[Official] Rate the Race - GP of China

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

I didn't notice Hammy having to have a new nose cone ?

Where did that come from?

[Knowlesy]

8 from me.

I admire the driving seen in Australia, Malaysia and China, but I can't wait till we get some European dry races, where we can see where the teams actually stand.

Bring on the tedium! Err...

[rocketracer]

a race of constant action, great on track battles, and some exceptional driving - an 8 from me.

[herowassenna]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

8 from me.



Bring on the tedium! Err...

Well, if we hadn't had any wet weather these last 3 races, we would have all been moaning about the regulations. What makes anyone think that it's changed?
If I wanted to see a lottery, or artificial racing, I'd watch Nascar.
F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport. Overtaking should be difficult and savoured. It's been hugely entertaining, mixed up grids, lucky strategy calls and incidents galore, but it feels contrived. In much the same way that there's questions about the release of the safety car, second time around.

My feelings regarding Malaysia for example, it's basically been shifted to the beginning of the year which coincides with rainy season. Then the start time has been changed to what is known locally as rain time.
I saw nothing wrong in getting up at 3am to watch the race starting at 1pm local time. Actually was part of the F1 fan experience.

Barcelona will I suspect be it's usual boring race. And the media will once again be speaking of boredom.
I really want to see a dry race at a circuit where over-taking is possible to actually see if these regulations work.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by herowassenna

I really want to see a dry race at a circuit where over-taking is possible to actually see if these regulations work.

Silverstone should prove interesting, with the new section and if we don't have a typical English summer.

[Lotusonpole]

8.
Thouroghly enjoyed it. Was there a single lap without incident?
Even so, there was much ungentlemanly driving. Maybe not penalty awarding but I think a word in a few shell likes might be in order.

So far it's been a great start to the season. 3 out of 4 very good to excellent races augers well. Bahrain of course being the poo one.

P

[AndyS]

Gave it a 7. Enjoyed it but could only give it a 7 as I gave Aus an 8 which I thought was slightly better!

[GT6]

A 7 from me, well worth watching and the weather kept it from turning into the usual procession.

[Grandpa_Rob]

Gave it a 7 not as riveting as Melbourne but China had plenty of slip streaming which has not been the norm so far, The rain as usual brought it's excitment to the race bringing out some great performance.

[neil_davidson2]

7 from me - an enjoyable watch but still concerned that "weather" has to happen for F1 to put on a show.

[herowassenna]

Originally Posted by neil_davidson2

7 from me - an enjoyable watch but still concerned that "weather" has to happen for F1 to put on a show.

Sadly true.
It says alot about F1 and the puppet masters that they still go to Monaco. I understand the reason, its not sporting, its because they conduct so much business there.
Whilst that attitude dominates in F1, I don't expect any significant change in the show.

[chillibowl]

8 for me. extremely entertaining.

understand the comments about the weather but i love it when the challengers have to deal with the unknown. perhaps this is F1 great problem...the teams and designers have done so much to remove the "unknown" in order to achieve predictability. unfortunately them doing their jobs perfectly means processions and boredom.

they change the regs to spice up the show (its all artificial) and yes it will be interesting to see how these changes really work on a known dry track but i can live with not knowing.

[herowassenna]

[QUOTE=chillibowl;2676103]perhaps this is F1 great problem...the teams and designers have done so much to remove the "unknown" in order to achieve predictability. unfortunately them doing their jobs perfectly means processions and boredom.

Great point. Back in the 80's and 90's, you had engines blow up, gear boxes breaking, drivers fatigued making mistakes.
I always remember Patrick Head saying they needed to design a car that pushed the design limits because they knew they would never beat a Mclaren driven by Senna. Senna was recognised as the best and Mclaren's operations were second to none.
Hence the FW14.
What's happened in the last 20 years is manufacturing has progressed unbelievably. Steve Matchett wrote an article about Ferrari's 2002 gearbox, the gears being merely 6mm in width, whereas previously they had been 10 to 15mm. The 10mm one was for reverse, and so thin because it was designed for regs, not envisioned for any use.That's just one example.
Engine's being limited to 18,000rpm has removed the white cloud of smoke which used to be a feature ( although Ferrari seem to have returned to that particular spectacle.)
And Schumi, raised the bar regarding physical fitness. When was the last time you actually saw a driver, wet with sweat after a drive?
It's called progress I suppose, but I agree, every team is aiming to work as predictably as a Swiss watch.

[ECW Dan Selby]

I think it'd be nice to ban some of these technologies to bring back some of that unpredictability and keep some costs down.

Selby

[Neil22]

Gave it a seven, just too late or too early for me, whichever way you want to look at it. Alonso bumping Massa was a highlight, good to see Alonso hasn't changed his spots. Hulks driving through the debris was also entertaining. On to Spain, maybe.