Okay, so Skiffle and I are both going to be watching the Grands Prix throughout the season, but who else is? And which teams/drivers do you follow?

I have to admit that I'm both a Schumy and a Ferrari fan, but in my defence I started suporting them way back when they were both out of favour. I didn't like Schumacher until he went ot Ferrari and performed wonders with a car that wasn't really up to it = it made me appreciate his skill. When Ferrari produced a really good car, I wasn't going to switch away. He's the best driver out there, period. I'm also terribly anti-Maclaren due to some of the stupid things Ron Dennis has said over the years.

The best thing with Formula One was the last couple of years at uni when there was a whole gag of us watching together - we'd even hire a room in college to do it. i also met a really nice girl watching the Australian Grand Prix two years ago, so tonight marks a kind of anniversary. Although a few months later I decided she wasn't quite nice enough, so I'm not going to sit here moping. And if any of those people are reading this (not beyond the realms of possibility) - I enjoyed every second. We're trying to watch one together over the Easter Break, which could be fun.



PSD

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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

And what do people think of the new rules? More exciting, or more confusing? How would you change Formula One? Making it more like Wacky Races seemed to be an early tactic of Montoya, but he seems to have settled now.



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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

I would improve formula one by lowering the speed limit, taking the engines out of the cars, replacing bikini girls with stereotypical librarian types, handing out reading lists at the front gate and increasing the brain size of th....sorry, I'm getting...well, to be honest I'm still getting over the fact that we have a petrol head thread...I think I need a good cry.

ok PSD you are now banned from being my friend.
Any Scummy fan is a bad person. And Ferrari fans ever worse - that team has alwats been a hive of treacherous arrogant little t**ts from the time of Fiorio and Prost!

Petrol head? I think I hear my name being called. I've been a F1 fan since I was 9 (and that was 1984 when some people here hadn't even been born)
One of my most prized possessions is my photo with Senna and one of my biggest regrets is the last thing I ever told him was he was getting more and more conceited.
I've been to GP's, training sessions, worked as a marshall helping friends (i was never officially a marshal coz my dad didn't let me) and have very very good memories of F1 (and very bad ones as well)

And I just finished watching the race that I just taped, so GO DC!!!!! Hurrah! At long bloody last a podium without a bleeding red car.
And wasn't Kimi's move brilliant, i laughed when scummi went off the track...

So far i quite like the new rules, if the cars hadn't been in parc ferme they would have changed them to the rain, and that was one of the things that made a difference.

well, this has been quite a long post for me. i better shut up now

I think that the new qualifying rules made it a load more interesting, as there's a load more pressure to pull out a really good lap in just one attempt. The parc ferme idea is a bit dodgy though - what's the point of qualifying if it's now part of the race proper? It risks turning it into a bit of a lottery.

There's also an issue with teams beng allowed to carry out 'limited' work under supervision if they get permission - Kimi had his rear suspension, wing and the base of the car all altered and parts of it replaced, which hardly seems limited. Who decides what work is legal, and how can we be sure it's fair for all teams? Rain has always made races more interesting, so the jury's still out on the parc ferme.

As for being glad that there wasn't a red car on the podium for the first time in fifty-plus races, Schummy still managed to get points despite only finishing with half a car. Whatever you think of him as a person, you have to admire the skill in adapting to the situation - most drivers would have retired, let alone continued to harrass the driver in front.



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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

So you are anti-McLaren... fair enough... some of my days in the late 80's were with a friend who was the biggest Prost fan in the world and we didn't kill eachother...

And if you are going to talk abour McLaren bending the rules, the red team is the expert in bending rules...

ooooooo this is a big can of worms that has just been opened... :-)

anyway I leave you with a thought...

GO DC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd watch if there was more overtaking, so you can guess I gave up at least 15 years ago.

All I can think of for more overtaking is to put some of those obliging cars that feature in car racing games into the real GP. Anyone want to be a mobile road block limited to 150 m.p.h.? Dangerous but better to watch, I'm so boooored.

Used to watch the Tour de France due to saddle envy, but they put too MUCH 'speed' into that. Reading a biography of Tom Simpson required the help of a friend who did Micro-Biology to get through the drugs references.

I used to like watching the Superbikes when the BBC showed it; plenty of overtaking there ... typical BBC, though, they picked it up just as Foggy retired, and despite even a scantily clad Suzi Perry the ratings fell and they dropped it again. Oafs.

To recreate the F1 experience, stand on the hard shoulder of the M6, setting light to a £20 note every two seconds. I'd rather watch Rugby Union. (Especially as Ireland are doing the Grand Slam this year).



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I am very interested in the Universe. I am specialising in the Universe and everything surrounding it. - E. L. Wisty

See you in Dublin then, Jon... England have been busy practising their defence so that Ireland don't get too worried (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).

Carla - I didn't accuse McLaren of bending the rules, just asked how ferme the parc ferme was ;) I just don't think it adds anything to the race, it just hides who's running fastest. The only big accusation against Ferrari has been about team orders, but McLaren always put more effort into Hakkinen than Coulthard (the reason that I don't like McLaren is entirely down to Ron Dennis' comments over the years) but just weren't honest about it. Talking of bending rules, should Minardi be allowed to use their tactic of not qualifying again? I reckon yes, as it's a tactic that accepts a cost (starting from the back) for a benefit. I wonder if more teams will follow it?



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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

i think minardi should be allowed to do that, only if they prove they can have a proper race time within the 107% on friday. if they have a crap day where they don't even manage to set a time on friday they shouldn't be allowed since it wouldn't have been made clear if they could be within the 107%

ron dennis has said bad things, but so have many other people. I will always have faith in DC and he still managed to win.

when schummi was out for quite a long time, ferrari didn't even manage to get irvine to win, that's how much worse his car and conditions were...

Sorry? When Schemacher was out Irvine had all the support the team could give - that's why Ferrari are honest about having a second driver, as the team is seen as most important. What it proved was that Schumacher made a good car great.

Excepting for avoiding tyre barriers and broken legs, lol.

Good idea about proving the 107% at some stage, but I can see that being waived if a driver had two spins in qualifying, especially if one wasn't their fault. There's been complaints about drivers saving fuel on the in-lap to maximise fuel for the race, and hence interfering with the car qualifying behind them, which needs looking at.



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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

Gosh , I seem to have started something: all I did was mention I was taping the race...

I like Schumi a lot more than I did; he's grown up a lot more as a person. I'm not keen on holding the cars in parc ferme after qualifying though. What with only having one-lap qualifying and missing the Sunday morning practice, they have much less time for getting the cars right and frankly that could be dangerous. If a driver picks up just a minor problem during qualifying, the team have very little time to get it sorted before the race.

I'm a @#$%& fan, but I've got a @#$%& fleece and polo shirt, a McLaren polo shirt and baseball cap, a Jaguar umbrella and a classic team Lotus polo. Two of the polo shirts and the cap were freebies. The @#$%& polo shirt belonged to a top @#$%& mechanic who worked with Eddie Irvine, Giancarlo Fisicella, Damon Hill and others. I got it because I worked with his Mum in an Oxfam shop in Sheffield. Small world, ain't it ?

Yup, it's your fault Carla and I aren't friends any more!

And if anybody wants a real argument, did you see that horrible little dog that won Crufts?



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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

Yes... poor little thing, I felt quite sorry for it. Fancy breeding a creature like that!



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That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
(Llewelyn the dragon, Ozy and Millie)

Sarah

i thought we were supposed to be vitriolic!
:-)

worry not, if i remained friends with the biggest prost fan during the senna - prost years i can try and remain friends with a Scummy fan
;-)

check this link out:

[www.coulthard-f1.co.uk]

PS this pic is from 95 or 96... i look slightly different now

It looked like a cross between Jabba the Hut, Nero - evil pet of Silas Greenback - and a shoe brush.

I liked the retriever, personally.



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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.

I can't do vitriol, I'm afraid. But Minsky can manage the occasional "skrrrrrk" if you really insist.



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That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
(Llewelyn the dragon, Ozy and Millie)

Sarah

please please keep this thread on topic, it's the only i get emailed home, and this kind of saying a bit about me and F1

Eeep, sorry, Carla. In that case I'll get out of it, since I know absolutely nothing about F1. :-(



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That which does not kill us makes us stranger.
(Llewelyn the dragon, Ozy and Millie)

Sarah

Ooh, heck. I think as far as we're concerned a Topic is purely a type of chocolate bar...

Eddy @#$%& was in the paper yesterdy, saying that he respected Schumacher a lot more now, and that he'd made a good world champion. I'll try and find the ref for you.



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This is the work of an Italian narco-anarchic collective. Don't bother insulting them, they can't read English anyway.