Formula 1

[Lions]

After seeing the comments about iRacing and such over in the off-topic thread, I thought I'd see if anyone here follows Formula 1. I've been an off-and-on casual fan of racing for a long time. When I was young, I wanted to get into karting but my parents wouldn't go for it. Too expensive and dangerous. I recently discovered the board game Formula D, which I have instantly fallen in love with. I don't really get why... there's a fair amount of luck in it and that usually is a turn off for me, but there is a large element of push your luck strategy involved, too. The game got me interested in following the real thing, and at least for the moment, I'm hooked.

So... in a roundabout sort of way, I have now come to follow a sport I haven't followed in years. There's a ton I don't understand and a large history gap that I'm catching up on. I immediately was drawn to Max Verstappen as my favorite driver first because of the fact that he's Dutch and second because he's brash and young. It's amazing to me that he's reached the pinnacle of his sport at 17. I find myself rooting against the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Rosberg simply because they seem to always finish 1st and 2nd. Given the driver standings follow the teams pretty closely, it seems to me that winning has more to do with your engineering team than your driver. I don't know if that's just a recent trend or not. I've also been enjoying watching Sebastian Vettel. I had no idea he was a 4-time champ when I first saw him weave through cars to move up the course in Canada.

Lastly, a friend and I went to a local karting place recently and ran 4 heats, which was really fun. They timed laps and ranked you according to your top lap time, with the focus on actually running better times. I'd be there all the time if it wasn't a bit pricey.

[Leones]

I used to follow F1 but moved on to watching IMSA and the WEC. The touchstone of it all has been LeMans. Was a big fan of Audi when the had McNish and Kristensen driving for them. IMSA's GLTM class is immensely entertaining if you haven't seen it. They have a race archive where you can download/watch past races (http://www.imsa.com/series/united-sportscar/tv-episodes [race archives])

Next year is going to a be a doozy. GTLM already features Corvette, Porsche, Aston Martin, and BMW. Next year Ford is throwing their hat in the ring squarely with the new Ford GT. They are returning to LeMans after 50 years to win. It's a huge challenge and will be interesting to watch.

Kimi is my favorite current F1 pilot with Alonso a close second. I used to despise Alonso but in the end he is a highly skilled driver who always seems to get more out of the car than a person should be able to.

As an F1 fan you really owe it to yourself to see the movie 'Senna'. He was the best hands down.

[roncollins]

I have usually followed F1 pretty closely, but this past year I've not found the time for it. I can't understand how anyone can't be fascinated by the mixture of human and technology that the F1 game requires. I admit I would love to see downforce taken out of the equation, or severely reduced, just to push the game further toward the driver. But, regardless, give me fast cars the turn both ways for my racing. :)

And, yes, go see Senna. Awesome film.

[Reg]

I have been a big follower of F1 since the late-90s. These last few years with the recent rule changes, I have lost interest in it somewhat. Just too artificial for me at this point. They desperately need to simplify the rules and make the sport more cost-effective if they want F1 as it exists now to survive (or to recover).

Not necessarily the technical rules to make the cars, but the "procedural" rules need to be simpler. Needing to use every compound once, the KERS zones, the grid penalties to make engine/gearbox changes etc... (engine/gearbox limits are fine with me. but let them change it whenever they want...)

Single-seater racing in general has gotten to the point where a wallet speaks much louder than talent. Kids that finish 7th-8th-9th in lower championships get promoted to bigger classes due to sponsorship money, and sometimes the champion drivers are stuck at the same level since they can't pony up the same kind of cash. It's sad... and it's because race teams have realized that drivers are a legitimate (and sometimes substantial/required) source of income for the teams to continue existing. All because of how impossibly expensive it is to race.

If a 17 year old can go fresh from kart racing to F1 within 18 months, and score points when he gets there, then there is something wrong with the system. Max Verstappen might be extremely talented, but I have trouble believing he is THAT talented.

I am just old enough to remember Max's father Jos "The Boss" Verstappen (a well-deserved nickname too), and feel like a grumpy old man these days when talking about F1 .. haha

I see it like how baseball struggled with the idea of a salary cap, except multiplied many times over in F1.

[Denny]

Single-seater racing in general has gotten to the point where a wallet speaks much louder than talent. Kids that finish 7th-8th-9th in lower championships get promoted to bigger classes due to sponsorship money, and sometimes the champion drivers are stuck at the same level since they can't pony up the same kind of cash. It's sad... and it's because race teams have realized that drivers are a legitimate (and sometimes substantial/required) source of income for the teams to continue existing. All because of how impossibly expensive it is to race.

It has been that way for a long time. Back when I regularly followed F1 ten to fifteen years ago, I was a fan of the tiny team Minardi, who regularly had to give one of their two driver spots to a "pay driver" who was there solely on the strength of his pocketbook....and I'm sure the practice goes back much farther than that.

[Nigel]

Maybe ten or fifteen years ago I used to watch every formula one race but as Reg said it has become far to technical and sterile for my liking. Now you get the feeling that the best cars would win even if you put a ten year old in them. The elements of danger seem to have largely gone and we it the thrill to some extent. Unless someone wallops you up the backside the cars just glide round until they finish or break down. Now I just watch maybe one or two a season

[Lions]

I will say that even in the short time I've been watching, it seems rather uneventful to wonder what Mercedes driver will finish in 1st and which in 2nd. I'm optimistic that there is some discussion around opening up the rules a bit, but I will wait until I see how it actually works.

[Reg]

THIS is the F1 that I grew up with. Even without all the gimmicks, it was much, much more exciting in my opinion.

[roncollins]

Well, the real F1 was back in the day prior to ground effects and downforce. Would love to see racing go back to those kinds of rules...of course, the game was quite deadly back in those days, too, so I guess it's a bit of give and take. I was just a kid back then, but I can still distantly remember following the Jim Clarks and Jo Sifferts and John Surtees and Dan Gurneys and ...

and those cars ... oh, goodness, what beautiful things they were, so unadorned with advertisements.

[Rory]

F1......pft. You guys are silly.


Sprint Car In-car Cam Qualifying

Sometimes it don't work out like you planned

Winged Sprint Car In-Car Cam. So you wanna be a race car driver? Here's a small taste of what it'll be like.

[Leones]

Watching the video, I realized the driver wasn't shifting. I rummaged around the net and found a 2012 USAC regulation posting:

SILVER CROWN SERIES 2012 Rule Book

218 Transmission
 The transmission system must have a neutral position and forward speed, with reverse optional. A maximum of two forward gears will be allowed. One gear must be for low speed only.

That's interesting.

[Rory]

The first video is of a USAC Sprint Car. But all 3 videos are of Sprint Cars. No shifting cause they don't have transmissions.

The drive line slips into the front u-joint which is bolted to the back of the crank and slip into and pinned in a collar which is pinned to the pinion shaft in the rear end. The rear axle is whats called a live axle. Which is one tube that goes through the rear end where the ring gear is attached to. Slap a birdcage on each end for suspension parts to mount to and a splined wheel on each end(no hubs) and you have 950 horses/750 lbs of torque of direct power to the rear wheels on a 1300 lb car. That's why they have to be push off to start. They literally shake the bleachers.

The Silver Crown cars are similar to a sprint car, but only have a 358ci motor vs the sprint cars 410ci aluminum motor. It puts out around 700 hp. I believe they've changed the transmission rules since 2012. I think the only run a clutch which is hand operated now. No transmission. They run longer races so they have a larger fuel cell and have a lil bit longer wheel base.