2019 so far - been pretty good :)
Discussion
What is the general feeling about this season so far? I've really enjoyed it, for quite a few unexpected reasons.
-Liberty's tweaks and changes have generally been positive I think.
-Mercedes continued dominance could have been dull but it's actually quite impressive now. We're seeing something pretty unique play out in F1.
-Red Bull resurgence, their car is probably superior overall to the Ferrari, which has lead to a few great battles in-spite of Merc generally running clear ahead. Pretty sure next year Red Bull vs Ferrari will be a major story.
-Several really great races, some consecutive
-The tweaks to make overtaking easier have worked, and without slowing the cars down as feared. Excellent work by the rule makers and the teams.
-The teams have been 'encouraged' to open up so we have the podcasts and netflix series which have both been excellent really.
-The midfield battles have become numerous and have not played out as generally expected/predicted - McLaren are doing really well after a far too long lasting dry spell!
-A few young drivers have been impressive. Leclerc doing really well at Ferrari, Russell looks very strong and Albon has really impressed in the Red Bull. the media use the term "changing of the guard". I have to agree, over the next few years that will happen.
For all the fears that this season would just be more Mercedes dominance, there has actually been a lot else to see and many great races indeed. Next year is an evolutionary year, and should produce more of the same and perhaps even more surprise changes in the order. It's been a lot of fun so far and one of the best seasons for years. I hope the general consensus is the same - I'm sure if it isn't I'll soon find out
-Liberty's tweaks and changes have generally been positive I think.
-Mercedes continued dominance could have been dull but it's actually quite impressive now. We're seeing something pretty unique play out in F1.
-Red Bull resurgence, their car is probably superior overall to the Ferrari, which has lead to a few great battles in-spite of Merc generally running clear ahead. Pretty sure next year Red Bull vs Ferrari will be a major story.
-Several really great races, some consecutive
-The tweaks to make overtaking easier have worked, and without slowing the cars down as feared. Excellent work by the rule makers and the teams.
-The teams have been 'encouraged' to open up so we have the podcasts and netflix series which have both been excellent really.
-The midfield battles have become numerous and have not played out as generally expected/predicted - McLaren are doing really well after a far too long lasting dry spell!
-A few young drivers have been impressive. Leclerc doing really well at Ferrari, Russell looks very strong and Albon has really impressed in the Red Bull. the media use the term "changing of the guard". I have to agree, over the next few years that will happen.
For all the fears that this season would just be more Mercedes dominance, there has actually been a lot else to see and many great races indeed. Next year is an evolutionary year, and should produce more of the same and perhaps even more surprise changes in the order. It's been a lot of fun so far and one of the best seasons for years. I hope the general consensus is the same - I'm sure if it isn't I'll soon find out
Edited by TheDeuce on Saturday 7th September 00:04
vdn said:
Yep; it’s been a good season so far. Plenty going on and the rise of Max, CLC; the new blood of Albon, Norris and Russel is also exciting.
Can't believe I forgot to add Max to the list of season highlights. What he's achieved for his team almost single handedly for half a season is very impressive.Despite a high proportion of great races, I don’t think it can be considered a ‘classic’ season because the Driver’s and Constructor’s champion could be correctly predicted by even the most casually interested fan going into the summer break.
I am enjoying this season but I am excited by the changes in the works for 2021 in particular. I have a decent amount of faith in both the technical and sporting / corporate direction which is an unusual position for me to be in having been an F1 fan my entire adult life.
I am enjoying this season but I am excited by the changes in the works for 2021 in particular. I have a decent amount of faith in both the technical and sporting / corporate direction which is an unusual position for me to be in having been an F1 fan my entire adult life.
To me the season is made up of 21 individual races. The Championship titles are simply the outcome of the season. So this is a very good season, they can’t always end like 2008.
I suppose another question is do we think that points scoring is good. Bernie wanted Gold, Silver and Bronze, so we ended up with a ludicrously large gap between 1st and 2nd. So I think awarding a point for fastest lap was a step in the right direction. Why not points for a pole, or even fasted lap on Hard tyres?
I suppose another question is do we think that points scoring is good. Bernie wanted Gold, Silver and Bronze, so we ended up with a ludicrously large gap between 1st and 2nd. So I think awarding a point for fastest lap was a step in the right direction. Why not points for a pole, or even fasted lap on Hard tyres?
May well be better but as there's no way of watching it without paying unlike many other top quality motorsport series I wouldn't know. From what I read in the specialist press it seems to be same old issues of track limits, inconsistent penalties and musical chairs with grid positions because of part life spans.
Kraken said:
May well be better but as there's no way of watching it without paying unlike many other top quality motorsport series I wouldn't know. From what I read in the specialist press it seems to be same old issues of track limits, inconsistent penalties and musical chairs with grid positions because of part life spans.
Well you can see it without paying if you really want to.I think it's been a really good season.
vdn said:
Yep; it’s been a good season so far. Plenty going on and the rise of Max, CLC; the new blood of Albon, Norris and Russel is also exciting.
Agree, but the might and dominance of Mercedes is still very much unquestioned over the course of the season.Some individual races have been very entertaining though. More so than in previous years I guess.
Kraken said:
May well be better but as there's no way of watching it without paying unlike many other top quality motorsport series I wouldn't know. From what I read in the specialist press it seems to be same old issues of track limits, inconsistent penalties and musical chairs with grid positions because of part life spans.
You can watch (short) highlights of all sessions on Youtube for free.There are many sky torrents (1080 quality) available within an hour of the race (legal/illegal depending on your country and morals)
Today's race wasn't great as the Ferrari engine is a little like the 2014-2016 Mercedes one; so powerful no-one else can really do anything about it.
I was glued to my seat until the pitstops but as soon as Leclerc came out ahead of Hamilton I went to make a cup of tea. My old Dad who was watching with me thought I was nuts - "but they're going wheel to wheel"! "Nah", says I, "Hamilton won't be able to get past and even if Leclerc makes a mistake he'll take the place back on the next lap".
Sadly I was right. Still, we did get to see a couple of lunges and Leclerc did indeed make a mistake. So it could have been worse. I was mostly watching to see how Albon progressed; pity for him he didn't manage to take one of the Renaults. Not quite such a stellar performance as Red Bull may have been expecting.
I was glued to my seat until the pitstops but as soon as Leclerc came out ahead of Hamilton I went to make a cup of tea. My old Dad who was watching with me thought I was nuts - "but they're going wheel to wheel"! "Nah", says I, "Hamilton won't be able to get past and even if Leclerc makes a mistake he'll take the place back on the next lap".
Sadly I was right. Still, we did get to see a couple of lunges and Leclerc did indeed make a mistake. So it could have been worse. I was mostly watching to see how Albon progressed; pity for him he didn't manage to take one of the Renaults. Not quite such a stellar performance as Red Bull may have been expecting.
Flooble said:
Today's race wasn't great as the Ferrari engine is a little like the 2014-2016 Mercedes one; so powerful no-one else can really do anything about it.
I was glued to my seat until the pitstops but as soon as Leclerc came out ahead of Hamilton I went to make a cup of tea. My old Dad who was watching with me thought I was nuts - "but they're going wheel to wheel"! "Nah", says I, "Hamilton won't be able to get past and even if Leclerc makes a mistake he'll take the place back on the next lap".
Sadly I was right. Still, we did get to see a couple of lunges and Leclerc did indeed make a mistake. So it could have been worse. I was mostly watching to see how Albon progressed; pity for him he didn't manage to take one of the Renaults. Not quite such a stellar performance as Red Bull may have been expecting.
Today was indeed yet another 'above average' race I was glued to my seat until the pitstops but as soon as Leclerc came out ahead of Hamilton I went to make a cup of tea. My old Dad who was watching with me thought I was nuts - "but they're going wheel to wheel"! "Nah", says I, "Hamilton won't be able to get past and even if Leclerc makes a mistake he'll take the place back on the next lap".
Sadly I was right. Still, we did get to see a couple of lunges and Leclerc did indeed make a mistake. So it could have been worse. I was mostly watching to see how Albon progressed; pity for him he didn't manage to take one of the Renaults. Not quite such a stellar performance as Red Bull may have been expecting.
I'm not so sure that if Lewis had passed he would have been taken again - maybe if CLC managed to come back very soon, but over a couple of laps the Merc would have been able to stretch at least a +1s advantage and that would have been safe territory.
But whatever, for the purposes of this thread, it was yet another not entirely predictable and fairly dramatic race, and at a historic track with the home team winning (let's just ignore that Mercedes took more points today..).
I think it's fair to say that this is the fifth race in a row this season that was definitely worth watching. That is quite a feat in a season where we already know who the winners are.
TheDeuce said:
I think it's fair to say that this is the fifth race in a row this season that was definitely worth watching. That is quite a feat in a season where we already know who the winners are.
Yep, fundamentally F1 is just about there now with Honda and Ferrari finally getting close to the Mercedes power unit. Feels like a proper transitional period as well with loads of young talent coming through.France aside (which without weather is difficult to see ever offering up a decent race) the circuits aren't too bad either with the current generation of cars.
2020 could be an absolute peach before it all gets ripped apart for 2021.
ukaskew said:
Yep, fundamentally F1 is just about there now with Honda and Ferrari finally getting close to the Mercedes power unit. Feels like a proper transitional period as well with loads of young talent coming through.
France aside (which without weather is difficult to see ever offering up a decent race) the circuits aren't too bad either with the current generation of cars.
2020 could be an absolute peach before it all gets ripped apart for 2021.
Yep! 2021... who knows!?!?! All we know for sure is that is that the established order is bound falter in some ways as the changes are just massive. At least 2021 itself should be interesting. Beyond that season, time will tell if the changes lead to an actual improvement or not.France aside (which without weather is difficult to see ever offering up a decent race) the circuits aren't too bad either with the current generation of cars.
2020 could be an absolute peach before it all gets ripped apart for 2021.
Totally agree that next year will be great. Red Bull are going to be all over Ferrari - that's a battle worth watching. Who cares if at the same time Mercedes are dominant? It couldn't have worked out any better as a final season before the big changes imo.
It's been a remarkably exciting season. Bahrain was a classic, with a beginning, middle and end. The start was great, with battles between the two Ferraris, always good to watch, Bottas magic first lap and dreadful second, the midfield fights which included Ricciardo backing into another car just like in a Tesco car park, and the pathos at the end.
There have been five really exciting races so far this season. Pretty good undersells it to a degree.
We've had Ferraris on the front row a number of times. Merc's dominance has taken a hit in low downforce circuits, with Ferrari showing out, and high downforce ones, with Verstappen maturing well.
On to of that, we've seen the fall of a 5 x WDC. Bahrain showed his frailty but then he came back with a great battle with Verstappen, but that was it.
A season to remember, with eight races to go.
There have been five really exciting races so far this season. Pretty good undersells it to a degree.
We've had Ferraris on the front row a number of times. Merc's dominance has taken a hit in low downforce circuits, with Ferrari showing out, and high downforce ones, with Verstappen maturing well.
On to of that, we've seen the fall of a 5 x WDC. Bahrain showed his frailty but then he came back with a great battle with Verstappen, but that was it.
A season to remember, with eight races to go.
Kraken said:
May well be better but as there's no way of watching it without paying unlike many other top quality motorsport series I wouldn't know. From what I read in the specialist press it seems to be same old issues of track limits, inconsistent penalties and musical chairs with grid positions because of part life spans.
So you haven't seen it, but you've made up your mind (and decided to tell everyone) anyway?Classic internet logic there.
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