Anyone else enjoying Drive to Survive? Enjoying spotting some fun watches. Pierre Gasly with a Cartier Santos and Yukon with a MoonSwatch

 

Looking forward to a strong season. Unfortunately, ESPN coverage continues to be abysmal. North American races are even worse when they bring in Danica, rendering them unwatchable.

 

You might want to consider a subscription to F1TV.

It's frikin awesome.

 

When does the season actually start? I've decided to give F1 a go again after a several year break as I thought it had gotten a tad boring. I used to be up half way through the night to watch Australia / Japan, used to have £20 each person sweepstakes with my mates on the lap number the commentators would use the word 'marbles' and the phrase 'dirty air' and absolutely loved it; the Bus Stop in the rain was my favourite and Hill used to nail it every time. Then it just got... meh. (All imho of course). But I've been getting more and more into the intrigue of late.

 

Cool, and thanks! I'll be following it from afar, and rooting for George I think.

 

This is a sham and a scam. It can't be considered serious testing. They used to do this stuff with test drivers a month before the real F1 drivers ever sat in the cars. This was letting paint dry and making sure the air guns worked on the tires. In the past, these cars would be hitting the track for the first race with hundreds of hours on the clock. They'd be well sorted race cars, able to run at 100%. Now, the poor fools who got suckered into buying tickets for the first three races, are just paying to watch the teams run "development" trials. May by the fourth actual race we will actually be seeing a true F1 race.

 

I don’t disagree, but isn’t every race pretty much varying levels of development for every team?

 

Not like this year. When they took away open testing, and added budget restrictions that proved to be counter productive, they destroyed F1 as the pinocle of motor sports. Now everything is dependent on simulators. But F1 shouldn't be about developing video games, we are building real machines that will be traveling at real speeds on real surfaces in a real world of constantly changing conditions. To come to the first race with a car has serious miles on it, driven by the drivers who will actually race it, then you have a real race right from the beginning. I think one of the reasons Schumacher failed when he went to Mercedes was because he no longer had the testing time that was such a part of his victories at Ferrari. After every race, he'd be back in the car on Monday or Tuesday...pushing it harder, trying new parts. Today we are evolving into eco/pc video game imitations of auto racing.

 

I've a bit of a feeling that, if the Merc is any way good at all this year, that Hamilton will be fighting for one more championship.
I reckon there will be a titanic battle between Verstappen and Hamilton, with a Ferrari and an Aston nipping at their heels.

I think Merc have a stable base now, after last year's woes and Hamilton sees one more opportunity to add to his tally before shuffling off as the GOAT.

Could be wrong, but I've stuck 20 yoyos on the nose for him to take it this year.

 

They are already making excuses.
https://www.planetf1.com/news/george-russell-six-race-deadline-mercedes/

 

I think some pre-season testing should be brought back during the development of the car. If they want to make it cost effective, the teams can select the circuit in which they want to test (local circuit, or for Ferrari - Fiorano). It would help with reliability issues, and would bring back somr of that element of secrecy and anticipation for the upcoming season.

 

Maybe they know he isn't good and are just making excuses for him to save face.

 

It ain't official until it's been officially denied!