A blurb about Formula 1

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The season opener in Melbourne last night is what they'd call a corker. We need converts. I wrote a little about it this morning and thought I'd share.

Nine crashes. Six mechanical failures. And one driver who forgot there was a traffic signal at the end of Pit lane. I hardly know what to say. The best I can come up with is, "Wahoo! We get to do it all again next week!"

It's difficult, at least for me, to say how much of last night's/today's/what-the-hell-day-is-it-in-Australia-anyway's mayhem stemmed from the new old-school rules regarding traction control and engine braking. I don't know if the new standardized ECU (electronics control unit) caused some teams a variety of integration difficulties leading to reliability issues. It's too early in the season and I'm not near savvy enough to comment. All I can say, is that it was business as usual for Formula 1, as far as I'm concerned: gorgeous, noisy, exciting, and full of political intrigue, with plenty of English to be picked from a variety of accents.


For sports enthusiasts, I can only say, give F1 a chance if you haven't. The field of players is small enough that, in no time, you'll be intimately acquainted with the personalities and relationships. Its history is full of guts and glory and feuds, really good feuds. The venues are exotic and a geography lesson, at the very least. And the intricacies of the cars can satisfy all, from the pure aesthete to the ultimate engineering geek.

Personally I fall somewhere in the middle. I have a reaction to the swoop and flash of the machines that's not particularly wholesome, but even more than that, I love the giddy little thrill in the feats of aerodynamics and technology achieved here. I don't understand many of them, but I swoon at the accomplishments of mankind - somewhere, someone understands it all.

People are so cool.
 
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Any race that sees McLaren win and Ferrari not finish is ok in my book. If only Alonso had seen the same fate as the Ferraris.
 

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Let's hope for more of the same in Malaysia. Nice to find a fellow McLaren supporter here.
 

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I do love McLaren, but I have some favorites scattered throughout. Rosberg, Button and you have to love the heart in Jarno Trulli. I like Takuma Sato for show and eventhough he wears the red, I do very much enjoy the Iceman.

But my heart belongs to Lewis Hamilton and Martin Whitmarsh.
 

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Omg F1 fans in AW.

Yes!

Sadly, I'm a Kimi supporter, which means now by default I'm behind Ferrari (yuck. Then again, Mclaren are no better.). Lewis Hamilton is great, and Alonso is a whining brat.

Coulthard and Webber are also faves.

Sadly I didn't see melbourne because it was on at some ungodly hour so no pubs for me to go watch. :( And now today's...at 9 am, so I guess it's back to watching the live-timing updates until we get a race at a reasonable hour again.
 

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The season opener in Melbourne last night is what they'd call a corker. We need converts. I wrote a little about it this morning and thought I'd share.

Regarding the intricacy of the machinery. I've obviously never had the chance to go see a live race, but last year Renault did a spot in Sandton and I saw the Renault F1 car up close.

THAT is a beautiful machine. I do not have the words to describe it (some writer, huh?) Lets just say that seeing them on screen, and seeing them up close are two very different experiences.
 

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I like Kimi a lot as well and it hurts to see him wearing red, but I could understand his decision. Outside of McLaren, I support Jenson Button and Nick Heidfeld.

Am I the only one who thinks that Nico Rosberg looks like the lead singer from A-Ha? It can't be too long until we hear this connection on Top Gear, right?
 
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ztd5j4.jpg



"Take on meeeee."

oh lols, now I'm never going to take him seriously.
 

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Am I the only one who thinks that Nico Rosberg looks like the lead singer from A-Ha? It can't be too long until we hear this connection on Top Gear, right?
Lol! He does a bit at that! I love Nico's frankness. Last year I called him Crashberg for most of the season. But for all his silver-spoon heritage, he's charming and honest.

I forgot to mention my love of Kubica. The boy has no fear. He's much, much fun.
 

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We've also decided that Kubica looks much more like a scientist than a racecar driver. The guy's got an impressive brainspan. Look at the size of his noggin!

And Kimi today, blinding himself with champagne and lamenting later that it belongs in the mouth, not the eyes. Lol!
 

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I taped it. It was on at 2:30am here. Last Fall I got up in the middle of the night to watch the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix, but the championship was on the line. For round two, on Easter?

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The price was too dear. But the race was quite good.
 
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Bravo

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hmm i dunno why i can never get into it.

i love cars, but something about the way these events are structured bugs me. it comes across as too sanitized and "safe'.

maybe my head's gotten messed up because i used to play video games where smashing the other player's mcclaren into the wall gives you more speed to dodge the cops chasing after you.

now, everything else seems tame in comparison.

but nice lil post perky.

maybe i'll try to get into it someday.
 

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I guess, for me, since the field is only twenty-two drivers, there's more drama to be had than just in the crashes (of which there are plenty - I submit last year, Montreal). I can keep track of the personalities and politics and it makes it a cross between all the best parts of a soap opera, a horse race, and Space Shuttle technology.

It winds me up unlike any other sport. I tried to get into Nascar, but it's too big and I hate that crashing is strategical.
 

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so what's the best way to jump into it?
 

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Well, I started by reading the blurbs and histories at www.F1.com. Wikipedia has some great articles, and for current stuff, I really like www.pitpass.com.

The Speed Channel has a show on every Saturday before a Grand Prix, called Inside The Grand Prix which tells about the upcoming circuit and its history.

Definitely read about the legendary Michael Schumacher, who retired last year, but has pretty much slaughtered every record there's every been. They changed the rules about four times to try to stop him, but he drove and bent the rules to heroic advantage.

That'll get you started.
 

Bravo

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speed channel?

we dont get that.

i'll look at those links.

thanks!
 

Bravo

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well maybe it's between the spice tv and playboy channels.

i'll go check.
 

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Bravo - And if you listen to the commentary - james allen and martin brundle are great fun and impart lovely gems of knowledge.

I couldn't watch the opening two races because we can only see it via satellite, so if it's on at a reasonable hour we go bribe the local pizzeria to put it on the motorsport channel. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
 

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I taped it. It was on at 2:30am here. Last Fall I got up in the middle of the night to watch the Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix, but the championship was on the line. For round two, on Easter?

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The price was too dear. But the race was quite good.

I couldn't stay up that late either, so I watched the re-broadcast today at 1:30pm. Kimi deserved the win - he ran a great race. The five-grid spot penalties that both the McLaren's took killed any hope of winning as did Hamilton's 18-second pit stop. The penalties were for taking a cool down lap in the racing line while other cars were still running hot laps. Massa did not finish once again, so the rumor of Alonso moving to Ferrari next year seems more and more possible.
 

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Kimi deserved the win - he ran a great race.
He is always fun to watch and I love it when he hits the podium for the race or qualifying, because that means I get to hear him talk. I call him 'Kimibot'. He's hilarious. I can now make out nearly everything he says.

His driving is bloodcurdling sometimes and I don't know how one man can pull a maneuver and not be intimidating, and then another man does the exact same thing and everyone just pisses down their leg and gets out of the way. He's wonderful.
 

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Well - I've maybe died and gone to heaven !!

F1 fans on AW - way to go it just doesn't get any better ;)

I am a lifelong McLaren fan and loved it when Coulthard drove for them. He is my fave driver and I like to think he helped Hakkinen a lot when Hakka got his driver's championships. Maybe too much of a nice guy.

Yeah kimibot. He does crack me up. Mr Monotone and his press conferences - somehow I don't see a stellar career in sales for him after his driving days are over.

I rate "Quick Nick" Heidfeld over Kimi even when they were both driving for Sauber and see big things for him this year. And yes Kubica is gonna be the one to watch.

But the guy who should win this year IMO is Lewis Hamilton. He could be bigger and win more than Schumacher. A genius behind the wheel.

I live in Melbourne and we may lose the F1 in 2010 cos of Bernie Ecclestone's greed. How much money does one guy need fer goodness sake !!

But it is still my number one sport. So skillful, so powerful, so costly and so beautiful :)
 

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I live in Melbourne and we may lose the F1 in 2010 cos of Bernie Ecclestone's greed. How much money does one guy need fer goodness sake !!
Don't get me started. He doesn't need the US either and is rattling at Canada that it's not worth it to even fly the works to North America. If he snubs Australia too, it just seems like an awful big chunk of the planet to write off, not to mention a lot of deep pockets.

He's an odd one, that Mr. Ecclestone.