Formula 1

With the start of the season yesterday thought id pop a thread up, Surely Giantbomb has a few racing fans kicking about.

Great start to the season for me, Seems like its gonna be alot closer than it was last year, McLaren and Red Bull seem to have swapped places, Williams has increased in pace by miles, Could even sneak in a podium this year if they play their cards right, Mercedes seem to have got he pace, not sure how they stand yet though. Renault may get a few podiums if their qualifying pace stays as is.

And Ferrari...Hah

I am a fan.

It's early, but it is good to see the competition. Loved seeing the younger drivers mixing it up with the veterans. Kimi being back will also be interesting.

McLaren looked impressive. Looking forward to the season and hope it stays competitive.

It was a good start. The new BBC commentator was so excited with everything I was on the edge of my seat. Of course that could just be Kimi being back, will always have my support no matter the team. Not sure I agree on McLaren/Red Bull yet though, I'll reserve judgment for a few races. Mercedes have the pace but probably not the tires. I'm hoping Caterham can keep moving forward. Team Lotus were my favourite of the new teams and I was glad they won that fight last year, and also happy for Heikki winning the in-team duel.

As for Ferrari the less said the better. Almost a shame to see Alonso in that car right now, would like to see him competing.

McLaren seems like the best team by miles. If it weren't for the safety car, Button and Hamilton would have finished in first and second by a country mile with Vettel in third. It'll be interesting to see how Red Bull responds.

@Let1Down said:

It was a good start. The new BBC commentator was so excited with everything I was on the edge of my seat. Of course that could just be Kimi being back, will always have my support no matter the team. Not sure I agree on McLaren/Red Bull yet though, I'll reserve judgment for a few races. Mercedes have the pace but probably not the tires. I'm hoping Caterham can keep moving forward. Team Lotus were my favourite of the new teams and I was glad they won that fight last year, and also happy for Heikki winning the in-team duel.

As for Ferrari the less said the better. Almost a shame to see Alonso in that car right now, would like to see him competing.

Really shows how good he is though, even to those who dont like him, finishing 5th with all their problems while Massa was flailing about about the back until he retired.

Formula 1 is for jerks.

I will never understand the obsession with watching some of the most arrogant personalities on the plant driving stupidly expensive cars round and round for hours on end.

Being a die hard McLaren supporter I'd love to see them get a constructor's this year, been far too long. They used to always have one amazing driver and one who would constantly bin the car into a wall ruining their points total but with Button and Hamilton two very different and very skilled drivers here's hoping things will go better. next race should help us see how the teams stack up a bit more.

@James_Giant_Peach said:

Formula 1 is for jerks.

I will never understand the obsession with watching some of the most arrogant personalities on the plant driving stupidly expensive cars round and round for hours on end.

Thanks for adding to the discussion.

@DumbFounded: I never know how harshly to treat Massa. He was better than Kimi before the incident (well, consistent), and obviously straight after it letting him go would have been impossible for Ferrari, but after the crash...? He's just not been good enough for some time. Alonso is in a class of his own, of course, but it would be nice to see another driver in the second Ferrari for comparison.

He got lucky finishing fifth. Ferrari say they know what they need to work on, but that's always the line they take when things aren't right (the last few seasons in other words). At least right now it looks like we can see the world champions in the second tier cars (I may be being harsh there) fight it out. Alonso, Schumacher and Kimi is a fine prospect.

@James_Giant_Peach said:

Formula 1 is for jerks.

How ironic. I will never understand why arrogant people need to spew their negativity on the internet.

I enjoyed the season start. Kimi's climb through the field was pretty sweet and I'm hoping he'll get a better grid pos next weekend, could get pretty interesting. I was especially glad to see Sauber doing well, being a fan of Kobayashi!

@James_Giant_Peach said:

Formula 1 is for jerks.

I will never understand the obsession with watching some of the most arrogant personalities on the plant driving stupidly expensive cars round and round for hours on end.

Video Games are for jerks.

I will never understand the obsession with unsociable losers pissing away the best days of their lives pushing A to jump for hours on end.

Turns out this can apply to anything huh? let's try another:

Eating is for jerks.

I will never understand the obsession with people chewing on foodstuffs to gain nourishment the same way every day for hours on end.

man, it turns out people should never enjoy anything ever... you have opened my eyes! your comment was neither witty nor inspired but it has opened my eyes good sir.

Another F1/McLaren fan here, Great first race, As someone said on twitter it's nice when the best looking car is also the quickest. Definatly looking a like it could be a close season, Hoping Button or Hamilton can get a second championship.

Formula 1 is for jerks.

I will never understand the obsession with watching some of the most arrogant personalities on the plant driving stupidly expensive cars round and round for hours on end.

Formula 1 isn't for jerks, even if it's easy to be annoyed by the money behind it all like a lot of sports.

Really annoyed by how safety cars can decide results as opposed to driver skill. I am a McClaren fan so I guess I'm biased but it would have been nice to over rule that bit of luck.

I'd like to watch F1 but start times always seem to always be scheduled for somewhere between 2:30 AM and 4:30 AM here. That makes it difficult to care but I do try to watch a race or two each season.

Where can I get good F1 coverage in the US? I always mean to watch the races or some highlights but I could never find a good place to do it.

Surprised by all the McLaren fans here (but this is a site for people with good taste,so, elaborate from there) and as a fellow fan I'm really happy about the opening race.

McLaren always develop really strongly, so them having a front running car right out of the box is super encouraging for them.

Was a great race though overall, and with the midfield being so gorram competitive looking this year, it should be a whole barrel of fun.

@JOURN3Y said:

Where can I get good F1 coverage in the US? I always mean to watch the races or some highlights but I could never find a good place to do it.

I know you can catch it on Speed and I think Fox as well, but US coverage, in my opinion, is complete crap compared the coverage in the UK. Their is a way to fix this however. I'll be PMing you shortly for a good solution to this.

Well for sure I'm so happy to not see a Red Bull on the podium, but I thought it was a very exciting race. Kimi had an awesome drive and really made me wonder what would happen if he made it past Q1. I really felt bad for Grosjean though. First F1 race and get's smacked by Maldanado on lap 2!! But I'm sure he made a lot of the other drivers open their eyes when he pulled 3rd in qualifying. Although I don't like Massa too much, I hope Ferrari get their problems straight and be a little bit more competitive. Even though this is the first race, I think this is gonna be an awesome year. Can't wait to see them in Texas, then Jersey next year.

Hell yes! F1. Australia race was entertaining. Even though the fastest cars started on top and ended up on top there was some nice action during the 58laps.

Highlights

• Raikkonen driving up from 17th, up to 7th, down to 10th and then snatching 7th on the last lap.
• Perez starting from last ending up on 8th.
• Pastor Maldonado driving like an idiot playing mario kart.
• Alonso in top 5!

This year i will be rooting for my homeboys Raikkonen and Alonso

So yeah, another race weekend, Another Grosjean going off right at the start! I would have never in a million years have guessed the 1st and 2nd places, raaather weird, I hope it wasn't a fluke as it could mean we are in for a very competitive season!

It was a good race. The rain delay was a little bit of a drag though. I didn't expect to see Button struggle as much as he did. I love seeing Massa struggle after bitching about his car. It looks like it will be a good, competitive year.

Alonso was 5 seconds off lapping Massa in the same car near enough, Quite funny really, Massa's gonna be feeling the pressure big time to perform now.

I enjoyed the race quite a lot. Fair play to Perez. If he didn't have the slip up he would have taken Alonso.

Watched the race on Sky for the first time today. At first I was all kinds of against watching F1 on anything but the beeb, but after hearing Brundle and the other guy (was he the one on 5 Live? He's my favourite sports commentator across all sports ATM) I was sold. Sold!

Good race in Malaysia, a rainy race always mixes things up and gets people out of position which is always fun... Putting the HRT in a racing position seemed to cause some issues though, poor Button.

I've always enjoyed watching F1 for the mid-pack race and the races so far have been great for that.

While neither of us are really racing enthusiasts, my lass and I always enjoy watching F1 whenever it's on. I guess living in Melbourne it's kinda gotta seep into your consciousness at some point.

I am a big Mark Webber fan - it's a tough gig. He's always the bridesmaid never the bride.

@James_Giant_Peach said:

Formula 1 is for jerks.

I will never understand the obsession with watching some of the most arrogant personalities on the plant driving stupidly expensive cars round and round for hours on end.

any nascar is anybetter? Or how about drag racing? Driving in a straight line is just so exciting isnt it? Next time, dont post your non-sense in a forum without having some kind of response that can add to the conversation..

@buzz_clik: I've been to a F1 race in Melbourne during my work&travel trip a few years ago. Man do I love your country!

Also, Vettel was pissed after the race lol.

I love my F1 racing - well done Alonso for winning in Malaysia in his Ferrari. Well done Perez for 2nd too in the Sauber - fantastic drives the both of them.

I'm not loving watching the highlights, instead of the whole practice, qualifying and race live on the BBC. I'd resent paying Murdoch's Sky (25GBP per month on top of my cable bill) for what Ecclestone promised would be "free to view" F1 racing.

But I blame the BBC for this in preferring to completely move their broadcasting operation from London to Manchester, rather than honouring their signed commitment to F1 - that bought them so many awards for their excellent coverage last year. I miss Brundle.

Only way for me to see the race was on German channel RTL and even if I'm not exactly fluent in german I got the gist of it plus one of the co-hosts was Nikki Lauda :) That Perez dude was impressive.

I was in the stands in Melbourne.. i had this in front of me. This was after Lap 2. It was a great race to watch.

Perez must surely look back at that GP as the race he should've won. Alonso is a very lucky man. Having said that, and despite not being an Alonso fan, the man is a beast. He routinely drags his Ferrari into positions it has no business being in, only this time he's gone and won one. Probably the best driver in F1, closely followed by Hamilton, Seb and Button. On the subject of Button, if he'd not decided to have a lunge at Kartakayans HRT, he could've been on the podium. Pleased for Sauber though, always have liked those guys.

i think perez is a shoe in to replace massa at some point.

It took a while, but finally another race weekend! Qualifying was pretty darn good, Just seeing Vettel not even make Q3 was quite funny, Rosbergs lap was immense and he kept that going through the race, what a way to win your first race, with like a 20 odd second gap to second place!

Was really hoping Raikonnen would get on the podium, running second place 10 laps from the end, his tyres just died big time, boom down and out of the points, Feel sorry for Schumacher, would have been nice to see how could have faired if he hadn't have gotten unlucky on his pit stop. This year has been amazing so far, sooooo very competitive!

Brilliant race. well done to Mercades and Nico.

great result for F1 and plenty of wheel to wheel racing. pleased i got up early to watch. going to be an EPIC season

lets hope Bahrain go off with out any trouble next weekend

I still need to catch up with the highlights from the last race, but it sounded like a good one. A great result for Rosberg and Mercedes, at any rate.

It's been a great start to the season. Looking forward to more.

Great result for Nico and Mercedes. He had everything hooked up for the entire weekend. The race itself was very good. The last 10-15 laps or so when the fight for 2nd position was like 4-5 cars is the sort of racing I've wanted to see closer to the front of the grid, not just the midfield. If Button didn't have that troubled stopped he could've had a good run at Nico. Would've liked Schumacher to get a decent position, I like the less arrogant Micheal that we have since he returned.

Overall I think these first three races have been better than most of last season.

Part of me wants everyone to race in the exact same car, albeit with different colours and sponsors, I feel like we'll only ever see who the best driver really over the course of the season is if the cars they were using were on a level-playing field. The way the top 2 drivers each year jumps from team to team is a trend I'm not liking.

But, credit to Nico this weekend, well deserved.

I became a fan of Formula 1 just recently and it's pretty exciting to watch. The Shanghai race especially was really intense. I love watching drivers battle for positions. Looking forward to future races!

Missed last weekends race, and I'm really disappointed in that fact as I've always been a big fan of Nico's

Don't know about you guys but i'm hoping Bahrain dosen't go ahead as doing so would condone such a brutal regime.

Quite disappointed with Qualifying, was like last year all over again! Thought Nico would pull another super time out of his hat :(

The race itself was fairly good I say though, was really pulling for Raikonnen to catch Vettel at the end :( Nice podium positions by Lotus though. Rather funny watching Nico run so many people off the track on the same corner. Think its about time McLaren bought a new drill for their wheel nuts though, Heh.

Thought the race was rather good. Was hoping Kimi could've passed Vettel. Fair play to Lotus for getting both their drivers on the podium. This feels like the most balanced season in years with no one running away with victories yet. Bad week for McLaren, bet there will be a lot of analysis of those pit stops and they will have a some re-designing of the wheel nut for Spain in 3 weeks. They can't afford to have that mistake again. I think it cost Button the win last week and cost Lewis some big points.

Damn that was a looooong 3 weeks! and yet another good weekend! Darn good pace from Williams in qualifying and again again the race, well one of them anyway. Fun watching Lewis power up the grid. Lotus seemed to be slow starters, Kimi was killing it at the end there, was hoping he'd catch Alonso, just amazing how we've had a different team win each race so far, as someone like myself who is relatively new to the sport, its really invigorating not watching Red Bull win every week!

Another fantastic race, I'm still astounded by Alonso performing so well with that Nissan Micra of a car. Lewis impressed, but again the tyres seemed to be the real decider, it is amazing how much every track/temperature combination changes the life of the tyres

I'm glad Schumacher finally retired again, I really wish he hadn't have come back. Regardless he's still the only 7-time F1 world champion.

So US Grand Prix, first one in a while, What does everyone think of the track? Also, Guessing most folks on here are located over there, Has the GP been advertised at all? Since they are making it out to be F1's BIG return to the States.

@DumbFounded: Im in the UK but whoever scheduled the race for this weekend fucked up because it's on the same day as the last race as the NASCAR sprint cup. That said the track looks nice. Im just pissed that the race starts the same time as the Wii U live stream.

I was there, man! It was fucking awesome, I'm not a fan but I think I am now. Around Austin it was definitely hyped, not sure about the rest of the country. My race fan buddies that got me a ticket and flew in from Seattle love the track. The major complaint from people at the races was getting into and out of the track, I'm pretty sure in the future this will be worked out. It was fun and a beautiful facility. And fuckin loud! I was between turn 10 and 11.

@DumbFounded said:

So US Grand Prix, first one in a while, What does everyone think of the track? Also, Guessing most folks on here are located over there, Has the GP been advertised at all? Since they are making it out to be F1's BIG return to the States.

I have seen not 1 thing on tv about the race besides on speed. I am on the west coast and its in texas but still. I would love to go see one of the races there but sadly it wont be at least till next season.