The Official Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Thread **SPOILERS**

[GadgeS3C]

MG CHRIS said:

Just watched the replay on the red button 5 mins of coverage to sum up the whole race best part was vettel at the end and the conversation with horner about this fine is yours this time.

Something drastically needs to change or im not watching not really been interested in the last few races and nothing has changed for this race.

As it was only highlights on BBC I watched the red button coverage expecting a repeat of the highights show - it was 5 minutes of coverage! Went from lap 1 to lap 20 and then pretty much to lap 50.

Even if it was the dullest race ever that seemed a bit rubbish, even if we did get a some more doughnuts.

[Eric Mc]

I never use the TV Red Button service as you have little or no control on what you get to see or at what point in the sporting event the coverage is at when you turn it on.

It is much better to wait for the proper iPlayer version to be up on the BBC iPlayer. This can either be accessed by your computer or if you have one of the TV "Watch Again" type services, such as provided by Virgin Media.

[VladD]

Pints said:

Just popping in to say I'm disappointed that Alonso didn't receive a penalty for his offroad excursion. If he was faster on the newer tyres, as the stewards state, he should have made a legitimate pass on the track, not off it.

It's a tricky one that. You could easily argue that he was forced off the track and the other driver should have received a penalty. I think no penalty for either was the right decision. Putting the pit exit on the outside of a fast corner was probably a bad decision.

[IainT]

moffspeed said:

Highlight for me was the view of the solar eclipse as they did the arty sunset shot - anyone else see that ?

Sadly this was the case for me too.

Actually, that's not entirely true, some of the midfield battles were OK but nothing hugely exciting.

[Megaflow]

HoHoHo said:

moffspeed said:

Highlight for me was the view of the solar eclipse as they did the arty sunset shot - anyone else see that ?

I noticed that and it wasn't mentioned at all - that type of eclipse is extremely rare apparently.

Is that what that was. I did see it, and it was stunning, I assumed it was the sun setting behind something. Not quite sure what I thought it was setting behind in a desert though!

[Derek Smith]

I've never thought of myself as doe-eyed, nor unblinking. And far from uncritical. However, I thought the race was rather interesting. It is apparent that the teams are not throwing an awful lot of money at the cars given that they will be junk in a few weekends' time and this does dull the thrills somewhat but the race, whilst not one of the best, nor particularly memorable, it kept me fixed to the TV. There was some excitement further down the field.

The teams do seem to lack a bit of commitment though and it is not helped by Raik's attitude. This does seem to rub off on me to an extent.

Maybe on others as well, with a total of 17 pages on the thread. Not particularly impressive.

Neither am I filled with excitement over the coming season. With the change being so massive there was a certain hope that something radical would emerge, but that appears to have been dashed.

How many teams on the grid next season?

[vonuber]

Ferrari, redbull, Mercedes, mclaren, Williams?, lotus?, force india, torro rosso, sauber?, caterham?, marussia??

Could be as low as 6 maybe.

[anonymous-user]

Pints said:

Just popping in to say I'm disappointed that Alonso didn't receive a penalty for his offroad excursion. If he was faster on the newer tyres, as the stewards state, he should have made a legitimate pass on the track, not off it.

Jean-Eric Vergne believes Abu Dhabi Grand Prix stewards were right not to penalise Fernando Alonso for overtaking him off the track.

The Toro Rosso driver said he had not seen Alonso as the Spaniard emerged from the pits on the 45th lap of the race, meaning he took his regular line through Turn 3.

Stewards investigated the incident as technically Alonso passed Vergne for seventh while outside the track limits, but no action was taken on the basis that the Ferrari driver had no choice.

Vergne praised Alonso for his actions and said they prevented the possibility of a big accident

"It was a racing incident and if he had not gone on the outside [of the track] like he did, we would have had a big crash," Vergne told AUTOSPORT.

"It was high-speed, and what he did was right. Actually, I am really happy he did that otherwise we would have had an accident, so yes, definitely [the stewards made the right decision]."

"I knew that I might be racing against him but as I didn't see him on the left, I thought he was in front of me. But he was next to me where I could not see him."

[Kaiser_Wull]

Derek Smith said:

I've never thought of myself as doe-eyed, nor unblinking. And far from uncritical. However, I thought the race was rather interesting. It is apparent that the teams are not throwing an awful lot of money at the cars given that they will be junk in a few weekends' time and this does dull the thrills somewhat but the race, whilst not one of the best, nor particularly memorable, it kept me fixed to the TV. There was some excitement further down the field.

The teams do seem to lack a bit of commitment though and it is not helped by Raik's attitude. This does seem to rub off on me to an extent.

Maybe on others as well, with a total of 17 pages on the thread. Not particularly impressive.

Neither am I filled with excitement over the coming season. With the change being so massive there was a certain hope that something radical would emerge, but that appears to have been dashed.

How many teams on the grid next season?

Grow up and stop laying into Raikkonen. You're starting to come across like Andrew Benson, and that ain't a compliment.

If you want to appropriate blame for the current state of F1 then there are plenty of deserving targets.

[Megaflow]

Kaiser_Wull said:

Derek Smith said:

I've never thought of myself as doe-eyed, nor unblinking. And far from uncritical. However, I thought the race was rather interesting. It is apparent that the teams are not throwing an awful lot of money at the cars given that they will be junk in a few weekends' time and this does dull the thrills somewhat but the race, whilst not one of the best, nor particularly memorable, it kept me fixed to the TV. There was some excitement further down the field.

The teams do seem to lack a bit of commitment though and it is not helped by Raik's attitude. This does seem to rub off on me to an extent.

Maybe on others as well, with a total of 17 pages on the thread. Not particularly impressive.

Neither am I filled with excitement over the coming season. With the change being so massive there was a certain hope that something radical would emerge, but that appears to have been dashed.

How many teams on the grid next season?

Grow up and stop laying into Raikkonen. You're starting to come across like Andrew Benson, and that ain't a compliment.

If you want to appropriate blame for the current state of F1 then there are plenty of deserving targets.

Indeed. He hasn't been paid a dollar all season, I can't believe he is still racing.

He is obviously keeping his side of the contract so he can sue them at a later date.

[Chrisgr31]

I only saw the highlights show on the BBC and it appeared to be quite a good race!

[Agoogy]

REALIST123 said:

Jean-Eric Vergne believes Abu Dhabi Grand Prix stewards were right not to penalise Fernando Alonso for overtaking him off the track.

hmm...'driver of a car with a Ferrari engine says Ferrari did nothing wrong' shock...
Vergen may not have seen FA...but FA saw Vergne...wasn't impressed by that bit of driving from him at all there...

[Derek Smith]

Kaiser_Wull said:

Derek Smith said:

I've never thought of myself as doe-eyed, nor unblinking. And far from uncritical. However, I thought the race was rather interesting. It is apparent that the teams are not throwing an awful lot of money at the cars given that they will be junk in a few weekends' time and this does dull the thrills somewhat but the race, whilst not one of the best, nor particularly memorable, it kept me fixed to the TV. There was some excitement further down the field.

The teams do seem to lack a bit of commitment though and it is not helped by Raik's attitude. This does seem to rub off on me to an extent.

Maybe on others as well, with a total of 17 pages on the thread. Not particularly impressive.

Neither am I filled with excitement over the coming season. With the change being so massive there was a certain hope that something radical would emerge, but that appears to have been dashed.

How many teams on the grid next season?

Grow up and stop laying into Raikkonen. You're starting to come across like Andrew Benson, and that ain't a compliment.

If you want to appropriate blame for the current state of F1 then there are plenty of deserving targets.

Kaiser_Wull said:

Grow up and stop laying into Raikkonen. You're starting to come across like Andrew Benson, and that ain't a compliment.

If you want to appropriate blame for the current state of F1 then there are plenty of deserving targets.

Thank you for your comment. I will treat it with all the respect it deserves.

Just to clarify something I thought was clear enough, I'm not suggesting that Raik is to blame for the state of F1 at the moment. I have made my point of view where blame lies clear enough in the past and Raik didn't feature. I am sympathetic to the bloke, indeed a fan of his driving style, so my, rather mild, suggestion was that his frustrations have rubbed on on me. Hardly juvenile and certainly not laying into him.

However, are some drivers off the range? Can't we suggest that some of them might not have been on the boil for every race?

[oyster]

toppstuff said:

oyster said:

Massa, tyres, tracks, Vettel - is there nothing you like about F1? Seriously, why do you bother visiting an F1 internet forum if you dislike it so much?

In fairness, this forum also has a few people who seem completely blinkered to the notion that F1 could be a lot better.

Some of the apologists here would seem to find entertainment out of the dullest races, watching them with doe-eyed, unblinking, uncritical acceptance. It displays a noticeable lack of imagination IMO.

I'm not so blinkered to think F1 couldn't be better. But

But there does seem to be a core of people on these forums who seem to want F1 cars to behave like TVRs using space saver wheels on an ice track.

[toppstuff]

oyster said:

toppstuff said:

oyster said:

Massa, tyres, tracks, Vettel - is there nothing you like about F1? Seriously, why do you bother visiting an F1 internet forum if you dislike it so much?

In fairness, this forum also has a few people who seem completely blinkered to the notion that F1 could be a lot better.

Some of the apologists here would seem to find entertainment out of the dullest races, watching them with doe-eyed, unblinking, uncritical acceptance. It displays a noticeable lack of imagination IMO.

I'm not so blinkered to think F1 couldn't be better. But

But there does seem to be a core of people on these forums who seem to want F1 cars to behave like TVRs using space saver wheels on an ice track.

Agreed. I am old enough and have watched F1 for long enough to know what it can and cannot be, but I see your point.



May I also add that if there were a series involving TVR's on skinny wheels racing on ice, I would definitely watch it. That is a great idea for a race series. Go and set yourself up as Bernie mk2, I'd pay money to help buy the rights and sell it to Sky.

[Derek Smith]

toppstuff said:

May I also add that if there were a series involving TVR's on skinny wheels racing on ice, I would definitely watch it. That is a great idea for a race series. Go and set yourself up as Bernie mk2, I'd pay money to help buy the rights and sell it to Sky.

No need for ice. If you are that old you must remember the Tuscan Challenge.

When it was televised it was followed by a considerable number of people where I worked. We would have conversations about the drivers. One chap used to record it and play it on the TV in the refs room. I'd be on the phone and would hear a cheer or an 'ooooo' every now and again. Great fun. A car with more power than chassis, and drivers with more money than sense, is the recipe for an exciting series.

Whether it made money directly for TVR is open to question. Some suggested that the only things that made consistent profits for TVR were servicing and the Challenge.

But then that could not be right as these were the first things that Smolenski closed and as only a fool would close sources of revenue, those who told me this must have been wrong.

[Roo]

It made enough money to keep the business going and to allow Peter to go racing for free.

Not all the drivers had more money than sense.

[Crafty_]

MG CHRIS said:

Crafty_ said:

but its ok if a btcc driver can overtake because he's got more boost than everyone else ?

I could spend all night arguing this and that but at the end you still will hate the btcc and I wont change my mind so bye bye.

No need to be aggressive, I don't understand how its ok in BTCC but not in F1 ? Whatever way you look at it the driver in both scenarios is being given an advantage that the guy in front doesn't have.

[Scuffers]

ash73 said:

How about giving teams a limited number of test days depending on their position in the championship? i.e. Caterham/Marussia get unlimited days, mid-field teams get 5-10 days, top teams 1-2 days. That should close it up a bit.

And give all the drivers except Vettel some driving lessons

I like that idea

[RichB]

ash73 said:

How about giving teams a limited number of test days depending on their position in the championship? i.e. Caterham/Marussia get unlimited days, mid-field teams get 5-10 days, top teams 1-2 days. That should close it up a bit.

And give all the drivers except Vettel some driving lessons

No he'll need them as well next season when, apparently, it'll be a more level playing field.

Hopefully he won't be able to deactivate his team mates KERs on the start line