Incident 2k9 Wrote:
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> I find it pretty self-centred to suggest they
> change it just because it *might* ruin the end to
> the race and "spoil our spectacle"; sure, we'd
> have been deprived of Canada 2011 (although people
> overrate that race a lot) but we'd never have
> known at the time. Furthermore, we have no gauge
> of how hard it is to drive the cars and to suggest
> "they should race for hours because the cars are
> easy to drive" is...well, imagine someone with no
> prior experience telling you how to do YOUR job.
Have to disagree here.
Since when was it "self-centred" of fans of a sport to want to just see that sport play out, unaffected by silly technicalities, and enjoy it? To me, that's part of what being a fan is about.
Canada 2011 lasted for 4 hours and 4 minutes. If the 4 hour rule had applied at that race, the final two laps wouldn't have been run, and a standout race(and think what you want about it, but a lot of us thought it was epic) wouldn't have had its defining moment. Sure, a lot of what we see will be the same under the current rules, but defining moments which help characterise the sport won't happen as much.
Also, the cars ARE easier to drive now than they were even 20 years ago, and much easier to drive than they were in the eras before that. Maximum safety precautions are taken, the drivers are supremely fit and have plenty of stamina. If they've already been driving non-stop for 2 hours, or driving on and off for 4 hours, is a few extra minutes of driving going to hurt them or put them in additional danger? No. And as you even said yourself, the situation doesn't arise often anyway.
That has nothing to do with "telling them how to do their job", and anyway it's a bit rude to suggest that fans who've watched F1 for years(many years in some cases) have no idea what it must feel like to drive the cars or what challenges are involved, or shouldn't suggest ways in which the sport could be improved.
Lengthened and delayed races have always been a part of F1, and the hardcore fans have always loved them. Take them away or impose limits on them, and you kill off a bit of the sport itself - and don't tell me that's an exaggeration.
flat tyre Wrote:
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> The more I think about it, I think they should
> abolish it, too. Cars today are supposedly not so
> physically difficult to drive, so clearly fitness
> shouldn't be a problem!
Besides, there's
> something special about watching a sporting event
> and having it go way past it's expected finishing
> time, for whatever reason. You feel like you're
> watching a part of history. Maybe it's an extreme
> example, but it's a bit like that Wimbledon match
> a few years ago, that lasted for 3 days instead of
> 3 hours - everybody was talking about it! Which
> brings me on to...
>
>
> EC83 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Definitely I think the 4-hour rule for
> completion
> > of stopped races is silly. If that had applied
> at
> > the Canadian GP which triggered it, one of the
> > best endings to a race in recent times would've
> > been ruined.
>
>
> ...this. You stole the words from my mouth. How
> long did that GP last, 4 hours? 5 hours? Whatever
> it was, I was glued to my TV for pretty much the
> entire time, heh. More so than if it had been just
> another standard weekend. And guess what... I
> remember it fondly.
I remember I watched the first part(Up to and including the stoppage) at home, then went down the pub(Where I was due to work as a photographer that night) in time to watch the restart on my laptop on the pub WiFi. It was busy - there was a band playing a gig, which was why I was there taking photos - and a whole bunch of punters crowded round my laptop to watch the race, and when Jenson overtook Seb on the last lap an insane cheer went up. That was a fun experience.
Korea 2010 was another one that left a special memory.
Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 03/21/2015 06:46AM by EC83.