I haven't come here in a while. Anyway, some random thoughts on recent races and the races to come.
Singapore last year was the decisive moment really. Vettel was under threat of a race ban at the time, so the incident he caused at the first corner was crazy. Singapore is a 2 hour anticlockwise 61 lap slog with regular safety cars. There was no need to put up a fight with either car alongside him on the first lap. Even if he was not first at the first corner, he could still have easily won the race or take a significant number of points. Instead he crashed and was playing catch up after that.
I'm happy Malaysia is gone. I never liked the circuit, there was never any atmosphere as the place was near deserted, and the time of the race was always awkward. The sunset race circuit in the UAE isn't the easiest place to overtake, but at least the location is stunning.
For the year coming, most of the times for the European races have been put back an hour. Liberty say it's to see more of the race build up, the reality is it will be stuffed with more tv commercials. Formula 1 has never been a woman friendly environment, but scrapping the grid girls makes it even more so, and was done to appeal to the PC friendly American audience.
That all pales in comparison though to the Halo gimmick on the cars. Like most F1 fans, I hate it, and don't think it will make racing any safer. In fact it could make it more dangerous, when a car ploughs into a tyre wall or barrier at 200mph. Until now, every driver was able to get out from a big accident quickly and easily. I think it will be rather more difficult when a car ends up in the likes of Eau Rouge or Degner 2. I think that once there is a big accident, common sense will see the gimmick come off the cars soon enough. I also think attendances and viewing figures will be lower this year, after people see it in action.
I don't support any driver or team, I just want to see close competitive unpredictable races, not see one team/driver stroll to yet another championship.
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