# so whos looking forward to F1 2016?



## turbosnoop

Its only about a week away now. Who's looking forward to it? :driver:
Can Renault turn themselves around? Will the Mercedes dominate again or will Ferrari have caught up? Will rosberg still be throwing second place caps around? :lol:
Can Honda turn things around? I hope so


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## Elliott19864

Looking forward to it yeah, be weird with it being on c4.

Also mega looking forward to the BTCC.


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## RealR0cknr0lla

oh yes sky F1 is awesome


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## andy665

Not in the slightest - boring to the extent I normally switch off after the first lap as the result is usually settled at that point.

F1 is being regulated to death, no creativity in design possible, no characters in the drivers - its more of a business than a sport nowadays

BTCC and Blancpain GT series for me the year


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## Clancy

Nope, like Andy said it's so boring now it's unbearable. Last few years have been dire and just completely ruined it for me tbh 


Moto gp is about all I watch now mototsport wise


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## IamDave

I'll probably do as I usually do and watch the first race of the season then depending on what that's like might watch the others. Though as above in recent years I've found myself just switching over or ignoring it completely as they just seem to follow each other round!


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## Pittsy

Nope!


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## JB052

It certainly seems to have lots its appeal, if I'm not doing anything else I may watch it but won't make any effort to see it, unlike the 'good old days'


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## Jimmy The Saint

turbosnoop said:


> Its only about a week away now. Who's looking forward to it? :driver:
> Can Renault turn themselves around? Will the Mercedes dominate again or will Ferrari have caught up? Will rosberg still be throwing second place caps around? :lol:
> Can Honda turn things around? I hope so


Yep, it's been much missed.

Can Renault turn themselves around? 
I think they'll struggle - too much turmoil last year. And they'll miss that Merc engine.

Will the Mercedes dominate again? I think so. They're quick and bulletproof.

Ferrari have caught up? Definitely, but do they have the reliability to match their pre-season pace.

Will rosberg still be throwing second place caps around? Probably. Depends if Lewis can maintain his composure.

Can Honda turn things around? I don't think there'll be a drastic improvement this year. They should be battling with Renault, Sauber and Haas - but they won't be troubling the likes of Toro Rosso or Force India.

The off-track meddling is definitely harming the sport though. The idea of using the current quali format for the first few races, then introducing a different format part way through is lunacy. The grid wouldn't need mixing up if they just reduced the aero effect. Simplify the front wings, clean the flow or air so cars can follow closely without destroying tyres and overtaking will return naturally (without the need for DRS).

Anyway... bring it on!


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## turbosnoop

Not much love for f1 these days then. I'm quite happy with it , see it in a positive light. There's lots of rules and regulations but that makes it quite a rollercoaster ride , and unpredictable in the way it can sometimes create twists and turns. I'll be enjoying it anyway


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## thedonji

I am but being on c4 all the adverts will spoil the enjoyment in my opinion BBC was better


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## turbosnoop

That's true


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## Crafty

There have always been periods of dominance in F1 and until now its been Mercedes turn. There is a motorsport magazine podcast with Sir Frank Williams thats worth a listen, because to him it doesn't matter - sure he wants to win but being there and racing is what he still lives for - through the hard times (he lived on friend's sofas for a few years to spend money on racing, would often leave for tracks without money to get home - relying on a deal for sponsors or some prize money), the success, an accident that nearly killed him and left him paralysed to the point he can't wipe his own backside, to more recently losing his wife. He cares about getting his cars on track and everything that entails.

I forget which book, but in one driver autobiography there is a story where the driver was going to the Williams factory and suddenly this car shoots past - Franks car. A little bit of a race develops for the rest of the journey. Ever astute, Frank saw the driver and egged his chauffeur to go faster and apparently was wandering around for the rest of the day with a massive grin on his face.

The point is F1 is still about racing as much as it ever was, if anything its more competitive now - its not just about driver vs driver though, its team vs team, engineer vs engineer, strategist vs strategist. Its a compelling battle I think. Not to say things couldn't be improved.

I think Mercedes won't get an easy time of it last year, Vettel will be right there I think in that Ferrari. 

I want to see how Renault get on, they have some engineering challeneges but presumably will have more budget now? Might take them another year to really get on top of things.

Red Bull - lets see what they find to whine and moan about this year. If they can actually put their efforts in to the racing/cars they could prove successful again.

McLaren I'm cautious about, but I think they will improve markedly - Honda won't put up with the embarrassment much longer, my worry is that McLaren can't reach the levels of Ferrari and Mercedes technically any more. 

Haas - lets see. I like their approach and they haven't come in promising ridiculous things (remember BAR promising to win their first race??) and even now they are finding out just how tough life can be in F1. 

I haven't kept up with the latest news, so not sure on the gossip but I do wonder if Manor can get themselves straight, at the end of last season it seemed that the problems that caused Lowdon & Booth to leave were still causing problems.


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## mt8

IMHO the races are a long drawn out procession of cars that only change their order if there is a pit stop or a breakdown, prefer moto gp to be honest a lot more interesting with some real characters involved.

For me the drivers need to be left to race flat out for the full race duration, and have tyres that can last a race distance unlike the controlled nursing of tyres in recent years.


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## jr250

Enjoy watching the wet races but that's about it. 

Unfortunately MotoGP is as bad. Sooner all the electronic aids are banned the better. I want to see a driver/rider win the race, not a computer.


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## dholdi

Used to love F1, remember Mansell v Senna @ Monaco in '92.
Now that was racing not the procession we get nowadays.


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## Crafty

Look at all this boring processional races at a circuit that everyone was slagging off as boring 




I suppose this epic battle was rubbish too 




And these never happened either 




Plenty of action if you look for it.


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## turbosnoop

Enjoying those clips.
This is a personal favorite of mine
Crap quality video though!


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## dholdi

Crafty said:


> Look at all this boring processional races at a circuit that everyone was slagging off as boring
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I suppose this epic battle was rubbish too
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And these never happened either
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Plenty of action if you look for it.


6.5 minutes of action from 2 seasons of racing is plentiful ?


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## Clancy

dholdi said:


> 6.5 minutes of action from 2 seasons of racing is plentiful ?


Exactly, been rubbish. Few minutes of good racing in an otherwise dire era of f1


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## Crafty

dholdi said:


> 6.5 minutes of action from 2 seasons of racing is plentiful ?


Yes, because that was every single move and bit of action from the entire year 

Do at least try and be sensible.


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## rob28

I'm a die hard fan so I'll be up at silly'o'clock watching each and every qually and race.
If you only watch it to see who's leading that can make it dull - it's more interesting to watch the battles further down the field.
Since I can remember there has usually been a dominant era for someone or another - and always people wishing it was as good as 5, 10, 20 years ago.


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## dholdi

Crafty said:


> Yes, because that was every single move and bit of action from the entire year


Nope, they were your highlights



Crafty said:


> Do at least try and be sensible.


Because mine and others opinions differ from yours means you are more sensible ?


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## Crafty

Non, because your reply to the video was frankly a bit silly, of course there was more than 6 minutes of stuff going on during the season, it was literally the first video I found. You just took the opportunity to try and take a cheap shot.

I don't really care if you like f1 or not, although I'm always intrigued why people who don't like it have to post on threads to criticise it, happens all over the place not just here. I dislike football but I never feel the need to go into threado about it and start whingeing about it. Not site why purple see fit to do it to f1 threads.


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## muzzer

If this descends into a bickering match, i will close the thread. Keep it fun and relevant please.


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## adlem

I'm a die-hard fan so will be up watching them all, can't wait! It's not just about who's leading, the true fans watch for all the technical changes, aero tweaks, battles throughout the field and between each team.

I think Mercedes will dominate again and Ferrari will be their main threat. With Wolff saying he'll unleash his drivers Vettel might have a shot at the title if the Mercs worry about themselves too much.

Renault aren't going to make drastic improvement, the car was designed for a Merc engine and they aren't willing to spend the money to catch up. Their budget is rumoured at £300M, less than Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull.

Red Bull will struggle, I'm interested to see what they manage without works backing, 3rd might be a bit too far to reach for them.

McLaren Honda have to improve, but I don't feel they have made the gains they wanted to. If they can be in the midfield pack in Australia and make it up to the Williams/Red Bull/Force India pack come the end of the year they'll have done well. Yes Honda have had issues but McLaren have been hiding behind that. The chassis wasn't great last year, it never was with the first attempt of a whole new design philosophy 

Haas in the unknown quantity, they've gone about things the right way but the Manor now has a Merc engine. If they can be within a few tenths of Manor in Australia they have a great platform to develop and learn from. Points might be a stretch too far but you never know in F1


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## dholdi

Crafty said:


> Not site why purple see fit to do it to f1 threads.


The thread title is a question, some people will be others wont.


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## turbosnoop

So back on track, 
Toto wolf is saying they will let Hamilton and Roseberg fight it out on track, and Ferrari have done some incredible times in winter testing, says Hamilton, although I've read they werent neccersarily on the same tyres
http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12...-to-let-lewis-hamilton-and-nico-rosberg-fight


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## lick0the0fish

I've been following f1 through BBC sport for the last couple of years and, with the change to qualifying which should make it more exciting, I'm planning on actually watching some races this year. 

I hope that Ferrari are as strong as pre season testing has shown, although ideally Hamilton will win another title as I do think he's a superb driver. 

Also like Daniel Ricciardo so it would be good to see him progress a bit further up the field if their car is competitive. 

I'm not sure on the "Halo" head protection. I think it looks ridiculous. It's open wheeled racing for gods sake!


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## bigalc

Nope, a lot of rubbish.
wish we could get more of the Touring Cars and WRC


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## turbosnoop

Arent they still on the telly though when they are running? Or you can go and see btcc in this country , I went, I think it was last year , it was about £30 a ticket.


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## bigalc

Only ever seem to see wrc highlights and the odd btcc race.
never been to a race, so its on my to do list.
Knockhill is closest to me, but it's always raining cats and dogs.


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## turbosnoop

OK buddy, we were lucky I guess and caught a dry day. I like btcc and wrc too. Do miss the old days of the RAC rally where there were lots of manufacturers competing. F1 does it more for me atm but I won't go into that. I always think it doesn't matter what's best, try to enjoy them all


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## Beatman

I used to always look forward to the start of the season. But over the years it has lost the essence of racing, to many rules along with h&s sticking they hand in.
It is now a procession of cars, looking at the recent practice sessions it will be the same teams as last year, in the same line

It's more fun watching club racing at Silverstone, and for a lot less money


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## adlem

bigalc said:


> Nope, a lot of rubbish.
> wish we could get more of the Touring Cars and WRC


Touring cars are on ITV4 and they show all the races and support races on a Sunday. Saturday's running is streamed online I think.

WRC has disappeared for years to sky only. We do now get an hours highlights on the Monday on C5 but that's even more predictable than the F1 - VW and Ogier all the time


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## Cookies

Yep, the BTCC is far more entertaining to watch, especially with the way they mix up the field in every race. 

I wish it got as much coverage as the f1 though. 

I pretty much lost interest in the f1 when Murray Walker retired. It just wasn't the same. 

Cooks


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## muzzer

Walker will be a part of ch4's coverage but not sure in what capacity


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## Cookies

I remember James Hunt being asked what it was like to work with Murray. He said "Murray, in his quieter moments, talks like his trousers are on fire."

That made me chuckle. I hope he commentates in some form.

Cooks


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## John74

I will be watching every session as per normal and going to the British GP again. So much more to the F1 than just who won the race, lots of battles throughout the field that will be worth watching. A few between the teams and team bosses up and down the pit lane to.

More restrictive rules on what the teams can tell the drivers during the race and drivers able to pick different tyres from team mates hopefully this will lead to even more inter team battles especially at Mercedes.


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## Nick-ST

Will probably try and watch the highlights of the first race. Good news that it is back on normal TV so mere peasants like me can watch it


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## Tricky Red

I quite like to nod off on a Sunday afternoon and F1 has helped with that recently. If the changes make it more interesting I don't know what I will do. :lol::lol:


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## chefy

bigalc said:


> Only ever seem to see wrc highlights and the odd btcc race.
> never been to a race, so its on my to do list.
> Knockhill is closest to me, but it's always raining cats and dogs.


Not so bigal !! Ive been to Knockhill every year for the past 20 - odd years (except last year due to an injury) for the BTCC, and only a couple of times it was raining, and only a bit of drizzle for a short time.

F1 should be a bit more exciting this year, I'll be watching every sesh, + practice on a Friday in my office.
Its gona be noisier this year too, but being there is where you have to be, the atmosphere is great, and the after race party is always great, used to be refered to, Eddie Jordans party,as he had a band and he played the drums, but other than that, there's usually a good band on, Status Quo played a few years ago, year before last Kieser Chiefs played on the Friday night, its a great week-end.


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## RealR0cknr0lla

Well just watched qualifying for the australian gp !!! 
That is an hour of my life i will never get back. What the 

What a farce it was - half the sessions the teams didn't bother going out because it was pointless due to this 90 second knock out rule we won't make it round to start the lap so we might as well park up for the day :wall: :doublesho

Feel sorry for the poor sods who paid good money to see the quallie & they got to see an empty track.

FIA needs to get a grip who thinks of these things :tumbleweed:


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## Crafty

The new format doesn't work and everyone knew it wouldn't.

However, I don't see a huge difference in the number of teams going out, McLaren for example didn't go out again because they had used their tyre allocation. This is no different to before.

All the teams voted in favour of this format via the strategy group, Ferrari had second thoughts and so a new vote was held and they all voted for it again. Turkeys do sometimes vote for Christmas.

This was an unfortunate example of politics winning over common sense. I will be very surprised if this format will be in place for the next race.


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## taylor8

RealR0cknr0lla said:


> Well just watched qualifying for the australian gp !!!
> That is an hour of my life i will never get back. What the
> 
> What a farce it was - half the sessions the teams didn't bother going out because it was pointless due to this 90 second knock out rule we won't make it round to start the lap so we might as well park up for the day :wall: :doublesho
> 
> Feel sorry for the poor sods who paid good money to see the quallie & they got to see an empty track.
> 
> FIA needs to get a grip who thinks of these things :tumbleweed:


Was pushed by Red Bull, Bernie was against it, along with all the drivers! Big mistake IMO


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## John74

Just watching it now , I didn't see what needed to be changed. Old system worked well enough.


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## Beeste

I'm going to the Bahrain race. The last one I went to was when Lewis and Rosberg had that epic battle and I was in the perfect spot on turn 1 to see most of it. It was awesome. I hope this year's race is as good but to be honest it's unlikely to be as most of the races are just processions.


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## RealR0cknr0lla

Beeste said:


> I'm going to the Bahrain race. The last one I went to was when Lewis and Rosberg had that epic battle and I was in the perfect spot on turn 1 to see most of it. It was awesome. I hope this year's race is as good but to be honest it's unlikely to be as most of the races are just processions.


have fun - jammy sod :wave::driver:


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## GolfFanBoy

New qualifying format is awful, left some teams as confused as the spectators with cars stuck in the pits or setting off on laps they didn't have time to complete  So frustrating that they feel the need to keep re-inventing the sport, leave it alone, these changes are just an own-goal that will see new viewers switching off.


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## slim_boy_fat

^^ This.


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## tmitch45

Yep not one person seems to be saying qualli was better or even as good as before. I don't know why they even changed it for this.


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## John74

Well that was a very good season opener , plenty of action and battles. Hopefully it continues all season long.


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## Crafty

Yeah as always no overtaking and the guy in to T1 first won, as usual. 

Oh wait...


It won't stop the naysayers though, sadly.

It was a pretty good race with lots going on. Won't write any more as I can't make the spoiler tag work.


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