quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
Any truth to the rumor that ESPN is just going to broadcast the F1 feed and Machett, Hobbs etc. are out?

That's what was said at the end of last season. Too bad they cant just transfer their show to ESPN like when it switched to FOX but it's probably a budget thing.
I really hope that ESPN doesn't live up (or down) to my expectations.

ESPN didn't have a contract with the past announcing team and likely wanted to leave it's options open. I think it unlikely that they'll broadcast without a team in place.

I personally found Diffey irritating and Hobbs a bit dated.

I would love to see them bring back Peter Windsor

Just a few more days until we see the first halo cars. Excited, but hoping the aesthetic isn't ruined. The 2017 cars looked great.

New thread time?

just got back into this thread

I was disappointed with the F1 last year - it was my first real year of wanting to watch the races

but recently

eliminating the grid girls - a dumb move

But more importantly I found F1 to be actually quite boring. Its not really racing. Its a sprint to turn 1 and then 70 laps of tire management.

and yes, Matchett and Hobbs drove me crazy - 3 hours of repetition every week, every race, every camera shot...

I am probably not going to bother recording any of the races this year - I'll just get the final results off the net.

I read today that ESPN will be pushing the Sky Sports feed. People on another forum I'm on are pretty happy with the announcement. I've only ever known the Hobbs/Matchett/Diffey/Buxton show since I got back into watching regularly.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
I read today that ESPN will be pushing the Sky Sports feed. People on another forum I'm on are pretty happy with the announcement. I've only ever known the Hobbs/Matchett/Diffey/Buxton show since I got back into watching regularly.

I read that as well. I have also read the Monaco race will be televised same-day at 3PM EDT. Not live at 7 AM. That will suck. My day started with Monaco, then Indy then Charlotte.

HAAS is the first to reveal the 2018 Halo-era car


IMO, the Halo looks almost the same as it did when scabbed on the 2017 spec cars.
Still a bit of a dorsal fin on the back too, but not the billboards we had last season.

Making the fin and halo black sure helps disguise them.
They should get rid of all the doodads on the front wings. Limit them to a main plane, secondary flap and simple end plate. That would cut down the cost for sure. Some spec parts there and you would get rid of the tremendous development cost. I remember the first IRL cars in the late 90's had a simple two part wing like that and the nosebox/front wing assembly was still just over $30,000. I can't imagine how much the F1 front wings must cost and how many people to maintain just that set of components and spares each weekend.
Hopefully the Renault and especially Honda engines will have made improvements relative to everyone else. We should have a better idea in a few weeks.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
I read today that ESPN will be pushing the Sky Sports feed. People on another forum I'm on are pretty happy with the announcement. I've only ever known the Hobbs/Matchett/Diffey/Buxton show since I got back into watching regularly.

That's unfortunate. Another race series with high-pitched voices that never shut up. I try to watch European auto racing such as the German DTM series and other sports car series but usually delete the recording well before the end as I can only take so much.

Williams FW41

Interesting how they've added the Mercedes "cape" and the Ferrari "side boards"

I really wish they would go back to refueling on pit stops. Having a full load of fuel kills the racing.

Everybody is on pretty much the same schedule other than having to fake strategy in by making them run at least 2 different compounds.

Red Bull in launch livery

That is a huge change for Red Bull. Looks bad ass, but wonder how Dietrich agreed to that??

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
That is a huge change for Red Bull. Looks bad ass, but wonder how Dietrich agreed to that??

It is just a temporary launch livery.

quote:

Originally posted by cfiore:

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
That is a huge change for Red Bull. Looks bad ass, but wonder how Dietrich agreed to that??

It is just a temporary launch livery.

Which is too bad, I think it looks fantastic this way.

Alfa/Sauber reveal


The halo works a bit better here than it does on the Williams, IMO.

quote:

The halo works a bit better here than it does on the Williams, IMO.

To me the lines look almost identical. The high-mount mirrors on the Williams are the biggest difference.

Man, the aero at side of car just under mirrors is getting complex.

I think it's that the Williams has a bit more 'shoulder' in front of the halo mounting & the Sauber has a bit of a faired boot at the halo base.

Aero under the Sauber mirrors makes the Williams look much higher mounted.