Post here all non technical related topics about Formula One. This includes race results, discussions, testing analysis etc. TV coverage and other personal questions should be in Off topic chat.
I have been to Silverstone lots of times and made the whole weekend of it camping, so I am totally bais. Lots of fun, enjoyable to watch (obviously being there is an entirely different experience).
andrew wrote:I have never driven or been to Silverstone but for me it is one of the most unimaginative circuits on the calander.
I'd like to see the Swedish GP return with the Scandinavian Raceway. Looks a decent enough circuit. Obviously wouldn't meet the current safety regs though.
Anderstorp would not cut it in todays F1 for sure.
To deny Copse, Becketts, Maggotts a place in F1 is just crazy, even if you have driven the circuit in game you would realise that these 3-4 corners are the best ones ever created for an F1 car or driver.
I have always embraced the concept that "Grand Prix" meant it was one nation's race, a grand prize. So I really have trouble with one nation hosting two Grand Prix. And if there's a European GP, us guys in North America demand the same. And an Asia GP, South America, etc.
So let's think about just one Grand Prix per nation, especially in this climate where we have more venues than the calender allows.
These days, it's more about the circus following the money, not the fans. To me it isn't viable if the track was constructed to draw world prestige, is used only once a year, and attendance is poor. I understand you have to go where the money is, but to this old fan who embraces certain classic values, only on a dedicated race track do the cars really open up and show us what they can really do.
And I have serious issues with politics intruding into racing. I do know it's been practiced since the first organized races, but it still sticks in my throat.
I don't have a problem with Monaco, I desire for the teams and drivers face different challenges. Heck, I'd like to see an oval thrown back into the calender, such as the days when the Indy 500 was on the Formula One list. How about Talladega? Now, that would be a hoot, and raise a few eyebrows.
And if safety is an argument against Monaco, the record shows just one death there, Bandini in 1967. Silverstone has 3, Monza has 3, and Spa has 2. So what's safer? Heck, they still run the Indy 500, and the list of people who have been killed as a result of racing there is very long.
Personally, I would remove any track that doesn't exist purely as an expression of the love of racing, those which are constructed only to boost a nation's prestige, such as Turkey, China, and Bahrain.
There are other nations more deserving, and we need a race in South Africa and another in South America.
Racing should be decided on the track, not the court room.
I'd like to see the old Nurburgring-Nordschliefe brought back - You could just about lose all the other tracks that way!
But seriously, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Shanghai ...... in fact nearly all the Tilke tracks could go. Monaco as well as the cars are too dangerous around there.
1) Bahrein. Because the track is crap and so are the current powers in place.
2) Valencia. Because the track is crap and Spain already has a GP.
3) Abu Dhabi. The track is nothing special, and the fans aren't really clicking.
4) Texas. Should not exist in the first place. Like the US don't have enough good race tracks. Indy and Watkins Glen had more style, so would Daytona or Sebring. Crazy idea: to make F1 relevant to americans, why not have an F1 race on an oval track? That would be a bold move with plenty of overtaking and a big change for the drivers and tech teams to adapt to.
The ones that should be back:
1) South Africa. The non-oily part of Africa should have an F1 race.
2) Nordschleife. But not gonna happen, safety babble and all.
3) Both Imola and Monza, not one or the other. Just because they're cool.
And it might be cool to return to Adelaide one year out of two.
Bahrain and Valencia can go. Both are boring and sterile looking, so bland.
I never liked the Indy track much. The straight was cool, but that's about it. The infield sucks. It would have been better to run the cars on the oval as much as I hate to say that.
HampusA wrote:
To deny Copse, Becketts, Maggotts a place in F1 is just crazy, even if you have driven the circuit in game you would realise that these 3-4 corners are the best ones ever created for an F1 car or driver.
Oh yes! To stand on the outside of Maggotts as the cars sweep through in to Becketts is to see the modern F1 car at its purest. The direction change is simply breathtaking. That you're literally within a few metres of the track only adds to the experience.
Stand by Chapel looking back towards Copse and you see the cars crest the slight rise (Silverstone isn't totally flat, whatever anyone tells you) and dive down through Maggotts and Becketts. Fabulous!
You absolutely do not get the reality of F1 from the TV coverage. They are beasts and this corner series shows them off beautifully...
Oh and Silverstone these days has the cars hitting 190mph+ 5 times a lap. So much more an F1 circuit than some of the mickey-mouse stuff elsewhere...
If you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table not a taller fence.
Agreed! I have driven the layout in iRacing. It´s laser scanned so all the elevations and dips in the asphalt are there.
Those corners are just the creme de la creme in terms of corners suitable for an F1 car.
Copse is just crazy in it´s own way, basically it feels like a 90 degree corner you take flat in Q trim. Feels unreal that a car can change direction like that.
Becketts and Maggotts is even better, left, right (touch the inside curb some), left and then right again.
And never touching the brake in any of the corners
