Sooo ... 3 races...

...and all 3 won by McLaren. But I don't hear anyone saying that the season is boring. Wonder why. :rolleyes:

:thumbup:

Yeah Alex, but not won so completely dominantly as last season.

Think about it, last season were line-to-line victories.....this season has seen some racing and lead changes.....

And how much of that is due to rain? ;) And regulations? Surely, it mixes up the grid, and those who'd normally be ahead have more chance to make mistakes, but last season, or any season since I started watching (living) F1, I have *never* fallen asleep during qualifying. Not this season :o

What this season brought us are crashes. And crashes are what the general public wants to see. With people in faster cars in the middle of the field they will be making passing attempts and they will be making mistakes. With the stupid rule on 1 wet tyre (for which I'd rather blame the teams than the FIA) and no opportunity to set up the car for the race and the conditions, drivers will be bound to make mistakes. With tracks that have water running across them drivers will crash. Driver will also crash heavily, drivers will crash in a stupid way, drivers will get hurt. I pray Alonso is OK, and I am itching to find out what role the HANS device played. If HANS made it worse, you'll see a lot of angry drivers and just people.

for me, as a Ferrari and MS fan, last year was one of the best (not as good as 2000, though). I can kinda see your point of view, as 98 was greatly dominated by McLaren. But it wasn't boring. What it was - it was frustrating, sometimes almost to tears, but boring? So I don't understand why non-Ferrari supporters branded 2002 "boring". And I'm not branding 2003 boring either. Quite frustrating, yes, but the season is young, I hope to have my celebrations. Because I know Ferrari and Schumacher will not give up and we are in for a good season.

Come on, baby, you can do it!!!

http://static.redjupiter.com/images/FerrariForSale/Launch20032c.jpg

Alex

I still haven't got a clear picture of what's going on, too many outside eliments affecting outcomes. I guess so far all the whiner's complaining about Ferrari domination are happy, although the domination is still there, it's been masked by hokey rules that have reduced the pinnacle of motorsport to the pathetic of motorsport. It isn't about who's done the best job or who's the fastest, it's about a lottery.:rolleyes:

To me last year wasn't boring because of the Ferrari domination. Rather insulting to spend my valuable time watching a race all the way through only to have the finish manipulated by Todt at the last corner.

Sure this year the new rules make qualifying a complete waste of time. Making the historical importance of pole largely irrelevant. But for those of us who never get to see qualifying live that is not a big issue.

I think the first three races have been interesting because of other factors. Namely Michelin being more competitive, rain, a new winner and of course the choking of a certain multiple WC under pressure.

Only good new rules are allowing bespoke tyres and the extra testing on the Friday. The latter has allowed the four teams who took that option to be a bit more competitive. I think that has got a lot more to do with Alonso, and Webbers high gid positions than light fuel loads.

While having some of the (actual) fastest people in the middle of the pack is absurd, I don't think that this is an excuse for them crashing. Raikkonen has come from mid-field to the podium in 2/3 of the races this season. Coulthard has also done this. So has Fisichella. It is the driver's job to be responsible. How many times have the faster drivers gone out because of mistakes of slower drivers this season? Usually it has been their own fault.

This is going to be a season of luck. Everyone has the same rules, I don't see the problem. Schumacher has to brush up on his driving and Ferrari has to give Barichello a better car. Everything is great I love this season.

Originally posted by kaoru-tochiro
This is going to be a season of luck. Everyone has the same rules, I don't see the problem. Schumacher has to brush up on his driving and Ferrari has to give Barichello a better car. Everything is great I love this season.

I'ts not going to be a kinder gentler forum with comments like this!:devil: How can you like the artificially induced variables that were concocted just for the sake of entertainment? The DTM car format would have been better than this, run two heats, then slap a weight penalty on the leaders! F1 shouldn't be a lottery of luck, it should be a sport of talent and skill and let the best team win. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Veyron


I'ts not going to be a kinder gentler forum with comments like this!:devil: How can you like the artificially induced variables that were concocted just for the sake of entertainment? The DTM car format would have been better than this, run two heats, then slap a weight penalty on the leaders! F1 shouldn't be a lottery of luck, it should be a sport of talent and skill and let the best team win. :rolleyes:

Was I sounding rude? I wasn't trying to. Schumacher has made two consecutive uncharacteristical errors, and Rubino's car breaks... again.

I think Weight penalty would be ridiculous.

Right now Qualifying is run the same way that the Olympics are run, each player goes out on a schedule. Now if the weather is ideal for some guys, that's where the luck plays. But luck has always played a part because a fast qualifyier has gotten blocked at some time.

Now the race is a different story, If Raikkonen can finnish the race without crashing into other cars, then Schumi should also be able to in his superior car. Raikkonen didn't win on just luck, did he?
here let me put a smily face so you see I'm not being rude...:)

Was I sounding rude?

You weren't rude, I was just kidding. :D

But luck has always played a part because a fast qualifyier has gotten blocked at some time.

I never liked that part of the old rules, I think a qualifier should have a clear track. And more than one lap, maybe three practice and three for qualifying.

I think Weight penalty would be ridiculous.

In effect weight penalties are self induced with the current rules depending on strategies ie. fuel loads. This is precisely why this rule was put in, Max new the grid would end up being a lottery, essentially weight penalties.

I'll admit that I have enjoyed some of the action and uncertainty of the races this year, but at the end I have an unsatisfied feeling because nothing about it proves who's really the best. So what, it's a little more difficult to determine who might be the winner now, with Ferrari's domination last year you still didn't really know who would win. We'll just have to disagree for now, maybe further into the season my thoughts will change.

Well, maybe I was a little too blunt saying Schumi should brush up on driving :)

Yes, I agree that we should disagree for now, but hold on I just thought of something. In past years some cars qualified fast but then during the race they started with a heavy fuel load, and then just blocked the cars that were behind, that were running on lighter fuel load. These new rules will help avoid that.

(I wonder if Rubino was leading and Schumi was second, would they have told him to move over...?)

Well, maybe I was a little too blunt saying Schumi should brush up on driving

I think you are right, he never has been that good at wheel to wheel racing, ask Damon and Jacques. People don't automatically move out of the way for him like they did Senna either. :)

I will consider your point on fuel loads.

Come on guys, chill out a bit. It's just for our entertainment right? At least to me it is. ;) As I said, I'm nont in favour of the new regulations, but they are what they are and every team is trying to deal with them in the best way they can. Have succeded so far: McLaren, Renault and to a lesser extend Jaguar and Jordan. Have failed to adapt quickly - but will eventually get there: Ferrari and Williams.

As soon as Ferrari and Schum have figured out how to do it, things will improve. Senna once said "Qualifying is about speed, racing about luck". Well that was true back then, wake up guys, the old format is gone - at least for the moment - so qualifying is no longer about speed, it's more about luck too now.

DC, Kimi, Fisico and the others are used to start mid-field and therefor more experienced in those kind of situations. Schum is new there - or should I say - forgot what it was to be there, and will have to adapt again. To me he'll need more time to sort things out.

And those ho are following F-1 already a long time will know that luck always runs to those who are on top of their game - luck is something that you partically can push in your direction, if you are on top of the game. Ferrari and Schum are going to have a difficult one. The odds are certainly not on their side at the start of this season.