2012 United States Grand Prix ***SPOILERS***

How many of you actually watched a F1 race live on track rather than on TV or Internet! A handful... No wonder topic is labeled a spoiler..

Timings are really odd.. Race starts Midnight here.. Hope its a good race and championship goes to Brazil!

I guess the vast majority of us have watched a race trackside.

I'll be in the minority. I've been to plenty of motorsport events, but I've never wanted to watch an F1 race live. I just feel you miss out on too much info, you're miles away from everything and you're hugely restricted with where you can go. I've heard plenty of F1 cars trackside and that's the only reason I'd ever want to go to see an F1 race - the noise.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2012 12:42PM by gav.

mitadumapaga Wrote:
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> i get the impression you guys are pretty spoilt
> and just look for something to complain about.

I don't know if this is applicable in this particular case, but that mentality has been widespread here for a long time.

and btw, I have attended 5x full F1 weekends and 3x full LeMans events trackside... plus the loose change.

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2012 12:45PM by Morbid.

mitadumapaga Wrote:
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> you have your point, gav. still, i think the posts
> become increasingly negative and this has a bad
> effect sometimes on the atmosphere in the forum.
>
> anyway, back on topic: i am really surprised
> schuey didnt get a penalty for slowing down
> alonso
>
> also, it is tough to believe nicos problems were
> only down to the exaust system. he was over a
> second behind in the end of q2.

It wasn't just the exhaust system, it was an older spec car. Anyway, the exhaust system has a lot of gains anyway, as the air is guided towards the diffuser which provides some more rear-end downforce. But I'm sure there's a few more old parts on that car anyway.

Downforce is very handy on this circuit. The gaps between cars has been exacerbated due to the different levels in aerodynamic performance, and if you watched the FPs then you'd have seen the HRTs often running off the track, due to their lack of investment in that area.

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GPGSL: S6 - TafuroGP Tester (14th) /// S7 - ART Tester (6th) /// S8 - Demon Driver (13th) /// S9 - Demon/Snake Driver (13th) /// S10 - Snake Driver (???) ///]
"My ambition is handicapped by laziness" - Charles Bukowski

gav Wrote:
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> I just feel you miss out on too much info

When I went to the British GP in 1999 I ended up mainly watching the live coverage on the giant screen which was positioned somewhere along the Hangar Straight. I basically ended up watching the race on TV...

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When I first went to the British GP in 2004 (aged 11) I was just living the dream of being at an F1 race - the noise, the speed, the atmosphere! Seeing Trulli's accident for real and then on TV was pretty cool in a way!

Then in 2005 I mainly supported Kimi + Jenson, and they did well considering Kimi's penalty and Jenson's home record! Then in 2006 I had a grandstand seat, seeing the pitstops was a big highlight, as well as what would be Schumi's last British GP for Ferrari... and of course, seeing Lewis Hamilton ON THE PODIUM from the grandstand after the GP2 race

Typical that Kimi won the race in 2007 and Lewis in 2008 when I wasn't there... haven't been back for F1 since 2006 so it would be nice to go back in the future

mitadumapaga Wrote:
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> the track is ...awesome ! i dont know why all of
> you are whining about it.

Is it? I CAN'T SEE IT.


> i get the impression you guys are pretty spoilt
> and just look for something to complain about. you
> have sky,


WE DO NOT "HAVE SKY". YOU HAVE TO PAY A @#$%& LOAD OF MONEY FOR IT. MONEY I FOR ONE CANNOT AFFORD.

> 50 percent of the time bbc as well,

50% we pay TV license to BBC we should get ALL of it.

> you have vipbox.tv, the rtl.de and other sites to
> watch the race both in live action and replayed.
> you can download it or whatsoever.

BOTH METHODS ARE ILLEGAL AND @#$%& QUALITY. Are you saying we should be happy that we have to resort to breaking the law to see F1?


> still, you find a way to be unhappy and even disgusted with this
> situation as well.


SEE MY PREVIOUS REMARKS.


> gav wrote a whole novel about nascar and f1 being
> at the same time. still he (and most of you)
> didnt bother to write down 2 lines about:
>
> 1) schuey blocking alonso
> 2) the odd tyre behavior and rosberg and alonso
> being miles off the pace
> 3) the fact that the track is full of people even
> if only for qualy.
> 4) the stunner laps from schuey and hamilton
> 5) the ferrari situation (alonso too slow, or
> massa finally getting his act together)

WE CANTFUCKINGSEE ANYTHING TO COMMENT ON - ARE YOU TROLLING OR JUST STUPID?
> and many many other descent and interesting
> things
>
> shame on (most of) you if you call yourself f1
> fans.

WE ARE F1 FANS THAT IS WHY WE COMPLAIN.



Seriously? You're an arsehole.

And I don't care how many forum rules I broke in this post - I'm not having rants like that.

I've been to the British Grand Prix a total of 9 times.
I've attended The 24 Hours of Le Mans every year since 2005 (8 times).
I've been to Spa for the FIA GT 24 Hours and LMS.
I've gone to Brands Hatch and Donginton for various series including BTCC, DTM, F3 and others.
I've been to more F1 tests at Silverstone, Jerez, Valencia and Barcelona than you can shake a stick at.

I've known live motor sport since 1991, hence I think I'm well experienced in watching motors sport live at the venues Mr Hasbriale attending the inaugural two India Grand Prix does not make you the automatic authority of experience in such matters

Ferrari are considering changing massa's gearbox. Amazing he out qualifies Alonso and they pull this on him! Who'd be a number 2 at Ferrari? How dare he out qualify the messiah!

loque, you re way out of line here.

i think you owe me an apology. i never called you or anyone arsehole, or used the word "f*ck" to describe people.

i'll let it pass, just try to behave adequate the next time.

You reprimand us for complaining, referring to us as "spoilt" because we are unhappy that we can no longer watch something we love. You speak like we're spitting our dummies out when in truth you don't seem to understand what's going on.

Let's be very clear:
We PAY for a service which has always included F1 in the list of things we get.
We continue PAYING (by law) for this service but they take HALF of the F1 out.
We then must pay another company £300 per year to see something which is realistically 40 hours long.



Let's be further clear:
Downloading the Sky races is ILLEGAL.
Streaming the races via online streams is ILLEGAL.

Yet you think that because these things are available then we have no right to complain?

I'll just leave you to read that.

We have every right to complain. We are not spoilt, we are ripped off.



Yes yes, first world problems and all that, but that's the way it is and that's generally the way people feel.



You bang on about people not talking about the race .... well most of us now in UK can't watch anything about until two hours after the race - do you understand this? It's not that we don't care - we actually genuinely can't see it.



I'm sorry for calling you an arsehole - I know that really you're very fair in your comments - but you certainly came accross as one today.

I don't think how many times you've been to a live event gives you any authority to call yourself a better fan. I absolutely love motorsport and have done so since the late 90s, but I have only ever been to 2 F1 races in all that time, Silverstone 08 and Spa 2012.

Does that then make me any less of a fan than Jim, no I don't think so.

I agree with Loque's general point of view, it is shitty having to either pay mega bucks for Sky, or having to illegally find a stream online, but that is the way it is unfortunately.

I think we Brits have to remember we have had high quality F1 coverage for years that some GPG members from other countries can only dream of having, and to a extent we have become spoilt by that.

Please let's just move on to discuss the race rather than all this @#$%&.

I for one am really looking forward to the GP, we have an interesting grid and a track that is unknown in terms of racing quantity. Could be pretty crazy.

The timing of the race has also led to a rather surreal Sunday with no F1 on until late.

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Races: 163 - Wins: 23 - Pole Positions: 24 - Fastest Laps: 22
Season 9: Constructors' Champions



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2012 06:14PM by Ferrari2007.

Ferrari have broken the seal on Massa's gearbox so he's dropped down to 11th, Alonso up to 7th. both on the clean side now. at least they've admitted what they did and why, Luca Collajani was on Sky and said it was tactical, and didn't make up some excuse like we might have imagined they would.

on the Sky issue, does anyone have an XBox or PS3, and know someone who has a Sky subscription? if you subscribe to Sky, you get a Sky Go account, so you can view the channels on your console or laptop/tablet. My sister has Sky and pays for HD with the movies package, so I use her login details to view Sky Go on my XBox and laptop (for Sky Race Control). paying for HD (for sports or movies) entitles you to the F1 channel (as well as if you got the Sports package itself).

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RIP Jules, never to be forgotten. #KeepFightingMichael



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2012 06:58PM by Muks_C.

Ferrari2007 Wrote:
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> I don't think how many times you've been to a live
> event gives you any authority to call yourself a
> better fan. I absolutely love motorsport and have
> done so since the late 90s, but I have only ever
> been to 2 F1 races in all that time, Silverstone
> 08 and Spa 2012.
>
> Does that then make me any less of a fan than Jim,
> no I don't think so.

That's neither what I said nor implied.

Think the choice of tyres for this weekend is wrong - they're too hard. They should've gone with red & yellow. The track needs to be rubbered in, and it would provide better racing.

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Muks_C Wrote:
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> Ferrari have broken the seal on Massa's gearbox so
> he's dropped down to 11th, Alonso up to 7th. both
> on the clean side now. at least they've admitted
> what they did and why, Luca Collajani was on Sky
> and said it was tactical, and didn't make up some
> excuse like we might have imagined they would.
>
> on the Sky issue, does anyone have an XBox or PS3,
> and know someone who has a Sky subscription? if
> you subscribe to Sky, you get a Sky Go account, so
> you can view the channels on your console or
> laptop/tablet. My sister has Sky and pays for HD
> with the movies package, so I use her login
> details to view Sky Go on my XBox and laptop (for
> Sky Race Control). paying for HD (for sports or
> movies) entitles you to the F1 channel (as well as
> if you got the Sports package itself).


i have ps3, but don't know anyone with a sky account .. feel free to give me your login details lol



EC83 Wrote:
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> Think the choice of tyres for this weekend is
> wrong - they're too hard. They should've gone with
> red & yellow. The track needs to be rubbered in,
> and it would provide better racing.

yup, precisely at this very moment i'm watching an interview with Perez with FoxSports LA, and he's saying exactly that.. the surface is too slippery and in his own words "Pirelli didn't help with the coumpound they brought to the track, it should've been softer"

i'm really looking forward to the start, i think it's going to be a bit crazy in the first corner.... i could be wrong, but i'm sure i read somewhere that Hamilton was saying that when you go by yourself, sometimes the car lifts a little bit at the top of the hill and you end uop loosing breaking distance...... imagine following another car......

i'm not hoping somebody flies off, i'm just hoping some run wide and Alonso takes advantage, otherwise Vettel will be champioin in 2 hrs

Edit: @EC83

The choice of tyres is clearly wrong, but as the BBC pointed out yesterday, they have to make that choice months ago, and the tarmac couldn't have been laid much earlier, if it was even laid at all then. They should have gone with a split though, that way there shouldn't be safety concerns, just making the strategiests work over time.

I've a feeling they didn't want to risk turn 16/17/18 (why is it classed as 3 corners?), and its supposed Turkeyness.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2012 07:18PM by gav.

Maldonado and Perez were also mentioning T19, they say it's very tricky because at the entrance there's a lot of grip, but then in the middle of the corner right at the apex the turn mutates into a camber negative type, so there's less grip and it's harder to rubber it...

i hope Tilke makes more of these challenging corners, but at least with a few tyre barriers, imho nice touch to the end of the lap and a high speed type of corner too.

Anyone else think that this cold tyre/no rubber thing is just going to fizzle out into nothing?

Cracking start so far, shaping up for a great battle between Lewis and Seb.

Schueys early pace seems to suggest that he pulled a magic lap out of the bag yesterday.


@Jim

I wasn't saying that you had said that or implied that. I was just using you as an example as you commented that you have attended a lot of events and I compared that with my own experiences, of only having ever attended 2. I was just making the point that I don't believe it makes anyone a better fan simply by attending more races.

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Races: 163 - Wins: 23 - Pole Positions: 24 - Fastest Laps: 22
Season 9: Constructors' Champions