If you haven't already, I urge you to watch an F2 race.
Discussion
If you have the standard gripes with F1 and you haven't watched a Formula 2 race, you need to give it a go.
F1 sound not good enough? Engines too complicated and unrelatable? Welcome back to NA 4L V8's. Meccachrome 10,000rpm, 600+HP, 200mph non turbo beasties which sound rather nice.
F1 racing not close enough? It's a spec formula where quite often the top 10 are all within 10 seconds of each other.
F1 cars too ugly these days? F2 has much simpler aero, on a much smaller more elegant car. This also has the benefit of drivers actually being able to follow the car in front for a while.
F1 doesn't have enough overtakes? The recent Monza race in particular had so many its hard to keep track of. They aren't overtakes which rely on gimmicks either - sure, they have DRS but there's no hybrid gubbins and since the engines are all the same, DRS only seems to open the window of opportunity rather than just sailing past on the straights.
F1 racing not spectacular enough? Since the field is full of inexperienced have-a-go heroes trying to prove themselves, if there's a hint of a window then its game on. This results in either spectacular accidents, off road excursions or fantastic overtakes.
Most of the calendar takes place on the same F1 weekends too, on the same tracks - with the exception of the round at Jerez. There's also other quirks like extra points for the fastest lap when inside the top 10.
Downsides? There's not a whole lot of diversity since it's a spec formula so all the cars look the same. I also believe that if you win a season, you aren't allowed to compete in the following season so there's not a whole lot of driver parity. It also seems quite hard to actually watch a damn race unless you've got a Sky sports package, but most of the good bits/most of the whole races seem to be available on Youtube.
Anyway, to whet your appetite, here's a clip of the last couple of laps of the 'feature' race from Monza after a safety car restart. Fantastic stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XESK5yP04wM
F1 sound not good enough? Engines too complicated and unrelatable? Welcome back to NA 4L V8's. Meccachrome 10,000rpm, 600+HP, 200mph non turbo beasties which sound rather nice.
F1 racing not close enough? It's a spec formula where quite often the top 10 are all within 10 seconds of each other.
F1 cars too ugly these days? F2 has much simpler aero, on a much smaller more elegant car. This also has the benefit of drivers actually being able to follow the car in front for a while.
F1 doesn't have enough overtakes? The recent Monza race in particular had so many its hard to keep track of. They aren't overtakes which rely on gimmicks either - sure, they have DRS but there's no hybrid gubbins and since the engines are all the same, DRS only seems to open the window of opportunity rather than just sailing past on the straights.
F1 racing not spectacular enough? Since the field is full of inexperienced have-a-go heroes trying to prove themselves, if there's a hint of a window then its game on. This results in either spectacular accidents, off road excursions or fantastic overtakes.
Most of the calendar takes place on the same F1 weekends too, on the same tracks - with the exception of the round at Jerez. There's also other quirks like extra points for the fastest lap when inside the top 10.
Downsides? There's not a whole lot of diversity since it's a spec formula so all the cars look the same. I also believe that if you win a season, you aren't allowed to compete in the following season so there's not a whole lot of driver parity. It also seems quite hard to actually watch a damn race unless you've got a Sky sports package, but most of the good bits/most of the whole races seem to be available on Youtube.
Anyway, to whet your appetite, here's a clip of the last couple of laps of the 'feature' race from Monza after a safety car restart. Fantastic stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XESK5yP04wM
Edited by Andy S15 on Tuesday 26th September 09:40
Roofless Toothless said:
I can't help but have to say it, but although it may be a bit of a giggle, races like the above are a bit shallow, and I find my tastes more mature, albeit not so immediately 'entertaining'.
I agree. I enjoy F1 for the quality of the racing, its just in such short quantity. F2 is the opposite, but you can't deny the entertainment value and it certainly seems to have an answer to the majority of the usual F1 racing gripes. The particular clip I linked is somewhat chaotic which definitely gives more of the 'shallow' vibe - having watched the full F2 sprint race at Monza last night I reckon there was a better balance between quality and quantity. If only there was some open-wheeler middle ground between the two formulas... Edited by Andy S15 on Tuesday 26th September 11:57
MitchT said:
I used to love watching F2, or GP2 as it was called ... or F3000 as it was called before that. Not sure where I can see it on TV these days though. Anyone know how I can watch it without having to lube up and bend over for Murdoch?
My method for the non C4 F1 races is an Android app (unofficial, you'll have to google it) called Mobdro. It's a global channel streaming app, has all the Sky channels and it's about 95% reliable - not bad for free. You'll then have access to Sky Sports F1 which show all the F2 races.Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff