[ltr317]

I can't remember when so many teams have a chance at winning a race.  It's so refreshing when there are that many teams being competitive.  In any given year of the past couple of decades, one or two teams usually dominate for most of the season, but there's no team dominating so far.  And so many drivers have a bunch of points and are in contention.  Can't wait for the European season to start with the Barcelona race.  Go...fill in the blank.

[Mikeinsacramento]

I watched the first two, but Bob Varsha has run me off.  He inserts himself into the action, and sucks up to the drivers waaay too much.

Nevertheless, you are correct.  The standings are wide open.

[richidoo]

Hey Paul! Glad F1 is up and running again. Last year was great, but this year will be even better.
Lots of surprises so far, and excellent racing, up front and throughout the pack.

Pleasant surprises for me include Kimi's easy aclimation to the cockpit and Lotus' speed. Grosjean proves he deserves another chance. Perez' podium and consistent speed. Braun does it again with the innovation and brilliant reading of the rules. Rosberg wins a race! Great to see Mr. Wunderkind challenged, and to see how he fights back - impressive so far. He is favorite to win the championship, but never discount Braun.

Disappointing surprises, I'm sad to see MSC not able to hang at the front anymore, even with a fast car and no more excuses. Being 46yo myself, I'm not surprised he has lost his edge, but he still sells tickets and will have more great racing moments and deserves to be there. Great to see Rosberg finally getting his deserved success.

Will Ferrari ever be great again? Massa really showing how far they've fallen, and how great Alonso is. Maybe if Montezemolo is elected Italian President and leaves Ferrari behind, then they might have a shot.

Sad to see so many seats empty in some of these races. Ecclestone's global racing fantasy. Anybody thinking of attending the race in Austin?

[InfernoSTi]

Austin will be great (if it happens, right?)....main straight with a hairpin down and to the left AFTER the crest of the hill...balls as big as China to pass there.

Should be a party...

Best,
John

[Jimbabwe]

I'm with you. Nice to see competition this year. Was boring as hell watching Vettel race after race. Only drama was cry baby Webber trying to up him. Hate that guy ever since a few years ago watched him dirty racing. 

Feel sorry for Mclaren screwing up in the pits. No excuse for that.

Thinking about Austin even though I'm in CA. Why Texas?  Ha.

Jim

[mhconley]

I also agree that the competition is fierce this year.  McLaren, Mercedes, Lotus-Renault and Red Bull all have cars capable of winning any race.  Ferrari and Sauber seem to be the best of the rest with Alonso capable of catapulting Ferrari onto the top step of the podium under the right conditions.

Formula 1 management has to do something about the tire situation.  Having teams sit out qualifying sessions, only doing one run in a session or not pushing during the race because of tire degradation is ridiculous.  Give the teams the tires they need to push 100% 100% of the time.

Varsha and Matchett are OK but they have to can Hobbs - he inserts his foot into his mouth up to his thigh at least half-a-dozen times a race.  They need to find someone that can follow the race and make meaningful comments.

I already have hotel reservations in Austin, I made them the weekend the date was announced.  Now I am simply waiting for tickets to go on sale.  They're crazy trying to sell kilobuck seat licenses... I wonder how many people they actually hooked.  I believe the track will make for some great racing - turn 1 will become its signature but the turns 12-19 complex also looks interesting.

Martin

[ltr317]

Hey Paul! Glad F1 is up and running again. Last year was great, but this year will be even better.
Lots of surprises so far, and excellent racing, up front and throughout the pack.

Pleasant surprises for me include Kimi's easy aclimation to the cockpit and Lotus' speed. Grosjean proves he deserves another chance. Perez' podium and consistent speed. Braun does it again with the innovation and brilliant reading of the rules. Rosberg wins a race! Great to see Mr. Wunderkind challenged, and to see how he fights back - impressive so far. He is favorite to win the championship, but never discount Braun.

Disappointing surprises, I'm sad to see MSC not able to hang at the front anymore, even with a fast car and no more excuses. Being 46yo myself, I'm not surprised he has lost his edge, but he still sells tickets and will have more great racing moments and deserves to be there. Great to see Rosberg finally getting his deserved success.

Will Ferrari ever be great again? Massa really showing how far they've fallen, and how great Alonso is. Maybe if Montezemolo is elected Italian President and leaves Ferrari behind, then they might have a shot.

Sad to see so many seats empty in some of these races. Ecclestone's global racing fantasy. Anybody thinking of attending the race in Austin?

Hi Rich,

I'm also surprised that Kimi acclimated back to F1 so quickly.  He's a natural, I guess.  MSC seems to have lost a little (perhaps three or four tenths of a second), but still is fast.  I wish I had 95% of his current ability when I was racing so I could finish at the front, instead of front of the mid-pack.  I'm hoping Rosberg wins a few more races and contend for the title, now that he's got a decent car.

I really feel sorry for Massa.  He hasn't been himself after that horrendous accident in 09 at the Hungarian race.  He should have won the 08 title except that Glock spun on the next to last corner in Brazil which allow Hamilton to drive pass and finished in fifth to win the title by 1 point.  I wonder who Ferrari will get to replace Massa?

Cheers,
Paul 

[ltr317]

Austin will be great (if it happens, right?)....main straight with a hairpin down and to the left AFTER the crest of the hill...balls as big as China to pass there.

Should be a party...

Best,
John

Bigger balls than the corkscrew at Laguna Seca? 

[ltr317]

I also agree that the competition is fierce this year.  McLaren, Mercedes, Lotus-Renault and Red Bull all have cars capable of winning any race.  Ferrari and Sauber seem to be the best of the rest with Alonso capable of catapulting Ferrari onto the top step of the podium under the right conditions.

Formula 1 management has to do something about the tire situation.  Having teams sit out qualifying sessions, only doing one run in a session or not pushing during the race because of tire degradation is ridiculous.  Give the teams the tires they need to push 100% 100% of the time.

Varsha and Matchett are OK but they have to can Hobbs - he inserts his foot into his mouth up to his thigh at least half-a-dozen times a race.  They need to find someone that can follow the race and make meaningful comments.

I already have hotel reservations in Austin, I made them the weekend the date was announced.  Now I am simply waiting for tickets to go on sale.  They're crazy trying to sell kilobuck seat licenses... I wonder how many people they actually hooked.  I believe the track will make for some great racing - turn 1 will become its signature but the turns 12-19 complex also looks interesting.

Martin

Yeah, Hobbs doesn't add anything.  Actually he's a negative.  I'm sure Speed can find a former F1 racer that can contribute with race craft comments better than Hobbs. 

[ArthurDent]

Yeah, Hobbs doesn't add anything.  Actually he's a negative.  I'm sure Speed can find a former F1 racer that can contribute with race craft comments better than Hobbs.

If they do please, please, please not Sam Posey, or Derek Daily. I'll take David over them any day.

Great timing Paul, just finished watching the Chinese & Baharian races recorded by my friend. Yes, it appears parity has come again to F1. As to Schumie, don't give up on him yet. Just my opinion, but he was never brought in to win races, that would be a bonus. His presence was primarily for car development. Yes Ross had things moving well in the right direction, but there are very few on the grid that can give the feedback for improvement that Michael can. He's made a couple of mistakes he probably wouldn't have made earlier in his career, but he's also been a target for a number of folks wanting to prove they weren't intimidated by his history. Nico is definitely the future of the team, but particularly this year short of the China race he hasn't been that far in front of Michael, and often when dumped back in the pack didn't fair as well. Coming from 22 to 10th in the last race given the closer level of performance of the cars speaks pretty highly of the skill Michael still wields.

Going to be an interesting season, and will be interesting to see the stewards decision on the two incidents involving Nico. Not quite sure what to think, will have to re-watch. One thing if you are ahead & blocking with one move, different if you are side by side and push someone off.

Congrats to Lotus ! Impressive to see Renault in the top 4 cars as well. Good on ya Kimi, and Roman. Spain should be very interesting.    JD

[mhconley]

If they do please, please, please not Sam Posey, or Derek Daily. I'll take David over them any day.

I agree!  Posey's narrative of those mood pieces is just plain nauseating.  I'd like to see someone with recent experience like Coulthard.  I think Speed has limited their recruiting capability by sticking their commentators in a studio somewhere rather than sending them to the races.

Martin

[ltr317]

If they do please, please, please not Sam Posey, or Derek Daily. I'll take David over them any day.

Great timing Paul, just finished watching the Chinese & Baharian races recorded by my friend. Yes, it appears parity has come again to F1. As to Schumie, don't give up on him yet. Just my opinion, but he was never brought in to win races, that would be a bonus. His presence was primarily for car development. Yes Ross had things moving well in the right direction, but there are very few on the grid that can give the feedback for improvement that Michael can. He's made a couple of mistakes he probably wouldn't have made earlier in his career, but he's also been a target for a number of folks wanting to prove they weren't intimidated by his history. Nico is definitely the future of the team, but particularly this year short of the China race he hasn't been that far in front of Michael, and often when dumped back in the pack didn't fair as well. Coming from 22 to 10th in the last race given the closer level of performance of the cars speaks pretty highly of the skill Michael still wields.

Going to be an interesting season, and will be interesting to see the stewards decision on the two incidents involving Nico. Not quite sure what to think, will have to re-watch. One thing if you are ahead & blocking with one move, different if you are side by side and push someone off.

Congrats to Lotus ! Impressive to see Renault in the top 4 cars as well. Good on ya Kimi, and Roman. Spain should be very interesting.    JD

Michael is great at providing car feedback.   And he certainly is still fast, but he has loss a few tenths from what I've seen of the past two years.  If he hadn't lost just a little skill he would have been either a tenth or two tenths ahead or behind Nico during qualifying the past two seasons.  On occasion Michael can still put together as fast a lap as anyone else, but not on a consistent basis anymore.  Losing an extra few tenths is really not a lot in most levels of amateur or professional racing (a couple of car lengths) but at the highest level of racing it means something because of the talent level of the other drivers.  I hope he can find something within his inner self to finish on the podium in the next few races.  Maybe that will spark him to be as aggressive as he used to be, and then he can gain back those extra few tenths.  On any level of racing, aggression (coupled with the requisite car control and race craft skills) and a competitive car are what takes a driver to the podium. 

I've read there were no penalties to Nico for those two racing incidents.

[Crimson]

And it gets better: 5 races with 5 different drivers and constructors.

Schumi had a senior moment, a Venezuelan rookie wins, and the Iceman is digging in.

I'm loving it!

[SoCalWJS]

This is just SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better than last year. I HATE it when one driver runs away with it. This season is pretty entertaining. Alonso appears to be driving the car beyond it's (apparent) abilities, and a new driver/team steps up every event.

I think this would have been different if McLaren had put one more liter of fuel in Lewis' tank during Q3 though......

2012 F1 season: 

[richidoo]

You Schumi fans must be too young to know what happens to the mind after 40yo...     He wants to win, he has the experience, he has the drive, he knows what to do, but everything happens about 1/2 second after it's supposed to dammit! Next thing he knows he drove up the tailpipe of one of those snarky little Brazilian whippersnappers.  You know it's getting late in career when you can say to your competitor while waiting for the gravel hailstorm to pass, "You know, I raced your uncle here 21 years ago!"    I'd love to see him win again, especially in person at Austin! We are planning to go down there, depending on the price of general admission tix and camping.

Today's race was great! I have not rooted for Maldonado since I learned Chavez bought MALs seat at Williams with $47M USD of nationalized corporate assets, unauthorized by the Venezuelan Congress. But watching his great drive, beating the best F1 driver fair and square and his beautiful family celebrating their Daddy's first F1 win, I couldn't help but to feel glad for him. Maybe this is an omen of good things to come for the Venezuelan people in the near future.

Vettel is my new favorite F1 villain, love to see him drop back and give the other kids a chance to win. But I predict he will still be near the front of the points come Brazil. He will be a tenacious competitor with money and team talent behind him in the years to come, so this is just a passing cloud in his career. He's already in first place, won a race and team is improving. We just expect total domination, and I think it will come back, sad to say.

I think Sergio Perez is in line to replace Massa. Send Massa back to Sauber from whence he came? I think it's all up to Alonso... whatever he wants. Alonso is Ferrari's golden goose and they need to win to sell those pretty little 458s.

Once again so many empty seats at Catalunya today, just like in Asia. Seems like few F1 races are sold out anymore.

[avahifi]

I am not going to hex the GP at Austin, TX by attending!  I have this history of closing GP venues. 

Years ago I took my young son to the last F1 race at Watkins Glen, and also during those years to the last F1 event in Zandervoot, Holland and in Austria at the big F1 circuit.

The only place that has survived a visit from me so far is Canada.

By the way, if you attend a GP, make sure you bring ear plugs!   In Montreal, Canada, we had a great hotel just across the river and up the hill overlooking the island race track in the distance, probably two miles away as the crow flies.  Our room's sound proofing was so good we could barely hear the huge booms from the astonishing fireworks exposition that was going on each night at the site.  However, when the F1 engines started up for open practice, the noise shook the windows and made talking in the hotel room difficult.  No ear plugs and ear cup protectors both, then no more real interest in high fidelity sound either. 

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

[thunderbrick]

+1! on serious hearing protection.  I attended the San Antonio GP in the mid-80s, and got seats (?) in a parking garage at the beginning of a straightway.  When those cars came by it just about lifted us all off the ground, especially in that concrete canyon.

Fortunately a nurse came walking through with a huge box of foam earplugs beforehand.  They helped a little, but still didn't keep our fillings from rattling pretty good!

[eclein]

ALONSO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At home!!! great race!! European Grand Prix

[mark funk]

Shit man! What a race. 



                                                                               

[ltr317]

ALONSO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At home!!! great race!! European Grand Prix

 

   Ed - some of us haven't seen the race yet.