Flatspotter
What?
ESPN hasn't announced their commentator lineup, but someone asked Leigh Diffey on his twitter feed if Hobbs and Matchett were going to ESPN and he said no.
The 2017 Formula 1 Thread
- Thread starter OGG
- Start date
Wyatt
Kick Henry Jackassowski
No announcement of broadcast team yet, but with ESPN hemorrhaging subscribers, they are cutting costs on on-air talent. So it's a matter of how much do they want to pay for announcers on races that mostly air overnight on ESPN2.
I'm a fan of Hobbs, Matchett, and Buxton, hopefully one or all of them end up at ESPN, but I doubt it. Leigh Diffy is long-term NBC, not only for motorsports but for the Olympics as well. The UK broadcasting is so dry that it bores me tears; they can spend 6 laps discussing the tiny details of one driver's mental training regime.
Flatspotter
What?
You'd think they could get Hobbs and Matchett cheap; it's not like NBC is going to have them announce NASCAR...
TomcatMF
Vetteless
Well another Formula 1 season has come to a close. I would say this has been one or the more interesting seasons in recent years with a more competitive Ferrari bringing the fight to Mercedes and a resurgent Red Bull at the mid season (although too late to make a difference in the titles), but it doesn't come close to what 2010 and 2012 were like in terms of a championship battle.
Mercedes were like a will oiled machine this year. Ferrari thought the had them when they got the trick suspension banned at the last minute, but Mercedes were able to work around it. Most likely due to the immense advantage they have with that power unit of theirs. It lets them add more downforce than the other teams since the HP advantage overcomes the drag so well. That car was on rails. The majority of the tracks favored this package even though there were about 5 or 6 tracks that favored other teams, and this is why they won the double championship. I think Bottas has shown us how good a driver Rosberg was, because he rarely came close to matching Hamilton in Qualifying, and in the race he was often finishing 3rd or 4th where Rosberg was finishing either 1st or 2nd. if Bottas doesn't improve next season I wouldn't be surprised to see Riccardo take that seat in 2019.
Ferrari certainly brought a fast car this year, and Vettel showed shades of his championship form, but as usual he cracked under pressure, and made some stupid decisions on race day that basically threw away the championship for him. Singapore basically decided the whole thing. Had he been a bit more patient things would have definitely gone down to the last race. As long as Raikonnen is there, they will not win the constructors championship. He showed flashes of speed, but he was very inconsistent, and not very competitive in wheel to wheel races. Also Ferrari's reliability was very costly. If they are going to beat Mercedes, they need to be near perfect in everything. However it has been a pattern for this team to be somewhat competitive (either due to car or driver) and they make stupid mistakes to throw away the championship, that has to stop for them to win anything.
Red Bull got caught out by the suspension ban, but they never had the power unit advantage to overcome the issues, and they had to compromise their setup to overcome the shortcomings of that Renault engine. That being said, it was very exciting to see them come on strong at places like Spa and Monza where no one thought they would be competitive. Verstappen is a special driver who I very much enjoy watching. His control under braking is amazing, and he is very good at making his car very wide when defending a position. I really hope that Renault make a better step forward next year, as I would love to see at least a 3-way fight between Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes (and possibly more see below).
Force India have finished 4th once again, but I think this is the last time they will finish that high if the Renault engine gets any closer in performance to Mercedes and the reliability improves.
Williams can't seem to figure out how to get more downforce on their car. It has been like that since 2014 with nothing changing. They had the advantage of the Mercedes engine that helped them in 2014 and 2015, but since then they have been sliding backwards as other teams have surpassed them in aero development.
Renault were definitely on the rise this year, although the progress has been slow. I see them as the dark horse for next year. IMO their driver lineup is one of the best on the field. Remember this is the team that knocked Ferrari off their perch in 2004 and 2005. They have the DNA to win it all.
Toro Rosso are Red Bulls B team and they always will be. I don't ever expect them to be at the sharp end of the grid.
Haas has shown to be a plucky little team. Even though they finished in the same place they did last year, they also scored more points. They are learning the lessons of Grand Prix racing much quicker than any other "new" team I have ever seen. Of course they have help from Ferrari, but they are gaining a lot of valuable data that can help them down the road as they will eventually design the car completely on their own. Don't forget that Haas has one of the best wind tunnels in the world, also with a NASCAR team as well, they have the equipment they need to develop things. I'm not so sure about the driver lineup they have, but they have to get much more competitive before they can attract better talent.
McLaren is the team I follow the closest, and I consider myself a McLaren fan, and as such this season has been gut wrenching. It's hard to watch a team that just a few years ago was winning race on a regular basis languishing at the back of the grid fighting for mid field positions. It is unbelievable how badly Honda screwed up, not what you would expect from a company with a reputation for efficient and reliable engines. It also shows to me how ridiculous the current engine formula is. Now that McLaren are going to Renault, we will find out if that chassis is as good as they say it is. If so then Red Bull better watch its back.
Sauber with a one year old Ferrari engine was never going to compete for anything this year. Now it appears that they will become the Ferrari B team next year (possibly carrying the Alfa Romeo name) so they won't be much of a factor next year for the front runners, but they could definitely make life difficult for Haas and Williams.
So now that the rules are fairly stable I hope we will start to see more of a convergence of performance across the teams. That is why 2012 was such a good season. The rules for the chassis had been stable for about 3 seasons, and the engine rules were stable for about 7 years. As a result the top 3 teams were within 0.5 seconds of each other in qualifying, and the first 7 races had different winners. This will be the 2nd season with this chassis formula, but it has a lot of similarity to what they had in 2008. The engine formula is now going into its 5th year. Ferrari caught up this year (close enough) and I expect Renault will do the same next year. I'm not sure about Honda though, but who knows. All will be revealed come March 25, 2018.
Mercedes were like a will oiled machine this year. Ferrari thought the had them when they got the trick suspension banned at the last minute, but Mercedes were able to work around it. Most likely due to the immense advantage they have with that power unit of theirs. It lets them add more downforce than the other teams since the HP advantage overcomes the drag so well. That car was on rails. The majority of the tracks favored this package even though there were about 5 or 6 tracks that favored other teams, and this is why they won the double championship. I think Bottas has shown us how good a driver Rosberg was, because he rarely came close to matching Hamilton in Qualifying, and in the race he was often finishing 3rd or 4th where Rosberg was finishing either 1st or 2nd. if Bottas doesn't improve next season I wouldn't be surprised to see Riccardo take that seat in 2019.
Ferrari certainly brought a fast car this year, and Vettel showed shades of his championship form, but as usual he cracked under pressure, and made some stupid decisions on race day that basically threw away the championship for him. Singapore basically decided the whole thing. Had he been a bit more patient things would have definitely gone down to the last race. As long as Raikonnen is there, they will not win the constructors championship. He showed flashes of speed, but he was very inconsistent, and not very competitive in wheel to wheel races. Also Ferrari's reliability was very costly. If they are going to beat Mercedes, they need to be near perfect in everything. However it has been a pattern for this team to be somewhat competitive (either due to car or driver) and they make stupid mistakes to throw away the championship, that has to stop for them to win anything.
Red Bull got caught out by the suspension ban, but they never had the power unit advantage to overcome the issues, and they had to compromise their setup to overcome the shortcomings of that Renault engine. That being said, it was very exciting to see them come on strong at places like Spa and Monza where no one thought they would be competitive. Verstappen is a special driver who I very much enjoy watching. His control under braking is amazing, and he is very good at making his car very wide when defending a position. I really hope that Renault make a better step forward next year, as I would love to see at least a 3-way fight between Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes (and possibly more see below).
Force India have finished 4th once again, but I think this is the last time they will finish that high if the Renault engine gets any closer in performance to Mercedes and the reliability improves.
Williams can't seem to figure out how to get more downforce on their car. It has been like that since 2014 with nothing changing. They had the advantage of the Mercedes engine that helped them in 2014 and 2015, but since then they have been sliding backwards as other teams have surpassed them in aero development.
Renault were definitely on the rise this year, although the progress has been slow. I see them as the dark horse for next year. IMO their driver lineup is one of the best on the field. Remember this is the team that knocked Ferrari off their perch in 2004 and 2005. They have the DNA to win it all.
Toro Rosso are Red Bulls B team and they always will be. I don't ever expect them to be at the sharp end of the grid.
Haas has shown to be a plucky little team. Even though they finished in the same place they did last year, they also scored more points. They are learning the lessons of Grand Prix racing much quicker than any other "new" team I have ever seen. Of course they have help from Ferrari, but they are gaining a lot of valuable data that can help them down the road as they will eventually design the car completely on their own. Don't forget that Haas has one of the best wind tunnels in the world, also with a NASCAR team as well, they have the equipment they need to develop things. I'm not so sure about the driver lineup they have, but they have to get much more competitive before they can attract better talent.
McLaren is the team I follow the closest, and I consider myself a McLaren fan, and as such this season has been gut wrenching. It's hard to watch a team that just a few years ago was winning race on a regular basis languishing at the back of the grid fighting for mid field positions. It is unbelievable how badly Honda screwed up, not what you would expect from a company with a reputation for efficient and reliable engines. It also shows to me how ridiculous the current engine formula is. Now that McLaren are going to Renault, we will find out if that chassis is as good as they say it is. If so then Red Bull better watch its back.
Sauber with a one year old Ferrari engine was never going to compete for anything this year. Now it appears that they will become the Ferrari B team next year (possibly carrying the Alfa Romeo name) so they won't be much of a factor next year for the front runners, but they could definitely make life difficult for Haas and Williams.
So now that the rules are fairly stable I hope we will start to see more of a convergence of performance across the teams. That is why 2012 was such a good season. The rules for the chassis had been stable for about 3 seasons, and the engine rules were stable for about 7 years. As a result the top 3 teams were within 0.5 seconds of each other in qualifying, and the first 7 races had different winners. This will be the 2nd season with this chassis formula, but it has a lot of similarity to what they had in 2008. The engine formula is now going into its 5th year. Ferrari caught up this year (close enough) and I expect Renault will do the same next year. I'm not sure about Honda though, but who knows. All will be revealed come March 25, 2018.
nuke_diver
Riding Solo
Nice review. F1 has pretty much lost me because it is so predictable lately. I did see a few races that there entertaining this year but as long as you can (mostly) pencil in the first 3 or 4 positions I won't watch much. Hopefully that will change. Verstappen might be the best driver out there, I don't think Hamilton is, he just has the best car/team. It should would be nice to see closer races and lots of different finishes
Flatspotter
What?
Regarding Bottas vs. Rosberg, I agree Rosberg is much quicker, but I wonder if the Mercedes suited his driving style better than it does Bottas'. Bottas has said that the car doesn't agree with his driving style. Maybe they're closer than it would appear.
I really hope Renault gets its shit together with their engine; they could single-handedly rescue F1 if they can make Verstappen, Ricciardo and Alonso front runners. Imagine those three fighting for wins with Hamilton and Vettel every race!
I can't for the life of me figure out why Ferrari keep Raikkonen. I've thought for the past 3 or 4 years that they would dump him, but they keep rehiring him. He sleeps through the first 3/4ths of every race, then wakes up at the end as if he just realized there's a race on. Surely there's a better driver available.
I really hope Renault gets its shit together with their engine; they could single-handedly rescue F1 if they can make Verstappen, Ricciardo and Alonso front runners. Imagine those three fighting for wins with Hamilton and Vettel every race!
I can't for the life of me figure out why Ferrari keep Raikkonen. I've thought for the past 3 or 4 years that they would dump him, but they keep rehiring him. He sleeps through the first 3/4ths of every race, then wakes up at the end as if he just realized there's a race on. Surely there's a better driver available.
OGG
Master of the Meh
For the first time in at least a decade, I bailed out on the season shortly after the summer break. Even before that I was not very interested, and would often have the most recent race on the DVR for a week or more before watching it... And usually falling asleep by lap 25.
Not that long ago, I made it a point to watch every single GP live regardless of what time it began. I considered myself a superfan, but it's become a farce in many aspects, and this year after year bullshit of there being ONE team that totally outclasses the rest of the field has taken the enjoyment out of it. Whether it's Mercedes, or Red Bull before them, it's just not interesting to watch when you know by the third GP who will win both Championships. The closest thing to excitement in years was the Hamilton/Rosberg battle for WDC, but I don't particularly like either of them or the Silver Arrows. I am glad Nico got his WDC, but it was still hollow.
I really hope the Scuderia can field a truly competitive car next year. I also hope that if Alonso stays in F1, that he isn't saddled with yet another flaming turd of a car.
More than anything though, I'm really going to miss Felipe Massa. Of course I will also miss the NBCSN coverage team.
Here's to hoping for a better 2018 season.
Not that long ago, I made it a point to watch every single GP live regardless of what time it began. I considered myself a superfan, but it's become a farce in many aspects, and this year after year bullshit of there being ONE team that totally outclasses the rest of the field has taken the enjoyment out of it. Whether it's Mercedes, or Red Bull before them, it's just not interesting to watch when you know by the third GP who will win both Championships. The closest thing to excitement in years was the Hamilton/Rosberg battle for WDC, but I don't particularly like either of them or the Silver Arrows. I am glad Nico got his WDC, but it was still hollow.
I really hope the Scuderia can field a truly competitive car next year. I also hope that if Alonso stays in F1, that he isn't saddled with yet another flaming turd of a car.
More than anything though, I'm really going to miss Felipe Massa. Of course I will also miss the NBCSN coverage team.
Here's to hoping for a better 2018 season.
I think this is mostly it. Kimi hasn't been great in a long time. What he IS is a reliable points scorer that can follow team orders without batting an eyelash. He doesn't need to win races. He knows his job is to let Vettel by him and then slow up the field to give Vettel the gap to hit the pits and stay ahead. In several races, Kimi was faster in qualifying, and it front of Vettel, only to have Vettel pass him and to have Kimi slow up just enough to back up the rest of the field to 20 seconds behind Vettel. This ain't coincidence and it isn't a measure of Kimi's capabilities, it is following strategist orders. That is why they keep Kimi. He is mature enough to do what the team needs.