Formula One

thesecretagent

Anybody else into F1?

I like the way this season is going. Can't predict anything with a different winner in every race this season. Monaco this weekend, great location for drama and soaking in the atmosphere. I like Sky's coverage as well - especially the F1 channel's feature programmes between fixtures.

minigeff

sadly i've missed much of this years season, but i did get to see qualifying this weekend.

glad to hear the williams team is bouncing back, great to hear about the help they've had from other teams too, certainly wouldnt get that in bloody football.

thesecretagent

Schumacher took pole, but starts in sixth because of an earlier penalty. Still, he was fastest around the circuit so anything's possible. As long as he doesn't get in the lead and park up...

Sidders

Anyone watch the pre-race build up on Sky F1 today?

Noticed a certain QOS item being worn by one on the team principals. Anyone else clocked it?

thesecretagent

missed that - what was it?

Sidders

thesecretagent wrote:

missed that - what was it?

Martin Whitmarsh, team principal of McLaren was wearing TF-108 19v sunglasses when being interviewed before the race.

Maybe a James Bond fan?

thesecretagent

What sharp little eyes you have... )

toutbrun

Honestly, a few years back I didn't care at ALL for F1 (even though it's pretty big in Montreal when it comes here).

But then I saw this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUZJVY-sHo

And realized how HARD it is to drive one. It's just so fast!

Not sure whether I'd pay 400$ to go see it when I could rent a Ferrari for a day for that price.. It's way more fun to drive it yourself! Just watch it on TV otherwise..

thesecretagent

I've driven my re-mapped and derestricted M5 at 194mph on an airfield, and the concentration it takes is phenomenal. But they do that several times in a lap, with seventy or so laps in a race. And they sometimes do that inches from other cars, with corners looming, and trying to overtake! Madness!

Thunderpussy

I've done that in my white van.

minigeff

I got 110 out of a tranny once. Had to slow down when the tops of the doors started flapping open though.

Thunderpussy

from minigeff:

I got 110 out of a tranny once.

Didn't he complain. )

toutbrun

thesecretagent wrote:

I've driven my re-mapped and derestricted M5 at 194mph on an airfield, and the concentration it takes is phenomenal.

Can't believe you guys still think in miles per hour..

I command you for not doing this on the road.

There is a place in Provence (France) where you can drive an actual F1 for 2 laps and sit in a double place F1 driven by a professional driver for 2 laps. That's the kind of thing I'd like to do before I die.

A real F1 (not a F3, not a F2000, not a Ford 1600, not a Ferrari) must be completely insane.

Thunderpussy

Miles per hour, Pints and Feet and Inches. )
Bring back Pounds, shillings and pence.

Predator

toutbrun wrote:

There is a place in Provence (France) where you can drive an actual F1 for 2 laps and sit in a double place F1 driven by a professional driver for 2 laps. That's the kind of thing I'd like to do before I die.

A real F1 (not a F3, not a F2000, not a Ford 1600, not a Ferrari) must be completely insane.

Well, they are (as I understand) 10-year old Arrows chassis with detuned engines and stretched to fit the extra seat(s) - I have seen a 3-seater - still pretty intense despite the fact you only see the back of the driver's head in the 2-seater.

And what - pray - is wrong with miles per hour?

toutbrun

Predator wrote:

toutbrun wrote:

There is a place in Provence (France) where you can drive an actual F1 for 2 laps and sit in a double place F1 driven by a professional driver for 2 laps. That's the kind of thing I'd like to do before I die.

A real F1 (not a F3, not a F2000, not a Ford 1600, not a Ferrari) must be completely insane.

Well, they are (as I understand) 10-year old Arrows chassis with detuned engines and stretched to fit the extra seat(s) - I have seen a 3-seater - still pretty intense despite the fact you only see the back of the driver's head in the 2-seater.

And what - pray - is wrong with miles per hour?

Well my bet is that you (and I) could barely drive their «bad» F1. But if you think you're a master and deserve a real, real, real F1, they have a Master program which costs 10 000 EUR+ for one day, where you drive 100% competition F1 cars that were used a few years back at the Grand Prix. But that's way more expensive and you need to be really, really good at racing to drive one. It's not like karting. You need to be a real race car driver, otherwise you just won't be able to drive it.

This is what driving a F1 looks like. Very hard.

http://youtu.be/EGUZJVY-sHo

minigeff

ya see this is where i get my argument of 'overpaid footballers'. i personally can't stand rich footballers, and i know, its not just about kicking a bag of wind around, sponsors, advertising deals, merchandise etc etc all validates the massive pay packet, but i honestly think that theres a great deal more skill involved in F1, and its not just simply 'driving round in circles all day'.

on one hand i can't play football like shrek, but there again i bet his number one fan probably couldn't even get an F1 get into 3rd gear. motor racing, especially at F1 level is seriously, seriously hard.

oh and miles per hour is better than kilometers per hour because its been around longer, so there in fact, while i think about it, i can work in metric and imperial, both fractional and decimal, but a kilometer is the one unit of measurement i never use.

thesecretagent

toutbrun wrote:

thesecretagent wrote:

I've driven my re-mapped and derestricted M5 at 194mph on an airfield, and the concentration it takes is phenomenal.

Can't believe you guys still think in miles per hour..

I command you for not doing this on the road.

There is a place in Provence (France) where you can drive an actual F1 for 2 laps and sit in a double place F1 driven by a professional driver for 2 laps. That's the kind of thing I'd like to do before I die.

A real F1 (not a F3, not a F2000, not a Ford 1600, not a Ferrari) must be completely insane.

Yeah, safety first. I've only had 176mph on the road...

thesecretagent

Top Gear's Richard Hammond was useless in an F1 car. He had a whole team working on it and tuition, and he span countless times. Let's face it, he's going to be a pretty good driver compared to most, what with all the powerful cars he's driven and things he's done for the show. Apart from the fact I'd never fit in one, I know I wouldn't fare any better.

minigeff

thesecretagent wrote:

Top Gear's Richard Hammond was useless in an F1 car. He had a whole team working on it and tuition, and he span countless times. Let's face it, he's going to be a pretty good driver compared to most, what with all the powerful cars he's driven and things he's done for the show. Apart from the fact I'd never fit in one, I know I wouldn't fare any better.

it's a little (no pun intended) known fact that the Top Gear team employ professional drivers to do most of the film work, especially when 2 cars are 'raced' against each other.

personally though, there's not much skill in power sliding. russ swift could probably teach most of us here to spowerslide in an afternoon.

i used to be a stalwart fan of TG, but these days its 3 guys pissing around in cars the majority of us can't afford. i remember the good old days of TG when there used to be a used car section pointing out what to look out for with different cars, a safety bit where latest safety technology was discussed, christ once they even had matt berry doing a bike segment.

the only one i have time for these days is james may as he seems to have some common sense about him other than that fat obnoxious conservative arse sniffer clarkson and his slapstick 'comedy' sidekick hammond.

i mean ok, the races between car and train, boat, plane etc can be fun, but all that POWWWWWWWWWWWER!!! sliding is a boring. when, for instance, can i, or would i want to, powerslide round a corner? why am i interested in a car that can go over 200mph, when 70 is the maximum in my country? how about teaching people how to control a skid, or keep a car in balance, they could still do it in supercars if they really had to, but it'd be nice to see all that expensive technology being used as it was designed to be, instead of burnouts that pretty much any rearwheel drive car can do.

i guess what im trying to say is i wish the show was more informative. the show's been shelved for a year, apparently because of itv's strong peaktime presence with x factor etc, which is obvious bollox, its more likely to be down with the fact that interest is waning and poor clarkson and his bum chum andy wilman don't want the fire to burn out too quickly.

sorry, rant over.

MG

toutbrun

MG, did you see the video? I'm not sure to understand what you're talking about... I was talking about driving a F1, not power sliding..

thesecretagent

Personally I am a big fan of Top Gear - but for exactly what it is - three middle aged idiots who aren't PC just larking about. Hopefully sometimes in fast cars or simply in a pick-up converted into a crap speedboat. I enjoy Fifth Gear or Driven for in depth car programmes.

SilentSpy

I watch F1. I do prefer MotoGP just because it's more extreme and watchable. Although, any sport you have ever played is fairly boring to watch with very few exceptions. Tom Cruise drove an F1 car on the coming Texas track. He didn't seem to have as many problems as Richard Hammond.

I like Top Gear. It's funny. The interviews and laps with the actors, personalities, etc. are fun too. I really like those road trips. Yes, they test expensive cars but I don't think there is anything wrong with that.

toutbrun

The citizens of Texas (republicans) said they would sue the State of Texas if they gave their money to F1.

Thunderpussy

Love Top Gear as well, real Blokes TV ( when My wife lets me watch it ) )
Here's a fun video showing the inside of an F1 Car.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/world-of-sport/inside-f1-car-145048140.html