I'm a Merc fan, just on the VB77 side of the garage.
Hoping he can put up a real challenge to LH this year.

Am looking forward to racing again.

Going to be a bit weird I think with the shuffling of the players.

I am raising a glass tonight hoping that Merc in general and Chinstrap in particular has a miserable season. Whoever gives it to them has my eternal gratitude.

Bottas or Ricciardo are the 2 I'm hoping to be out front.
2nd choices would be Sainz or Perez.

I am hoping that Leclerc can be somewhere near the front......at least some of the time.

I’ll be rooting for Norris and Ricciardo, Sainz and watching Tsunoda and Gasly. I enjoy Kimi and GeorgeR but they won’t be near the front. I really enjoy and respect Carlos....but Ferrari is a shadow of what it was. Hope I am wrong.

Vettel is moving towards retirement, respect the Red Bull drivers but not a fan. Hope it is a good year with Merc becoming mortal. Will see.

Drive to Survive Season 3 is live, watching the Gasly (#6) this morning. Very cool, enjoying his attitude and will enjoy seeing what he can do this season with Tsunoda. Heck of drive last season, love the attitude.

Fingers crossed we have a great F1 season with the so many great drivers and the cars being closer. Red Bull comes across as...well Red Bull. Albon is nice guy, not tough enough.

Also watching the Drive to Survive season 3, 1-3 so far.
Some embellishment for the general audience but also some great insight you don't often see too.
Can't wait for the real thing to start.

I've never followed any kind of auto racing with any kind of regularity (except as a kid when the SC in NASCAR was accurate), but I've really enjoyed watching Drive to Survive. Yesterday I took the plunge and got a subscription to F1 TV.

I am absolutely clueless about a lot of F1. I do know I don't much care for Hamilton or Mercedes. I think I'm going to cheer on Vettel/Aston Martin simply because I like his attitude about masks.

Is there any kind of primer? Seems like there are a ton of rules.

The WTF1 YouTube channel does some good videos for those just dipping a toe in.

Edit: Pre-season on changes for '21
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnJtkOt6G0

Wow, Allen, I wouldn't even know where to begin. Maybe James Garner's "Grand Prix" from 1966, pre-modern F1 before wings and sponsor ads, build from there. YouTube/F1 can be restrictive so a Cliff's Notes education could be a chore.

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInWV:
Is there any kind of primer? Seems like there are a ton of rules.

Now there's a question, no?

Pretty good list here: Formula 1

I’d really also recommend Grand Prix - the Killer Years, talks about Sir Jackie Stewart and others push for Safety which is integral to F1 these days. Another list HERE

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInWV:
Is there any kind of primer? Seems like there are a ton of rules.

On a super basic/high level.

20 drivers on 10 teams
23 (planned) races on every continent except Africa & Antarctica

All cars are powered by a hybrid 'Power Unit' comprised of a single turbo 1.6 liter V6 with the associated hybrid components (battery, 2 MGU [electric motors])
Transmissions are 8 speed, with reverse. All are paddle-shifted via steering wheel mounted paddles & use a hand clutch for standing starts.
Cars have a movable flap (Drag Reduction System, or DRS) on the rear wing which can be opened on designated parts of the track (typically the front & back straights, with some tracks having a 3rd zone). DRS is enabled if you are within 1 second of the car ahead of you (regardless of lap/track position [so cars being lapped can give DRS to a leading car]) when crossing the DRS detection point.

Tires: All supplied by Pirelli, full slick tires, no tread (except wet tires)
5 dry compounds (C1-C5) only 3 brought to each race, designated Soft (White lettering), Medium (Yellow), Hard (Red). Pirelli decides which 3 of the 5 to bring.
2 wet (Intermediate [Green] & Full Wet [Blue])

Typical F1 Weekend is 3 days:
Friday: Free Practice 1 & 2
Saturday: Free Practice 3 & Qualifying
Sunday: Race

All practice sessions are 60 minutes this year. Prior years, FP1 & 2 were 90 minutes, FP3 was 60.

Qualifying is a knockout format.
Q1: All 20 drivers on track. The lowest 5 are eliminated & their positions are set for the race
Q2: Times are reset & the remaining 15 drivers do it again, again with the lowest 5 being eliminated & their grid positions set for Sunday
Q3: Remaining 10 drivers compete to set the top 10 grid spots for Sunday.

During the race, all drivers are required to pit at least once & change tire compounds (unless the race is started on the wet weather tires).
There is no refueling in F1, the car starts the race with a full tank (up to 105kg IIRC), enough to complete the entire race.

Races cannot exceed 2 hours run time, and will be stopped after an indicated final lap if the 2 hour limit is reached.
Minimum race distance is 300km or 190 miles, except the Monaco GP which is 260km or 160 miles.

Races are all a standing start, unless weather dictates starting behind the safety car. Cars form on the grid prior to the start of the race & do a parade/formation lap to allow all crew to clear the grid.
There is a light tower on the start line with 5 lights. They light up 1-5 & the race starts when the lights go out (controlled by the race director in the tower at the start line, typically).

Edit: Surprised my self, apart from minimum race distance, remembered that all from memory.

quote:

P250UA5

Good job, P250UA5. I don't think I could do that from memory.

One thing I would add to get up to speed quickly is to try to watch the Friday practices 1 & 2 and the Saturday morning practice 3. Lots of good info usually and Martin Brundle walks around the track to several corners giving good insight.
The practice sessions are a more relaxed schedule and they have time to explain a lot more than just what's going on in the race itself.
There is a lot to learn and unfortunately the teams seem to do a lot to hide much of the coolest parts.

I got back into F1 seriously in 2014, with the debut of the current setup & haven't missed a race.

Had to choose this year between the USGP & buying a project car.
I'll be watching the USGP from my couch.

Awesome, thanks!!! I watched a WTF1 video that explained the tires thing and vaguely recalled something about the fuel. That's a safety thing I guess?

Interesting stuff.

There have been a few refueling mishaps, but I can't definitively say whether those are why they got rid of it.
NASCAR, Indy & WEC still do refueling

The biggest one, to my knowledge was Jos Verstappen's (Max's dad) Benneton at the 1994 German GP.
Practically the whole car was engulfed in flames.

There were others where the driver took off while the fueling rig was still attached to the car & I believe a few of those resulted in pit crew injuries.

As far as tires. In 2014, when I started watching again, Pirelli only brought 2 compounds per race (option & prime) and drivers were required to use both.
In 2017 or 18 (I don't recall) they went to the 3 compound selection & drivers are required to use 2 of the 3 available.

So that DRS.....sensors or something on the TRACK enable it on a car?!?!?

F1 is a Chess game influenced by driver skill and $$, so far for the most part minus most of the world politics.

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInWV:
So that DRS.....sensors or something on the TRACK enable it on a car?!?!?

There is a Detection Zone, on the track prior to the DRS zone, where the interval between two cars are measured.

If the cars are close enough, the DRS will be enabled for activation, by the driver, when they reach the DRS Zone

quote:

Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:

quote:

Originally posted by AllenInWV:
So that DRS.....sensors or something on the TRACK enable it on a car?!?!?

There is a Detection Zone, on the track prior to the DRS zone, where the interval between two cars are measured.

If the cars are close enough, the DRS will be enabled for activation, by the driver, when they reach the DRS Zone

Also, DRS closes automatically, IIRC, when the driver lets off the accelerator or applies the brakes.