Modern Vespa

If they don't knock Verstappen off at the first corner - race is over.
Might as well watch Dogs Jumping in Water For Distance!

Same thing happened with Ferrari and Schumacher - for years - then it was Mercedes and Hamilton.

I've followed F-1 since Rob Walker covered it for Road & Track.....but man is it boring when one team dominates.

I don't suppose 'purpose' shunts, like Schumacher did to Hill - are kosher any longer. A shame, that.

O.S.

Ferrari defending and then climbing over each other like squabbling kids, Albon holding ground beyond expectations, Tsunoda finding new ways to have bad days, Mercedes picking their way up through the line...

It may just be that I've only been watching during periods of domination, but I've come to terms with the fact that the front is not very interesting for the moment and, while I always hope for some kind of shake-up and that Verstappen has a bad day, there is a lot to see elsewhere that's fun. I wish the coverage would reflect that more and have a sans-Verstappen feed

Still entertaining for me and I watch every one.

I enjoyed Perez fighting thru to take 2nd.

While Mercedes certainly dominated for years, it's not like Hamilton (or even Mercedes) was guaranteed a win at every race the way Verstappen / Red Bull seem to be this season. There was still excitement to be had and the drivers had to work for P1.

But at this moment, with Verstappen being a (grudgingly admitted) great driver, in a fantastic Adrian Newey-designed car, and with Red Bull being operationally at the top of their game (strategy, reliability, etc) it's pretty clear that this season is going to continue to be boring AF as Verstappen effortlessly coasts to first in every race.

I did enjoy the Ferrari battle at the end of Monza, and it sounds like Sainz and Leclerc felt that it was fun racing (which both of them stated clearly in post-race interviews).

As for Checo, I used to root for him. This season, though, I think he's undeserving of the seat he finds himself in -- his second-place showing is more about the car than his driving skills. I'd rather see almost anyone else in that seat. Norris would be my first choice.

Didn't watch Monza race, but was happy to see later that V.Bottas was able to squeese 10th place out of that piece of...Alfa Romeo.

My colleague went to see the race live. Apparently was worth it just to breath the local spirit when Ferrari took the pole position

I've been following F1 ever since the first race of 1989.

Many seasons saw one dominant driver/team combination, but I cannot remember a season where there was such dominance as the current season.

As a Dutchy, I should be proud I think. But to be honest the main reason I watch currently is there may be a chance that Red Bull finally screws things up - and Checo does not take the honors in Max' place. If that happens, I want to see it.

I think it's a real shame Checo is in the second Red Bull. I'm not saying any other driver could take it to the end with Max (because, well, I think he really is an amazing driver on top of his game), but a bit more competition inside of the team would be good.

Just look at Leclerc and Sainz this weekend. As a team captain, I would have bitten all my nails off, but it was great entertainment. It would be great if we would have battles like that for the no. 1 spot again.

Watch the Moto GP instead. Almost always an exciting race. I'm counting down the days until I ride down to watch the Australian race.

This is what tends to happen when the car is built around the No 1 driver and it's up to the other guy to work with what he's given.

For every Verstappen there's a Bottas, Patrese or Massa who knows their place in all this.

And then there's Nico Rosberg.

Bagnia definitely used one of his lives up last weekend.

Max swears the car is not built around him. Which, of course he would say that. Still, I actually believe it. One of the things the various F1 pundits have pointed out is that Max's main skill is actually adaptability. Max succeeds by being able to adapt his driving style to the car, not the other way around.

Contrast that with Ricciardo, one of the last late-brakers, and someone who just wasn't able to adapt when the car he was in no longer suited his driving style.

(For the record, I really like Daniel, but I think he's going to lose his seat again).

The *racing* is still great.

It just isn't up front is all.

Yup, and he'll lose it to Lawson.

Ricardo is a PR dream but he took the big money from Renault and got nowhere then he couldn't adapt to the McLaren because it was designed around Lando.

The money is on Norris joining Red Bull if not in 2024 for certain in 2025.

Alpha Tauri needs Tsunoda for the Asian market so I can't see a place for him there.

If Perez continues to mess up his qualifying they could swap him with Ricardo until the contracts expire.

The early 2022 cars were engineers designs based on the rulebook alone, but as these regs develop, and with the heavy restrictions on wind tunnel testing - driver feedback is one of the main ways to keep improving the car.

If Max tests new parts in practice and provides positive feedback, they will continue developing in that same direction, regardless of what Perez says.

I've heard it stated a slightly different way that resonates with me: if a change can make the car go faster but with a negative cost of handling, and Max can still handle the car, they'll go with the change that makes the car faster. Perez has clearly lost confidence in the car, and so is probably struggling to adapt to the handling negatives that also happen to make the car go faster (for Max).

I beg to disagree. I honestly love watching dogs jumping into water for distance.
I do watch F1, but probably just from habit. It hasn't been the same for me since Senna's death, and I wasn't a fan of his. I really miss the late 70s when Hunt, Andretti, and Lauda were battling. I feel the same about cycling. The end of the Hinault era was the beginning of the end for me. Could there be some correlation between high tech, big money, and near perfection and boredom? The last few years I really enjoy the Little League World Series, I think for that reason.

I miss the sound of a Ferrari V12 3.5 litre F1 engine. Hybrid F1 engines suck.

It's not clear who or what you disagree with here. It might help if you quoted the specific person or statement that you are disagreeing with.

I mean, who doesn't?

This post was not quite
What we were hoping to see
Try again, perhaps?

Sorry, armedferret, I pulled your post because it veered wildly into territory that is likely to be disruptive. No harm no foul, but I just don't need another thread meltdown this morning.

I forget which year it was but I was at Le Mans when there were 2 Ferrari 333's running around ( V12 4.0 Litre ) racing each other for position.

As they both opened up along " Indianapolis" they sounded like a pair of harmonised trumpets.

I'm sorry. I was referring to the statement that F1 is as boring as watching dogs jump in water for distance. I mistakenly thought the structure of the narrative would make that clear as the comment was meant to be taken as jocularity, and I was afraid quoting it would, you know, ruin the humor.

Sorry, my bad then.

Surely F1 can't be as boring as Indy Car, where all the cars are the same. With all using Dallara cars. At least in F1 the team has to design/build their own car with associated variation. Engine choice in F1 may be as limited but...

But they can overtake and there have been 6 different winners this year.

If all the gear is the same it costs less to compete which means full grids and better racing.

Street Circuits should be reduced though.

If that is all one is interested in. Some might be interested in the technological side of F1 rather than the spectator side. But then I also like rallying where there is no overtaking, just magic car control.

As for cost. If one can't come up with the money to be competetive then better to try a lower formula.

For most if the TV coverage is rubbish that will be their impression.

I took it with a pinch of humour. As I like both.

The lower formula tend to be more competitive because there's less money around so if you're using stock parts it's more down to the skill of the driver and the team than the amount of cash you have.

NASCAR, Indycar and the SRX series have taken steps to make the sport cheaper and the variety of race winners is the result of that.

When you can afford to have the best driver, designer, techs and power unit you can pretty much predict the way it's going to go and that's become a bit boring.

This phase will pass and another team will have its time in the sun.

One of the reasons Red Bull are so quick this year is because a whole load of staff jumped ship from Mercedes Benz a few years back and the reason that Aston Martin are so right now year is because many of them are from Red Bull.

In a couple of weeks time I'll be watching Truck Racing at Le Mans ( Volvo type ) then I'll be off to Spa to watch Citroen C1's race* for 24 hours and then locally there's an 8 hour endurance race for Ford Ka's which should be hilarious.

In all 3 events I won't know any of the teams or drivers as I'm just going for the spectacle, not the sponsor.

Not much beats watching x 70 Citreon C1's going up Eau Rouge while trying to draft each other all in the pissing rain.

The problem is that, with the cost cap, once an F1 team has found a technological advantage, the rest of the grid is locked out until the following year. Or possibly longer.

This sounds awesome, actually. Genuinely.

It used to be a 2CV and Dyane ( in varying states of tune ) based event but with every year less and less of them turned up but then the C1's were invited and it quickly became incredibly popular - probably because it's so cheap to enter.

It's the last race of the season at Francorchamp and there's a bit of a party atmosphere to the whole thing.

The C1's have 3 cylinders, about 70HP and can just about reach 100 mph but because they run on very narrow rubber they understeer like crazy.

They also use toad tyres.

I hate to say it but it's more exciting to watch than all of the F1 races I've seen.

Anyone else seeing all the articles about how boring F1 has become? Something like 850000American fans have turned away.
F one's getting nervous.
Many of us would like to see the return of those days, when a great driver could take a lesser car to the front!
O S.

It's down to other teams/drivers to catch up with red bull,I would prefer to see max verstappen winning than whining Hamilton complaining when things don't go his way.

How about going back to stock block 5.0 Litre V8's with manual gearboxes in aluminium chassis with steel brakes and big fat sticky tyres ?

A Formula 5000 car basically.

Just think of how much money you'd save and how much better the racing would be ?

Can you imagine the bloody racket !

Whilst I am sorry for Daniel, it has provided an opportunity for our Liam Lawson. He is an outrageous talent, in Formula Toyota here in New Zealand he pulled off an amazing outside pass downhill that didn't look to be on AT ALL. We here are interested to see where this can lead to. But I can't drag myself out of bed in the middle of the night to watch it. My son on the other hand is a big fan, I just need to ask him for a synopsis of what happened.

Someone who shouldn't be there is Lance Stroll.

All the time that you are decidedly average and your Daddy is paying for your ride you are blocking the chance of someone decent running.

Just do the decent thing and walk away.

My favourite is V10 period. Those engines sound like they'd explode any minute.

I once owned a 106 Peugeot Rallye.

Made to be a cheap&cheerful race platform.

In the stock configuration, interior panels were mostly stripped to metal, gearing was shorter, suspension lowered & harder, engine pushed to make a few extra hps (more than quoted , engine bay had ready fixing points for extra cooling system etc....

I didn't race it, but it was still unfortunately crashed badly...and after unsuccesful attempts to fix it (think straightening the body shell etc.) I sold it.

What a blast it was.