2010 British Grand Prix ****SPOILERS****

pretty much what jim says.

you could say the same about any big event, sports music festival etc. you will always see more and get a better feel for whats going on on tv and save yourself a lot of money in the process.

the point of actually going there is the for intangible stuff that you can't get from sitting at home watching it.

i'm talking about the atmosphere, the being part of the event and the 'i was there when...' factor

i've got a stoke city season ticket. i could easily not bother, stay at home at watch the games on sky (or streamed online). it would cost me less and i'd get a better view of the game but its the atmosphere and sense of occasion that makes the whole thing worth while.

i went to Benicassim festival last year and i guess you could say the same with Glastonbury, you'll be able to see more sat at home watching the coverage on bbc 3 but is that as good an experience as actually being there?

lemans, i keep getting invited but haven't gotten round to going yet, but i'm determined to at some point as everyone i know who has been says what a fantastic time they had.

you're right to some extent that the 1 thing motor racing tends to suffer with that other stuff doesn't is that you can usually only see part of the circuit.

however this is easily solved via Kangaroo Tv. got mine booked for the weekend wouldn't consider going to a GP without one. its a win win. you get the GP experience and always know whats going on.

A lot of people are shocked that I have never been to a GP despite watching them for over 20 years now. I used to enjoy going to the test days but going to a race just does not interest me. I like that fact on TV I know where the drivers are and can see all the cars etc. Yes I am missing the sounds and the atmosphere etc but I would rather see a race and not pay well over the odds for it.

If I was going to a race it would be a classic track like Spa or Monaco. Silverstone is great but you can only see the straight or corner where you are and nothing else

F1 needs to give back alot more to fans.

The highlight of my bahrain race obv wasnt the race. It was the pitlane walkabout on thursday! it was meeting and talking to several drivers and engineers about how they think the season will pan out. I talked to a Bridgestone engineer for 1/2 hour, he was 21 years of age, his first F1 season and he was telling me his thoughts on how the teams have used their tyres in testing. I spoke to some Lotus man about the challenge of having a car at the race under such short time scales. In sports cars that is veyr much possible I imagine.

Why doesnt every venue do this? It was amazing. I got run into by STR boys pushing their car, and got a sorry of them... I got an applology because I was in the middle of the pitlane and had an F1 car ran into me. Crazy!

All other motorsport seem to put the trackside fans ahead. In F1 it's the other way round. Obviously F1 brings in more TV revenue whilst sportscars could possibly have alot more money from tickets and track merch and the physical presence of fans.

From a business side Bernie is spot on, his money comes from TV so he focuses on that side. Bad for us and race tracks, good for his back pocket (sometimes).

edit -

If you go to an F1 race wanting to see a good racing spectacle IMO your at the wrong event. As Dave said, sportscars will be the way forward in that respect.

Marcl - the way I see it is, you can either see not alot of no overtaking, or alot of no overtaking Having a all round better view of the track isnt good if you see no racing. for F1 and racing, TV always wins..

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/2010 01:22PM by chet.

Quote
marcl
A lot of people are shocked that I have never been to a GP despite watching them for over 20 years now. I used to enjoy going to the test days but going to a race just does not interest me.

Likewise. I've never been and have zero intention of doing so.

I go to the odd BTCC meeting (or trucks, LMS or DTM) with the VaderTrophy crew a couple of times a year, but mostly for the crack rather than the event itself.

I don't need the smell or the noise - I'm quite happy just absorbing the races on TV.

I also find you want different things depending on whether you watch it on TV or are trackside - on TV you want good, clean racing with massive battles for the leading positions. At the track that's all good and well, but you want crashes and bangs and strops too.

I wouldn't turn down the offer to to see an F1 flat out just the once, but I missed the era when it would have blown me away. I've no real inclination to see a modern F1 car, but a Ferrari 412T or BRM V16 or H16 would have been something else. A modern car, whilst impressive in its own right, would just leave me feeling that it's so sanitised now and that it's not really as hardcore as it used to be, even a decade or 2 back. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it, and certainly wouldn't pay F1 prices for the privilege.

Dave makes a point.

In-spite of being die hard F1 fan... and following it much more than I do endurance racing... if were told that I could either go to Le Mans for the 24 hours or Silverstone for the Grand Prix... I'd choose Le Mans every single time.

Far better value... and not for it's accessibility either... but simply because Le Mans is an epic event and you get a lot more race for your money, since general admission for the whole event at Le Mans is about £60 or there abouts, where as Brit GP is now well over £100 for the 3 day general admission.

By the way... track-side viewing at either Spa or Monaco isn't going to offer you significantly wider views than Silverstone, if anything it'd be more constricted. But all 3 venues are absolute classics, each one worth going to... which basically means I'd better get my sorry ass down to Monaco sometime!

As pointed out the Kangaroo TV is a neat tool for track-side... I won't be using it at Silverstone though because for one it's a bit pricey, far better when you've split the cost between a group. But I'll be using a combination of the track's big screens, FM radio and live timing streamed via iPhone.

gav Wrote:
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> A modern car, whilst impressive in its own
> right, would just leave me feeling that it's so
> sanitised now and that it's not really as hardcore
> as it used to be, even a decade or 2 back. I
> wouldn't go out of my way to see it, and certainly
> wouldn't pay F1 prices for the privilege.


There is that. A contemporary F1 car definitely isn't as dramatic as one from one only 5-10+ years ago, the whole being there experience from say 1991 was much more evocative than it is now. That's because back then you had a far wider range of engine notes, and more smells. F1 cars simply do not smell much any more.

I didn't really notice that though until a lower series got out on track... and then bang... it was like a retro scent.

I'm going! My third race. I'll be in Hamilton fields and hopefully at becketts on Sunday

marwood82 Wrote:
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> the point of actually going there is the for
> intangible stuff that you can't get from sitting
> at home watching it.
>
> i'm talking about the atmosphere, the being part
> of the event and the 'i was there when...' factor

Got to say I agree 100%

I've only been to one GP, that was Silverstone in 2008

We had grandstand seats and were sitting just by the big Santander advertising board on the start finish line

The whole atmosphere of that event was amazing, the cheers when Lewis went past Heikki early on in the race and when Massa spun off again and again

We got to see Heidfeld's pass on Alonso and then Raikkonen and Kovalainen

Best part of the day was when Lewis slowed to cross the line, the crowd were going crazy, was just a very special moment

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

I read posts like these and suddenly I realise how bloody lucky I have been.

I was at Mansellmania @ Silverstone in 1992 - and at Donnington 1993 in the rain.

I also saw Hill win Silverstone in 94, and also got to hear Alesi's screaming Ferrari in 95 at Spa. My god that was immense, I sat at the very top of Eau Rouge where it starts to go flat.


Jenson drives it like he owns it; Lewis drives it like he stole it

F1 wise... I've went to the Brit Gp 91, 92, 96, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, (3 year gap) and this year. Been to lot of testing as well at Silverstone, Valencia, Jerez and Barcelona.

Been to Donny and Brands for various things like BTCC, F3 etc.

Spa for LMS and FIA GT.

And Le Mans 05, 06, 07, 08, 09 & 10. It's quite strange to think that I've actually only been twice less to Le Mans than the Brit GP, since I've done the GP on and off since 1991.

I too am thinking of watching the race from Becketts to see how much or the arena section we can also see... but in reality it's going to be dictated by how early I can arrive and how crowed various bits will be by then.

Apparently Bruno Senna's been dropped for Silverstone, and possible the rest of the season

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

Ferrari2007 Wrote:
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> Apparently Bruno Senna's been dropped for
> Silverstone, and possible the rest of the season

Yeah it's official I've just seen it on the BBC [news.bbc.co.uk]

F1 wont lose anything with that. Already looking forward to see how much faster Yamamoto is.

Kimi, so, Massa Fernando Sebastian is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?

Bloody Yamamoto in for Senna? WTF!

Although to be fair I think Senna was facked from the moment Hispania took over.

Since the new chassis him and Karun have been fairly equal so I doubt its performance related.

But why Sakon?

If they are going to replace Senna for a new driver, why Sakon?! Why not at least Klien? Somebody who can drive? What a joke. Somebody needs to kick Kolles in the face.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

Sakon isn't for his pace, he is in for his money. And since it's the slowest car bar none, theres no point putting another quick (ish) but peniless driver in Bruno's place.

seriously, WTF WAS COLLES THINKING??

Senna has been making awesome starts, overtaking various cars, and he only finished 3 races because his car is a piece of *"!#"#*/*, and he´s been runing ahead Chandhok most of the times. It has to be for economical reasons, most likely lack of sponsors...

and Yamamoto already had his chance with Super Aguri and Spyker and he was 2 sec. slower than his teammate.

EDIT: and if its for picking someone with more experience to try to develop that thing called F110, i think Yamamoto isnt a good choice, and that they should give a chance to Klien, or Jose Maria Lopez (and I say him because HRT had offered the test driver seat for this season and he refused, but he has a lot more of experience with F1 cars than Yamamoto, knows about development, and may he wants to try to show how he drives a F1 car, knowing how difficult is to an argentinian driver to go to F1/GP2/World Series/Whatever that runs in Europe)





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2010 12:35AM by Frantic.

Chandhok is a classic pay per drive money provider. India will throw money at anyone remotely talented that can get on the international scene. Narain Karthikeyan (sp??) is another classic example - barely able to hold onto an F1 car over a string of laps, then dumped. Heads over to the US, gets into a struggling NASCAR truck team, buys himself a few rides and wrecks the machinery.....
It is a miracle Chandhok hasnt wrecked more often, then again, going as slow as he is, hard to wreck I guess....
Chandok is probably best suited to buzzing around Delhi in a flash looking taxi...

We all know HRT is a battling team, trying to climb the F1 ladder, and that requires money. So of course they are going to take paying drivers who bring sponsorship with them. Talent is not mandatory....

Under the circumstances Chandhok has been pretty impressive. Sure he's not going to to trouble the elite... but much of your blast against him seems unwarranted.

He may have more backing than Bruno, but to be fair so far he's performed better than him in F1.

ironically it's Sakons' Bday today :p

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL