F1 2024 -Watchalong thread

[Brazilianadventure]

Happy New Year.

Thought I would start the 2024 thread given there is more political intrigue with the FIA.

2 resignations and one person choosing to not renew their contract. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/67906883

Plus allegedly another ex-Red Bull employee moving to the FIA. https://x.com/silverarrowsnet/status/1744375322131231089?s=46&t=lJm6-66fq4MtGcwwAsK6Kg

At least Max won

Very happy with a grand slam to start the year

Bring on silverstone, it was incredible last year watching Max win amongst all the booing

There's no way the budget cap thing accounts for the entire extent of their dominance. They're doing a better job than anyone else ATM, just like Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, Williams, McLaren... Etc did before them going back to the 1950s. They're not my favourite but I admire their achievements.

As said, the dominance achieved by previous drivers/manufacturers at least had other challenges.

I too used to love F1.

Atm F1 is boring and the other teams are showing zero signs of catching up.

I have followed F1 for almost 50 years and never been so bored. Last year was boring and it looks as though this year will be the same.

It just seems pointless watching if week after week Verstappen not only wins but wins by such a large margin and has no battles on track. He doesn't need any skill just a faster car than everyone else which, sadly, is exactly what he has

His consistency is a skill in itself imo

As we've seen, Perez just cannot keep up with it.

I don't so much mind knowing who will win almost every race so long as great racing happens for P2 onwards.

This race had very little on track action and was a dull start to the season.

But then I find many of the newer tracks result in dull racing more often than not. Not all, but many of them.

I don't see much skill in being on pole because you have the fastest car and then speeding away and staying in front the whole race.

I also very much doubt that Perez's car is exactly the same as Verstappen's.

TBF to Max, I've been watching F1 for almost 30 years and I think every single champion I can remember has been 'accused' of simply being sat in the fastest car at the right time.

There's no doubt about Max's ability. He just makes it look easy.

I wouldn't be surprised if he's bored too though.

There's not much skill in putting a fast car on pole...what?

Still requires a perfect lap, no mistakes, getting everything right!
By that logic, quite a lot of Lewis' many poles also did not require a lot of skill?

Lewis had a lot more competitive team mates - Rosberg for one they had great battles, so despite the Mercedes years it wasn’t a given that Lewis would easily win.

I just feel so deflated. I've been counting down the days to the start of testing genuinely thought that ferrari or Mercedes would have a chance of at lest some first corner action and just, nothing. I feel meh. And now the prospect of 23 identikit races. Coupled with the endless need to defend F1 whenever work colleagues or family decide to go on about how boring the sport is.

I watched Ted Kravitz afterwards and he said there was 'a lot of action'. I wish they'd at least be honest about how dull the racing is. Please let the fight for P2 be entertaining. I need some glimmer of hope.

We're having such a good time over here but even the Max fans (we were sitting next to some, the atmosphere was friendly even though the stand was mainly Lewis/Max fans with a few Ferrari dotted about) were saying they didn't want 24 processions this year.

Max was so far ahead that he was zooming past and the other drivers weren't even visible on the inside turns. He's an incredible driver but I can't see how he's not bored too.

On the plus side it was much warmer last night, T-shirt weather and not cold at all.

@witte it is always been a good atmosphere when ever I went to a race. Whilst people are partisan for their team/driver I have never felt unsafe.

I have seen both Michael and Lewis at their best and it is impressive when they totally dominate a race; but even then the seasons were not as guaranteed with unreliability and unexpected outcomes.

Glad it was warmer as it’s not nice sitting in the cold for hours.

I think all the previous champions have had to battle to win and actually race other drivers on track. I thought the Schumacher years were boring and also could not stand him but this is a new level of boring.

For sure this first race makes it look like we've another season of Max way out ahead of everyone else - which I find dull to watch also. I'd much rather see a stronger battle among more than one team/driver.

I don't think that indicates that Max cannot battle. Just that he doesn't have to. It's clear he is a talented driver.

They used to say Vettel could not battle either, because he never had to and was often way out in front. It was a constant complaint about him - that he was lucky vs good.

And Button in his championship year. Lucky, noty good (apparently).

But yes, I totally agree - the dominance of one team/driver makes all F1 fans the poorer. Yesterday's race was about as dull as it gets, imo.

Button was an interesting one. I think he was Hill-style lucky in his championship year but then actually continued to improve and was much better in his later career. He was really impressive against Hamilton - Jenson outscored Lewis over the three years didn't he?

@ColleenDonaghy the ratios are
Lewis 2:1 JB
Lewis 1:0 Alonso
Lewis 3:0 Kovaleinen,
Lewis 3:1 Nico
Lewis 4:0 Valtteri
Lewis 1:1 George.

Jenson was proud to have that one year ahead of Lewis. I always feet 1 world title was right for Jenson and Ros Brawn really deserved it for turning around the team like that.

Whilst I would have liked Lewis to win in his first year I always felt Kimi deserved one title.

The dominant Michael Schumacher years had more winners, some due to reliability
2000 4 different winners
2001 5 different winners
2002 4 different winners
2003 9 different winners
2004 5 different winners

I think Jenson had a higher points total over the three years though didn't he? A fact at the back of my mind I'm too lazy to check. I mean, Lewis is obviously the better driver but I think Jenson really showed his own quality those years.

Totally agree about Ross deserving that title, whatever about the drivers

@ColleenDonaghy You maybe right about the points.

I always rated Jenson but he had awful cars and the Brawn then the McLaren allowed him to show his talent. It’s like Nico Hulkenberg he is obviously a good driver but unlike Jenson he has never had a car good enough to get on the podium.

Does anyone else find it weird that it’s GP weekend but no race on a Sunday. At least it’s only 6 days to the next race.

I was thinking that this morning. Clashed with football yesterday and the rugby next weekend. Ramadan starts next Sunday, so I presume they need the Saudi race early, so Bahrain had to be early too (full week gap?).

The thing is in 1 team domination from years gone by, you had reliability issues, crashes, refueling, less use of the safety car, tyres weren't as good.

The racing could be exciting as a whole but in the last few years, the race has been neutered.

Motor sports like Superbike, Moto GP and WRC offer far more bang for your buck now a days.