The Official Bahrain GP Thread***SPOILERS***

The Official Bahrain GP Thread***SPOILERS***

Author
Discussion

Mermaid

21,492 posts

172 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
Gene Vincent said:
Life is so much easier with simple hate figures.

Bernie has much to hate, a surfeit, but there is much to admire too, the teams would self-destruct if they were not controlled by a tyrant, he has to tyrannical to play on the same field and that is a persona, he has to be 'bigger' than all the teams combined, he is and many can't see why and just see the ego-mania.

When he started on his position he was no-where near as well known as the teams, he had an uphill struggle, but once on top he is the Ring Master, the circus plays his tune.

Something like Bahrain would have been a self-destructive event without him, t.
Ditto Iraq, Libya, Syria wink




Gene Vincent

4,002 posts

159 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
The money comes from coverage, all the wealth of the sport is generated from that.

TV companies get very tetchy about events being called off after setting their course for broadcasting, without Bernie this last week and numerous other times too, the money would cease and the sport would lose its appeal with a 'superleague' of 4 teams emerging, bernie fears this more than anything [I'm guessing admittedly] that is why he hated watching the Red Bull processions for a few years, that is why he capped the money spent by teams and the regs try to bring smaller teams to the fore or at least give them their best chance.

If I'm any judge of the thinking behind the man then he is delighted to see this year 4 different winners in four races and even more happy to see Perez, Grosjean, Kimi and the rest mixing it up.

He will be delighted to see 2 lotus cars on the podium, not for nationalistic reasons [which may be there in small measure] but for the fact it throws the races open for other sponsors to pay up more money and build that team.

He is the epitome of egalitarianism in the sport, he would like to see all of them winning one race a year, that is why it is such a long season I think, 20 races 12 teams, fewer and fewer engines, penalties for swapping bits.

If you can look beyond the 'Wizard of Oz' charade, then it is far more interesting than a simpletons view of a nasty venal man with no heart behaving badly.

A Scotsman

1,000 posts

200 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
One thing I fail to understand is why cars are allowed to park immediately after the race to save fuel/weight. Vettel did this at Bahrain and didn't make it back to parc ferme.

Seems to me though that cars shouldn't be allowed to do that unless there's an emergency of some sort. Perhaps the race shouldn't be deemed to have been completed unless the car makes it back and those that stop deliberately out on the track should be penalised.

Eric Mc

122,106 posts

266 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
Don't they all pull in at Spa?

stephen300o

15,464 posts

229 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
A Scotsman said:
One thing I fail to understand is why cars are allowed to park immediately after the race to save fuel/weight. Vettel did this at Bahrain and didn't make it back to parc ferme.

Seems to me though that cars shouldn't be allowed to do that unless there's an emergency of some sort. Perhaps the race shouldn't be deemed to have been completed unless the car makes it back and those that stop deliberately out on the track should be penalised.
Nico did the same, can't see any harm done, what do you feel is wrong about it?

JonRB

74,765 posts

273 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
stephen300o said:
Nico did the same, can't see any harm done, what do you feel is wrong about it?
The whole point of Parc Ferme is so that scrutineers can quarantine the cars from tampering in order to scrutineer them. If they are allowed to be abandoned on track then this can't happen.

Personally I'd argue that failing to make it back to the pits (and hence Parc Ferme) after crossing the finish line is a DNF as much as if you had stopped just before the finish line.

Derek Smith

45,772 posts

249 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
Not sure about that. The hatred fired directly at F1 over the week-end was pretty much unprecedented as far as I can recall.
The South Africa GP in the middle 80s. There was massive pressure brought to bear on the sport but Balestre went ahead. The degree of criticism afterwards made him back down. For all the criticisms levelled at Balestre, and almost all justified, he was an enthusiast for the sport.

I know memory can play tricks but I think that the pressure then was much more forceful. The Bahrain GP responses were quite muted in comparison.

Derek Smith

45,772 posts

249 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
Gene Vincent said:
Life is so much easier with simple hate figures.

Bernie has much to hate, a surfeit, but there is much to admire too, the teams would self-destruct if they were not controlled by a tyrant, he has to tyrannical to play on the same field and that is a persona, he has to be 'bigger' than all the teams combined, he is and many can't see why and just see the ego-mania.

When he started on his position he was no-where near as well known as the teams, he had an uphill struggle, but once on top he is the Ring Master, the circus plays his tune.

Something like Bahrain would have been a self-destructive event without him, with some teams going, some not, and there would be no 'championship' worth calling the name... and Bahrain type of events have been plentiful in the past.
Perhaps without Ecclestone going towards money like a rat on a rocket down a drain there would not have been a GP in Bahrain to object to. It might have been replaced by one in a country where the populace cared about F1.

stephen300o

15,464 posts

229 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
JonRB said:
stephen300o said:
Nico did the same, can't see any harm done, what do you feel is wrong about it?
The whole point of Parc Ferme is so that scrutineers can quarantine the cars from tampering in order to scrutineer them. If they are allowed to be abandoned on track then this can't happen.

Personally I'd argue that failing to make it back to the pits (and hence Parc Ferme) after crossing the finish line is a DNF as much as if you had stopped just before the finish line.
Parc Ferme is nice and neat and tidy for the OCD, but a bit of overkill really. Where's the trust? wink

joewilliams

2,004 posts

202 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
Don't they all pull in at Spa?
That's just down to the length of the lap - they still go to Parc Ferme.

Eric Mc

122,106 posts

266 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
joewilliams said:
Eric Mc said:
Don't they all pull in at Spa?
That's just down to the length of the lap - they still go to Parc Ferme.
I do know that. The point was that they don't do a "slowing down" lap as part of normal procedure at Spa.

I was womdering about the two cars on Sunday not ending up in parc fermé. However, I am pretysure the regulations do allow a car to stop outside of parc fermé as long as an FIA official ensures that nothing is done to the car before it eventually gets back to parc fermé.


Gene Vincent

4,002 posts

159 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
Derek Smith said:
Gene Vincent said:
Life is so much easier with simple hate figures.

Bernie has much to hate, a surfeit, but there is much to admire too, the teams would self-destruct if they were not controlled by a tyrant, he has to tyrannical to play on the same field and that is a persona, he has to be 'bigger' than all the teams combined, he is and many can't see why and just see the ego-mania.

When he started on his position he was no-where near as well known as the teams, he had an uphill struggle, but once on top he is the Ring Master, the circus plays his tune.

Something like Bahrain would have been a self-destructive event without him, with some teams going, some not, and there would be no 'championship' worth calling the name... and Bahrain type of events have been plentiful in the past.
Perhaps without Ecclestone going towards money like a rat on a rocket down a drain there would not have been a GP in Bahrain to object to. It might have been replaced by one in a country where the populace cared about F1.
The alternate view is that without him taking F1 to these places a more local competitor to F1 would emerge and we then have no clue who is the best driver or anything else, it would be a mess, just like Boxing for so many years.

Eric Mc

122,106 posts

266 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
My prediction is that Bernie is sowing the seeds for just such a mess.

Derek Smith

45,772 posts

249 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
Gene Vincent said:
The alternate view is that without him taking F1 to these places a more local competitor to F1 would emerge and we then have no clue who is the best driver or anything else, it would be a mess, just like Boxing for so many years.
You think the WDC shows which is the best driver? At the most it could only define who is the best driver in F1 and it doesn't do that. On these forums we've had arguments about which driver is the best one in a team.

DanDC5

18,823 posts

168 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
Derek Smith said:
Perhaps without Ecclestone going towards money like a rat on a rocket down a drain there would not have been a GP in Bahrain to object to. It might have been replaced by one in a country where the populace cared about F1.
If the race hadn't gone ahead Bahrain would have to pay Bernie more money than just the race fee. Financially it was in his interest for the race to be cancelled.


Derek Smith said:
Gene Vincent said:
The alternate view is that without him taking F1 to these places a more local competitor to F1 would emerge and we then have no clue who is the best driver or anything else, it would be a mess, just like Boxing for so many years.
You think the WDC shows which is the best driver? At the most it could only define who is the best driver in F1 and it doesn't do that. On these forums we've had arguments about which driver is the best one in a team.
The WDC has for the last 30+ years shown who was the best car/driver combination rather than outright best driver imo. F1 is a team sport and all that....

Edited by DanDC5 on Tuesday 24th April 11:59

Eric Mc

122,106 posts

266 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
Bernie actually told the Crown Prince on live TV that he had been silly to go ahead with the race.

Alfa numeric

3,027 posts

180 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
DanDC5 said:
If the race hadn't gone ahead Bahrain would have to pay Bernie more money than just the race fee. Financially it was in his interest for the race to be cancelled.
Only if the Bahrainis cancelled it. If he pulled the plug the money would have flowed in the other direction.

Gene Vincent

4,002 posts

159 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
Derek Smith said:
Gene Vincent said:
The alternate view is that without him taking F1 to these places a more local competitor to F1 would emerge and we then have no clue who is the best driver or anything else, it would be a mess, just like Boxing for so many years.
You think the WDC shows which is the best driver? At the most it could only define who is the best driver in F1 and it doesn't do that. On these forums we've had arguments about which driver is the best one in a team.
I do actually.

Debate is good, things are debatable, it allows us to postulate, but as a snapshot, the WDC is a de facto statement on who has done the best in the given year, it's why Bernie rejoices when the cars are more even, he too, just like you and me, wants the cars to get 'closer' and the drivers challenge each other on a more even playing field, but without all of them driving the same car.

I can't think of a single WDC that didn't deserve the title.

Derek Smith

45,772 posts

249 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
DanDC5 said:
Derek Smith said:
Perhaps without Ecclestone going towards money like a rat on a rocket down a drain there would not have been a GP in Bahrain to object to. It might have been replaced by one in a country where the populace cared about F1.
If the race hadn't gone ahead Bahrain would have to pay Bernie more money than just the race fee. Financially it was in his interest for the race to be cancelled.
You miss my point. Had it not been for Eccclestone chasing after those venues willing to pay the tremendous amount he charges and those who want to use F1 to show how important the country has become, we might get races in those countries where there is support from local fans.

Further, if Ecclestone had cancelled the race then he would not, in my understanding of the financial agreements, not have received as much money. So it was in Ecclestone's interest that the race went ahead.


Derek Smith

45,772 posts

249 months

Tuesday 24th April 2012
quotequote all
Gene Vincent said:
Derek Smith said:
Gene Vincent said:
The alternate view is that without him taking F1 to these places a more local competitor to F1 would emerge and we then have no clue who is the best driver or anything else, it would be a mess, just like Boxing for so many years.
You think the WDC shows which is the best driver? At the most it could only define who is the best driver in F1 and it doesn't do that. On these forums we've had arguments about which driver is the best one in a team.
I do actually.

Debate is good, things are debatable, it allows us to postulate, but as a snapshot, the WDC is a de facto statement on who has done the best in the given year, it's why Bernie rejoices when the cars are more even, he too, just like you and me, wants the cars to get 'closer' and the drivers challenge each other on a more even playing field, but without all of them driving the same car.

I can't think of a single WDC that didn't deserve the title.
Whether they 'deserve' the title or not, I think history has shown us that the best driver often fails to win the WDC. I could produce a list if you wish.

Further, Ecclestone wants money. I have seen no evidence to support the suggestion he's an enthusiast for the sport.