" to name but two things. They also referred to various rule changes, technical changes etc. They referred to them, without referring to them.
Just a few hours later...
Ok, either one of two things happened. Either the GPDA knew of the Sky exclusive deal from 2019 and decided to get a statement out first....OR...The powers that be in F1 decided to announce the deal as a reply to the drivers rising up against them. Would not surprise me in the slightest at all!!!!
So, Sky has all rights to live F1 from 2019. It will decide to sell a highlights, scraps if you will, package to a free to air channel.
I am furious.
No, not because I don't have Sky TV.
I am furious because F1 is going down the shit pan commercially.
Why?
1. The audience on Sky is nowhere near as big as on free to air TV. Fact.
2. This new 2019 TV deal just stinks of the F1 powers that be...Bernie, the F1 company...hell even perhaps the FIA!!!....They grab as much money as they can, no matter the cost. Look at the many new Grand Prix venues that pay a crap load of cash to hold a Grand Prix, then they have empty stadiums the whole weekend. Then they give a tiny amount to the teams compared to how much they earn!
At the expense of other races where the crowds would attend in their hundreds of thousands.
Follow the money. And it is a stinking trail back to Bernie and CVC.
3. The drivers, the guys that put their lives on the line every race, pointed out their concerns. They are bloody ignored!! Ask Alonso.
4. The complete fuck up with the new qualifying format. F1 claims to "listen to fans". Erm. No. Fact
Everyone. Literally everyone, said the new qualifying format didn't work and let's go back to the 2015 version, which didn't really need changing. Teams, team bosses, drivers, fans = unanimous.
Even Bernie said he didn't like it (perhaps he realised he might lose money somehow).
Then, a few days later (after it was put out there that obviously everyone hated it and we'd go back to old qualifying as soon as Bahrain) - F1 powers that be suddenly change their mind and say "oh hang on a minute, new qualifying is not great, but lets give it another race first (BEFORE WE ACTUALLY LISTEN TO EVERYONE ELSE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD)".
Urgh.
The drivers are on the fans side.
Why the hell aren't the people that run F1 on our side too? Oh, thats, right. Follow the stink of cash.
Thursday, 24 March 2016
Sunday, 20 March 2016
Welcome back old friend - Round 1: Australia
Justin:
So much to cover...
First off, hats off to Channel 4 for their first effort at covering this awesome sport. There was definitely room for improvement....too many advert breaks for a highlights show, Steve Jones interrupting DC and Webber a fair amount (to be fair that is probably just because he can't quite believe his luck) and a few other bits.
All in all (as Vettel would say), not bad at all people. Hell, you have saved me from either missing F1 entirely or having to turn to the dark side and purchase Sky!
Was lovely hearing The Chain and indeed hearing Ben Edwards shouting "Lights out, away we go!".
Where I'm at
I sometimes lost the will to live with F1 last year. Hamilton dominating and not even his teammate coming close to being near him = Formula Bore! Rosberg sprang into life over the last few races, giving us and him hope for 2016.
I've missed F1 so much over the winter, don't get me wrong. But, I don't think I could take much of the same this year...
Race report
...Which is good, because the Australian GP was a solid season opener. Ferrari and Vettel cocked up big time - so much so that had they fitted the medium tyres when everyone else did, they may very well have won. Though, Rosberg showed pretty awesome pace throughout anyway, keeping up with the red guys.
As a friend pointed out, Channel 4 managed to not show Rosbergs amazing out lap to be on the tailpipe of Vettel. All we saw was Rosberg appearing behind him.
Ok, there wasn't a great deal of fighting at the front, but there was a bit. For the rest of the season, it is imperative that Rosberg and Vettel challenge Hamilton. Throw Kimi in there too - what rotten luck he had yet again. He was keeping pace until his engine blew up! Hell, Ricciardo could be in there too, who knows. Williams not so much on this display. They were nowhere.
Hamilton had a shabby start, which kind of threw his race out of whack from the start. He recovered very well for a strong second place.
Picking up where he left off
I'd imagine nobody knows more than Rosberg that he has to do it every race this year. He needs to be on it all year. Nothing else will come close to being good enough. He was on it today. He has won the last 4 races and will be gaining belief all the time now.
Grosjean and Haas
My driver of the day has to be this guy. He is a class act. Haas took him on board because he is fast and consistent. He delivers. He is my driver of the day, no question at all. For Haas to get 6th place on their debut is a stunning, amazing result. Well done to all of them! Does Grosjean have an eye on a Ferrari seat for 2017? Ferrari would be silly not to have one eye on him.
Palmer
I can only name one driver of the day. This guy was on TV more, battling with more people, and indeed giving himself a pretty damn good name in F1. He defended well, overtook well and it was an awesome debut frankly.
McLaren pace
Promising improvements here. Both drivers seem much happier. Then again, the only way was up after 2015. That said, they qualified only 1.5 seconds behind the Mercedes pair.
I think I speak for everyone..
Alonso's crash was absolutely horrifying frankly. The car was a total mangled mess of carbon fibre. Very happy to see him get out and walk away. He'll be back fighting hard in Bahrain.
Sainz vs Verstappen
This could be the teammate rivalry to end all others at this rate (Merc boys aside). Sainz doesn't seem to Verstappen spitting his dummy.
To round off with
I actually thought it was quite fun seeing Webber and Vettel joking around on the podium. I don't like Vettel, but it goes to show that once guys leave F1, there is always a thawing of frosty teammate relationships. They were enemies whilst being teammates, but with time, it's nice to see they can have a joke every now and again.
How to be Mark Webber...
Just add "mate" onto the end of every sentence :-)
To Bahrain!!!!
Me, the blog author, in Hungary 2015 decked out in Alonso gear.
So much to cover...
First off, hats off to Channel 4 for their first effort at covering this awesome sport. There was definitely room for improvement....too many advert breaks for a highlights show, Steve Jones interrupting DC and Webber a fair amount (to be fair that is probably just because he can't quite believe his luck) and a few other bits.
All in all (as Vettel would say), not bad at all people. Hell, you have saved me from either missing F1 entirely or having to turn to the dark side and purchase Sky!
Was lovely hearing The Chain and indeed hearing Ben Edwards shouting "Lights out, away we go!".
Where I'm at
I sometimes lost the will to live with F1 last year. Hamilton dominating and not even his teammate coming close to being near him = Formula Bore! Rosberg sprang into life over the last few races, giving us and him hope for 2016.
I've missed F1 so much over the winter, don't get me wrong. But, I don't think I could take much of the same this year...
Race report
...Which is good, because the Australian GP was a solid season opener. Ferrari and Vettel cocked up big time - so much so that had they fitted the medium tyres when everyone else did, they may very well have won. Though, Rosberg showed pretty awesome pace throughout anyway, keeping up with the red guys.
As a friend pointed out, Channel 4 managed to not show Rosbergs amazing out lap to be on the tailpipe of Vettel. All we saw was Rosberg appearing behind him.
Ok, there wasn't a great deal of fighting at the front, but there was a bit. For the rest of the season, it is imperative that Rosberg and Vettel challenge Hamilton. Throw Kimi in there too - what rotten luck he had yet again. He was keeping pace until his engine blew up! Hell, Ricciardo could be in there too, who knows. Williams not so much on this display. They were nowhere.
Hamilton had a shabby start, which kind of threw his race out of whack from the start. He recovered very well for a strong second place.
Picking up where he left off
I'd imagine nobody knows more than Rosberg that he has to do it every race this year. He needs to be on it all year. Nothing else will come close to being good enough. He was on it today. He has won the last 4 races and will be gaining belief all the time now.
Grosjean and Haas
My driver of the day has to be this guy. He is a class act. Haas took him on board because he is fast and consistent. He delivers. He is my driver of the day, no question at all. For Haas to get 6th place on their debut is a stunning, amazing result. Well done to all of them! Does Grosjean have an eye on a Ferrari seat for 2017? Ferrari would be silly not to have one eye on him.
Palmer
I can only name one driver of the day. This guy was on TV more, battling with more people, and indeed giving himself a pretty damn good name in F1. He defended well, overtook well and it was an awesome debut frankly.
McLaren pace
Promising improvements here. Both drivers seem much happier. Then again, the only way was up after 2015. That said, they qualified only 1.5 seconds behind the Mercedes pair.
I think I speak for everyone..
Alonso's crash was absolutely horrifying frankly. The car was a total mangled mess of carbon fibre. Very happy to see him get out and walk away. He'll be back fighting hard in Bahrain.
Sainz vs Verstappen
This could be the teammate rivalry to end all others at this rate (Merc boys aside). Sainz doesn't seem to Verstappen spitting his dummy.
To round off with
I actually thought it was quite fun seeing Webber and Vettel joking around on the podium. I don't like Vettel, but it goes to show that once guys leave F1, there is always a thawing of frosty teammate relationships. They were enemies whilst being teammates, but with time, it's nice to see they can have a joke every now and again.
How to be Mark Webber...
Just add "mate" onto the end of every sentence :-)
To Bahrain!!!!
Me, the blog author, in Hungary 2015 decked out in Alonso gear.
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