Formula 1

[Sexybronco]

Really ?  I thought he came across as a petulant, entitled little sh1t......which has been my take on him from the get go.

Maybe he'll mature one day.....but as someone who's followed motor racing for most of 40 years....and grew up listening to my Dad tell stories of watching the likes of Jim Clark, Jack Brabham, Graeme Hill, Bruce McLaren etc. racing around country roads in Northern Tassie.......the current f1 drivers for the most part leave me completely cold.

Maybe it's generational thing....but most of them just have no sort of engaging personality whatsoever.  Riccardo excepted.

As I said I'm not a fan but boy he has a ruthless streak.

[LP]

Really ?  I thought he came across as a petulant, entitled little sh1t......which has been my take on him from the get go.

Maybe he'll mature one day.....

In F1 that could be if he survives that long, it's not meant to be a demolition derby!

..............but as someone who's followed motor racing for most of 40 years....and grew up listening to my Dad tell stories of watching the likes of Jim Clark, Jack Brabham, Graeme Hill, Bruce McLaren etc. racing around country roads in Northern Tassie.......the current f1 drivers for the most part leave me completely cold.

Maybe it's generational thing....but most of them just have no sort of engaging personality whatsoever.  Riccardo excepted.

It's not generational, F1 teams learn little from blokes like Verstappen, Hamilton and Vettel, they are technical leeches and breakers. The guys doing the grunt work, the ones taking the team forward are guys like Alonso, Raikonnen and Ricciardo. They are the precision drivers of the sport, the ones the engineers turn to when they want reliable data and diagnosis.

[kruddler]

I remember Jim Clark especially. He was a very technically correct and precise driver, not flashy but very quick. I read an article by some motoring journalist once where he was taken around one of the European circuits by Jim Clark in a sports car - Spa I think it was. He stated that it was like being out on a very fast country drive but it was completely under control at all times and he felt extremely safe and relaxed in the passenger seat. Clark himself was very relaxed and unruffled. When they had finished a timekeeper informed them that they had in fact broken the lap record for the vehicle class.
The danger was always there in those days though and Clark actually came unstuck and was killed in a fairly minor race in Germany. Some say it was driver error others that it was a tyre problem. Nevertheless, a great driver.

What are your thoughts on Michael Schumacher Cookie?

A lot of people forget what he was like as a driver because his car was so good for a lot of his career. Most memories of him are winning races with a leg up in the air.

However, when push came to shove, he was as aggressive as anyone and used to spread his elbows and force others to decide if they were ready to have a crash or not.

Of course he had the respect that meant people jumped out of his way, but a saint behind the wheel he was not.

[cookie2]

What are your thoughts on Michael Schumacher Cookie?

A lot of people forget what he was like as a driver because his car was so good for a lot of his career. Most memories of him are winning races with a leg up in the air.

However, when push came to shove, he was as aggressive as anyone and used to spread his elbows and force others to decide if they were ready to have a crash or not.

Of course he had the respect that meant people jumped out of his way, but a saint behind the wheel he was not.

Obviously a very hard charger K, and you can't deny his success. However, not my favourite I'm afraid. I was brought up in the era of more gentlemanly behaviour and the likes of Shumacher don't appeal. Another "whatever it takes" merchant. He was a bully,  Jim Clark was a tough competitor but always a gent iirc. I guess it's a generational thing. Rose tinted specs may also be in play! 

[Gointocarlton]

Really ? I thought he came across as a petulant, entitled little sh1t......which has been my take on him from the get go.

Maybe he'll mature one day.....but as someone who's followed motor racing for most of 40 years....and grew up listening to my Dad tell stories of watching the likes of Jim Clark, Jack Brabham, Graeme Hill, Bruce McLaren etc. racing around country roads in Northern Tassie.......the current f1 drivers for the most part leave me completely cold.

Maybe it's generational thing....but most of them just have no sort of engaging personality whatsoever.  Riccardo excepted.

Agree 100% with the bold bit. FWIW, I dont like Ricciardo much either. He started off as your typical humble aussie sportsman in a world of fuel injected egos. He has quickly adapted and become one of them. For a bloke who has achieved two tenths of fark all (in terms of poles, wins and championships), he should get back to basics and STFU with the attitude. The champion drivers get down and dirty and help the team figure out problems with the car. Schumacher went to a dog of a team riddled with issues and worked his ass off to help get Ferrari back up to the top of the tree. Ricciardo chooses to sook up when the car breaks down and its why he'll never win a championship or be considered one of the all time greats.

[LP]

Interesting to read Ricciardo's comments about being snubbed by Ferrari and Mercedes.

Ricciardo himself leaves it unstated, but it's pretty clear to F1 fans that this is more likely to be about the influence of the incumbents in those teams and not so much the choice of other drivers over Ricciardo.

Why would Vettel or Hamilton want any serious challenger when they can comfortably remain entrenched with a B-Grade team-mate, and why would those teams risk insulting those incumbents who bring in the big dollars?

In F1, money is the root of all evil!

[DJC]

I recently saw an interesting F1 trivia item.

The South African army has a remote control mine detection vehicle that uses wheels and tyres left over from the South African Grand Prix.  Apparently, the wide, smooth tyres distribute the weight of the vehicle so that it doesn’t detonate mines or IEDs.

Can you imagine our armed forces, or those of our allies, making use of second hand kit, let alone in such an innovative way?

That’s about the extent of my interest in F1 ????

[LP]

I recently saw an interesting F1 trivia item.

The South African army has a remote control mine detection vehicle that uses wheels and tyres left over from the South African Grand Prix.  Apparently, the wide, smooth tyres distribute the weight of the vehicle so that it doesn’t detonate mines or IEDs.

Can you imagine our armed forces, or those of our allies, making use of second hand kit, let alone in such an innovative way?

That’s about the extent of my interest in F1 ????

I suspect it's not just the rubber but the carbon fibre rims, many modern IEDs targetting vehicles require both pressure and magnetic, they won't go off if your neighbours donkey steps on them! F1 would be a good source of cheap hardware for the researchers, because they make them so light a as a result relatively fragile they basically throw away the rims after a race due to the risk of fatigue failure.

I've worked in a group that did some of the R&D with Deakin Uni for a Geelong company called Carbon Evolution, and I know they have blast tested ruggidised versions for light transport vehicles like Troupies and the Hawkei / Bushmaster / Marauder type armoured trucks. You can read a bit here, http://www.carbonrev.com/motorsports

[LP]

Interesting to read Hamilton has equalled or is about to equal a bunch of Schumacher's records.

Hamilton is probably the best of the bunch at the moment, and he has maintained a long period of tenancy in the fastest car, which means he betters his team-mates regularly. Does that make Hamilton the driver equal of Schumacher, Senna or some other greats?

I do realise there was a lot of politics in the Schumacher era, but I don't think there is any less now, it's just delivered differently.

I'm not sure modern F1 is a true measure of driver, for me there is too much remote control influenced by engineers and technology, technology that allows cars to be reconfigured on the fly. I preferred the old days, when how a car left the grid was how the car performed, all configured and setup in advance.

I particularly dislike drivers begging over the radio mid-race for permission to dial up more power.

[Gointocarlton]

Interesting to read Hamilton has equalled or is about to equal a bunch of Schumacher's records.

Hamilton is probably the best of the bunch at the moment, and he has maintained a long period of tenancy in the fastest car, which means he betters his team-mates regularly. Does that make Hamilton the driver equal of Schumacher, Senna or some other greats?

I do realise there was a lot of politics in the Schumacher era, but I don't think there is any less now, it's just delivered differently.

I'm not sure modern F1 is a true measure of driver, for me there is too much remote control influenced by engineers and technology, technology that allows cars to be reconfigured on the fly. I preferred the old days, when how a car left the grid was how the car performed, all configured and setup in advance.

I particularly dislike drivers begging over the radio mid-race for permission to dial up more power.

Agree in part, it still takes a hell of a lot of skill to drive these things, they are so blisteringly fast compared to the older cars which despite being very loud, are not a patch on these hybrid ones speed wise. Hamilton as driver is as good as there has ever been, he is clean and fast when he needs to be. He is a master at qualifying and rarely crashes. I understand he is in the best car but there has always been another guy in the same car and he has shown them a clean pair of heals. He is also a racer and by that, I mean he can negotiate his way through the field when he finds himself at the back. Someone like Damon Hill for example was blisteringly fast but could negotiate an F1 car in traffic to save himself. A front runner.
As a person, he is giving me the s h i t s with his BLM stuff in the way that he is cracking it with the drivers who wont take a knee. He is acting like a spoiled brat which is is turning me off. Spose Ill be branded racist for not agreeing with him.
By the way, its interesting to hear him take this so very seriously and be so vocal about statues symbolizing racism being torn down
and thrown in rivers yet he happily takes cheques from Mercedes and Hugo Boss  (plastered all over his clothing) who have chequered pasts with respect to use of slave labour.