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Poll: Russian Grand Prix 2017, Sochi - Race 4/20
- Thread starter Shimmy
- Start date
Soldato
it was good race even though a Mercedes won
Caporegime
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
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The thing is he was only closing a gap, he had to pass and the reason the entire race was dull was no one was passing. Catching up to within half a second is one part of it, passing is something else entirely. Even at other tracks to have a massive tire advantage he needed another 5 or 10 laps of tire life difference between them and here, even more. I thought he might well catch him but at no point even for a split second did I think he'd also be able to pass him, even if there was another 5 laps, it just wasn't going to happen.
The best part of the race was being able to laugh at brundle and Crofty for getting the pitstop timing so hopelessly wrong. They were convinced it took 28 seconds here and that he'd come out behind Kimi and then he went on and did another 5-6 laps after that point the gap got even smaller, he had a meh pitstop and he still came out a mile ahead of Kimi. It's hard to know how much Brundle actually gets wrong or how much he's intentionally lying to try and induce some tension... with Crofty it's easier to know the reason behind him being wrong, because he's wrong about almost everything
Man of Honour
You must absolutely love post office queues.
Don
3 from me. Boring despite Bottas being chased at the end.
Not sure what the solution is, but clearly the "whack-a-mole" approach to solving F1's problems still isn't working.
Tyres going off / having to be babysit was annoying for the last couple of years, but having more durable tyres means less differentials that lead to overtakes.
Having more mechanical grip from the tyres (in conjunction with better durability), whilst allowing cars to follow reasonably well, still doesn't make it any easier to pass.
Whilst DRS overtakes were fairly unexciting in previous years, due to the limited effect of DRS now, even those aren't happening.
Not sure what the solution is, but clearly the "whack-a-mole" approach to solving F1's problems still isn't working.
Tyres going off / having to be babysit was annoying for the last couple of years, but having more durable tyres means less differentials that lead to overtakes.
Having more mechanical grip from the tyres (in conjunction with better durability), whilst allowing cars to follow reasonably well, still doesn't make it any easier to pass.
Whilst DRS overtakes were fairly unexciting in previous years, due to the limited effect of DRS now, even those aren't happening.
Soldato
2 from me. It was rubbish.
Caporegime
Could you explain why you think that? I'm not being funny, I'd genuinely like to know. To me, a good race is one in which multiple drivers are competing, on track, for position perhaps with an additional side order of tactical complexity in the pit tactics. I want to see skillful, tactical, overtakes and battles for position. Hell, in a pinch, I'll take the sordid pleasures of a big accident (that everyone walks away from) or the chaos of a wet track but I want to see stuff happening not cars circulating without interacting. It wasn't even that the new regs were making it difficult to overtake, almost no-one ever got in a position to overtake; instead the gaps got wider throughout the entire field. For almost the entire race, each and every car was in their own private race. I'd like to know what you saw happening that you think made it a good race?
Soldato
I already criticised the V6 era too death, so for it was it was good. I don't expect head to head battles going back to back trading places from chicane to chicane like in yesteryear if i had to rate race compared to V8 era races where teams were more competitive then maybe a 5 at most.
Soldato
Had it not been for vettel making it a tiny bit dramatic at the end I'd say that's one of the most boring races I've ever seen.
I watched the annoying time graphic most of the time. Why isn't it just showing all the gaps all the time. So needs to know the full names of all drivers for a minute
I watched the annoying time graphic most of the time. Why isn't it just showing all the gaps all the time. So needs to know the full names of all drivers for a minute
Most likely Hamilton not being on the podium
This. And his hate fo V6's and love of the good old days.
There is, even after the changes, far to much reliance on aero.
The ONLY way to make it exciting close racing is to ban all wings and aero completely.
TOTAL reliance on mechanical grip is the ONLY way forward.
Do away with ALL driver aids, go to manual gearboxes, manual clutch, no traction control, and give manufacturers and teams completely free reign on engines.
1000+bhp engines with no aero, tyres spinning up in every gear, missed gears, false neutrals, all good things that will entertain excite and create zillions of overtaking opportunities.
Yes it will be slower, but who will care if it is exciting.
Another idea woudl be 4 or 5 mandatory pit stops per race , so cars are flat out between, and its more strategy based on when to pit and if teams make a mess in the pit stop the driver will have to go one one to make up lost time.
Give them enough fuel to race flat-out for the whole race.
Give them enough engines/gearboxes/mgu-h's to race flat out for every race without fear of grid penalties.
Reduce the complexity of the front wings and aero in general; the area around the sidepods is getting as fiddly as the late 00s, and the eleventy million front wing elements must be very expensive to model and produce.
Maybe introduce a spec diffuser which at least controls the level of dirty air spat out to the car behind, or perhaps a mod to the rear wing akin to a Gurney flap to aid getting a 'tow'.
Give them enough engines/gearboxes/mgu-h's to race flat out for every race without fear of grid penalties.
Reduce the complexity of the front wings and aero in general; the area around the sidepods is getting as fiddly as the late 00s, and the eleventy million front wing elements must be very expensive to model and produce.
Maybe introduce a spec diffuser which at least controls the level of dirty air spat out to the car behind, or perhaps a mod to the rear wing akin to a Gurney flap to aid getting a 'tow'.
They'd still fuel their cars with the bare minimum to finish although twinned with your second point that may be mitigated somewhat if they know it doesn have to last another 3-4 races. With regards to the engines lasting a race and thats it, engines would then become significantly more expensive. I wouldnt be surprised if they became more fragile and prone to failure too. Sounds odd but let me explain... I watched a program on the engines of old where they didnt have to 'save' them as they were and they were designed to such tolerances that they would literally last the race +x amount and that was it! Purely because they could machine bits off the engine, make the walls of the engine thinner etc purely to make them lighter and save weight as they didnt want to leave anything on the table. I cant say all teams did this but in the program i watched i think it was Williams who were defintiely taking this approach.
Wings are definitley too complex. But i'm not sure i want to watch a spec series... I'd rather they had rules governing how the wings were made up to at least leave some variation to what the teams can try out. However if they dont spend the money here they'd probably spend it somewhere else anyway..
Unfortunately the change of rules that we now have didnt care about following cars, overtaking etc. They literally wanted them to lap the track faster and 'look better'. They had the golden opportunity to fix a lot of these viewer issues but blew it big style.
Soldato
They were fuel-saving long before this era. Even with the V8s it was quicker to start without enough fuel to finish it without fuel-saving - weight is that much of a penalty.
Soldato
Soldato
5 from me, almost a 4 but for the vettel pressure at the end.
Soldato
Well, tbh I wouldn't watch that. And after a couple of seasons of dominance the likes of which haven't been seen for a generation, you'd just have a couple of teams remaining.