Poll
Question:
Which one for you, based on cars / drivers / tracks / overtaking / racing, or indeed anything other determining factors?
Option 1: Formula 1
votes: 21
Option 2: Formula e
votes: 4
F1 has started this weekend. Formula e started their season a while ago.
So which do you prefer, based on personal preferences / desires etc etc?
Simple as that!
For me, the noise of the motor is an essential component of any motor sport. Try watching F1 with the sound muted. Now try watching FE with the sound cranked all the way up to 11. Can you tell the difference? I can't. :D
... which one of the reasons why I still prefer GT / sportscar racing as their cars (LMP1 hybrids excepted) sound like cars, which F1 cars do not and Fe cars definitely do not! But I digress.
... oh and another reason why I prefer GT to formula racing generally is that at the Silverstone round of the WEC last year the "number of overtakes" count on the TV feed was 1600+ (yes, that is one thousand six hundred overtaking manoeuvres), and that was only a third of the way through the race. I obviously know the race contained multiple classes of cars of vastly different performance and is therefore a different animal to F1 etc but each overtake adds an element of chance (viz Brendan Hartley in his Porsche a couple of years ago).
But I digress again, this is a simple case of F1 vs Fe (is it referred to as that yet?).
Expect Fe will gain more followers this year just because of the dumb Eccleston deal with Sky and no free to air live races other than a token British GP.
Sky will have far less viewers than bbc or c4 or itv ever had.
I need to watch more Fe to decide but the lack of noise and the narrow tracks are a bit of a negative for me so far.
Quote from: GroupC on March 16, 2019, 05:28:11 PM
..
Fe (is it referred to as that yet?
...
I asked myself the same question. I initially typed Fe but that didn't look right - will always be iron to me. :confused1:
Quote from: Fardap on March 16, 2019, 05:51:51 PM
Expect Fe will gain more followers this year just because of the dumb Eccleston deal with Sky and no free to air live races other than a token British GP.
To be fair, the C4 highlights for the 50% of F1 races they didn't have last year were pretty good, certainly not just a token half hour. I see that tomorrow's race has got a 2 hour slot on C4 so I anticipate that it'll be of a similar standard. The only snag remains trying not to spot the results beforehand.
As to Formula E, I haven't watched it since the first season but, for a fledgling formula, I did consider it pretty good - if I ignored the sound of over-revving milk floats.
I watched my first Formula-E race last weekend, and have put it on series link to watch more.
It was alright, lots of action, but a bit comedy for my liking, with stupid graphics, fan boosts, turbo zones or whatever they're called, cars ricocheting off each other constantly. Will probably watch more, but it's no F1 for me.
I'm happy with the noise F1 cars make, although I appreciate the old high-revving V10s sounded amazing, and I can forgive the lack of noise in Formula-E. I get why that annoys some though.
I watched Formula E once and tired very quickly of the lack of noise and the narrow track so don't really feel qualified to vote as E has not been given a fair viewing by me.
I always watch F1 on Channel 4 but much of the excitement of that went out of it for me when refuelling was knocked on the head. Yes it was dangerous and no, it wasn't as green as current practice but it added so much more strategy to the racing.
Nothing comes near to motorcycle racing though :P
I voted F1, I was going to say because of the noise but I think it's the tracks with pinch points which appear to be there to create crashes. Disappointed that its highlights only although some of the races are a great cure for insomnia.
Quote from: chrism on March 16, 2019, 06:47:10 PM
Quote from: Fardap on March 16, 2019, 05:51:51 PM
Expect Fe will gain more followers this year just because of the dumb Eccleston deal with Sky and no free to air live races other than a token British GP.
To be fair, the C4 highlights for the 50% of F1 races they didn't have last year were pretty good, certainly not just a token half hour. I see that tomorrow's race has got a 2 hour slot on C4 so I anticipate that it'll be of a similar standard.
Sadly the playing field. Of what the programme will contain is also changed this year
Only 50% of the total running time of C4's programme can now be taken up by the on-track coverage - down from between 60-70% last year.
They are not allowed to do interviews in what is known as the 'pen' - where all the drivers are taken to do a round-robin of broadcasters after qualifying and race - or in the pit lane. Any 'pen' interviews they use will have to come from Sky.
And the biggy is... No pit walk not pitlane interviews.
The amount of interviews C4 can do in the paddock is restricted. And they have been forbidden from doing a 'grid walk'.
I'd rather watch NASCAR.
No telemetry, no turbo's, all carburetter, no electronics, no fuel injection...
...just good chassis, good engine builders, good drivers, good mechanics.
Like F1 USED to be.
:D
given we don't have formula e down under, that I am aware of anyway, I voted for F1. this will be the 1st year I haven't made it for a number of years, love the atmosphere of the weekend, the tv just does not do it justice regardless of who you watch. local tv or sky.
cheers
Graham
F1 all the way although the action in Fe is getting better, prefer this season without the car change. I still do not like the park/inner city circuits visited by Fe, they do not give the space for really decent racing, get this series onto proper racing circuits and we may see a massive development of the series popularity.
Formula e is the future I think but not yet thank you.
Good luck Lewis by the way.
Best wishes
Simon
In the next five to ten years cars will move to being 100% electric; you wont be able to buy a new car with a petrol engine. When this happens F1 will become irrelevant as a means of moving automotive design forward. I reckon it won't be long before the likes of Honda and Mercedes move away from F1 because there is no kudos to be gained from being there.
Quote from: Newportnobby on March 16, 2019, 09:00:21 PM
...Nothing comes near to motorcycle racing though :P
Agreed*, especially old-time 500cc singles. The sound of a dozen 'Manxes' and 'G50s' passing cannot be forgotten. And the smell of Castrol 'R'!
The 350s are wonderful too - with '7Rs' and 'KTTs' as well as the Nortons.
The two-strokes (Scott excepted) never did much for me, though.
*Obviously I have excluded horse racing from my comment.
John
Well, after this morning's very boring race I think maybe I voted the wrong way!
Best wishes
Simon
Quote from: bridgiesimon on March 17, 2019, 09:46:45 AM
Well, after this morning's very boring race I think maybe I voted the wrong way!
Best wishes
Simon
No spoilers please! Some of us have to watch it on 'proper' telly :D
Quote from: emjaybee on March 16, 2019, 10:48:47 PM
I'd rather watch NASCAR.
No telemetry, no turbo's, all carburetter, no electronics, no fuel injection...
...just good chassis, good engine builders, good drivers, good mechanics.
and boring circuits. I wonder how well a NASCAR would go around Spa Francorchamps :P
that was not really a spoiler, no mention of results etc, apologies if you read it as such.
Best wishes
Simon
Quote from: Train Waiting on March 17, 2019, 09:04:20 AM
[
*Obviously I have excluded horse racing from my comment.
John
I tried horse racing but found it pointles as the horse always won.
Quote from: Newportnobby on March 17, 2019, 10:23:28 AM
Quote from: bridgiesimon on March 17, 2019, 09:46:45 AM
Well, after this morning's very boring race I think maybe I voted the wrong way!
Best wishes
Simon
No spoilers please! Some of us have to watch it on 'proper' telly :D
Quote from: emjaybee on March 16, 2019, 10:48:47 PM
I'd rather watch NASCAR.
No telemetry, no turbo's, all carburetter, no electronics, no fuel injection...
...just good chassis, good engine builders, good drivers, good mechanics.
and boring circuits. I wonder how well a NASCAR would go around Spa Francorchamps :P
Well, if you want to compare boring, F1 is just a procession of cars going round a circuit in the same order they started in. What's the point, you might as well play Scalextric.
The last time I got excited about F1 was when the JPS Lotus and a Maclaren crossed the line 1st & 2nd with a third of a cars length between them.
Quote from: emjaybee on March 17, 2019, 05:23:46 PM
Quote from: Newportnobby on March 17, 2019, 10:23:28 AM
Quote from: bridgiesimon on March 17, 2019, 09:46:45 AM
Well, after this morning's very boring race I think maybe I voted the wrong way!
Best wishes
Simon
No spoilers please! Some of us have to watch it on 'proper' telly :D
Quote from: emjaybee on March 16, 2019, 10:48:47 PM
I'd rather watch NASCAR.
No telemetry, no turbo's, all carburetter, no electronics, no fuel injection...
...just good chassis, good engine builders, good drivers, good mechanics.
and boring circuits. I wonder how well a NASCAR would go around Spa Francorchamps :P
Well, if you want to compare boring, F1 is just a procession of cars going round a circuit in the same order they started in. What's the point, you might as well play Scalextric.
The last time I got excited about F1 was when the JPS Lotus and a Maclaren crossed the line 1st & 2nd with a third of a cars length between them.
When was the last time you watched F1 in todays race there was plenty of overtaking.
Isn't that called 'lapping'?
Quote from: emjaybee on March 17, 2019, 07:05:30 PM
Isn't that called 'lapping'?
Not in yesterday's race it wasn't.
Looks like the reg changes to try and make overtaking more possible have had at least partly the desired effect.
It's always a bit of a shame that Albert Park is the first race of the season, it's never very interesting, which just means people say "I'll try the first race of the season" immediately followed by "well that was rubbish".
There were more attempts into turn 3 yesterday than I remember in the past 5 years, which certainly suggests that yes, following may now be easier and closer racing will likely ensue.
I'm looking forward to it! I've also just shared a bus transfer with the team manager of a major Formula E team, we had a good chat, was interesting. Certainly going to watch more FE this year.
Quote from: bridgiesimon on March 17, 2019, 09:46:45 AM
Well, after this morning's very boring race I think maybe I voted the wrong way!
Best wishes
Simon
Not sure anyone could say the Bahrain race was boring. Several drivers had a bad day, especially the Ferrari drivers.
I like F1 and the MotoGP motorcycles,the trouble is has a pensioner I can not afford it. Whichever of the operators you choose,Virgin,Sky,Bt sport, you can only watch one and then if it's Sky you have to pay extra for F1. Its rip off Britain again. So I watched F1 on ch4 managing to avoid seeing the results but nobody is showing highlights of MotoGP this year,that's on Bt Sport. It was showed on a ch5 last year during the week. I managed to stream a highlights last night on YouTube.
I've been to Ferrariworld in Abu Dhabi :D
Meaningless post adding nothing to the discussion. Sorry. :worried:
Quote from: lil chris on April 01, 2019, 10:42:38 AM
I like F1 and the MotoGP motorcycles,the trouble is has a pensioner I can not afford it. Whichever of the operators you choose,Virgin,Sky,Bt sport, you can only watch one and then if it's Sky you have to pay extra for F1. Its rip off Britain again. So I watched F1 on ch4 managing to avoid seeing the results but nobody is showing highlights of MotoGP this year,that's on Bt Sport. It was showed on a ch5 last year during the week. I managed to stream a highlights last night on YouTube.
Moto GP on Quest tonight.
Quote from: mokjumbo on April 01, 2019, 10:50:03 AM
Quote from: lil chris on April 01, 2019, 10:42:38 AM
I like F1 and the MotoGP motorcycles,the trouble is has a pensioner I can not afford it. Whichever of the operators you choose,Virgin,Sky,Bt sport, you can only watch one and then if it's Sky you have to pay extra for F1. Its rip off Britain again. So I watched F1 on ch4 managing to avoid seeing the results but nobody is showing highlights of MotoGP this year,that's on Bt Sport. It was showed on a ch5 last year during the week. I managed to stream a highlights last night on YouTube.
Moto GP on Quest tonight.
@lil chris (https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=1784) Yeah - Quest have taken up where Ch5 left off and it's on tonight at 6pm and then again later on. I take BT broadband and get 3 channels of BT sports for a fiver a month so can watch all 3 races in MotoGP. Every time they try to increase the price I just tell 'em to disconnect the BT Sports and they leave it alone :D
A few years when *** nicked the coverage I tried this. Buy another dish and point it at Astra 2. Get a satellite box. All in, a one off cost probably under £100. Watch it FTA (SD) from RTL. Listen to the commentary Radio 5, which uses the same picture feed so has excellent matching, is typically within a second of synch., and RTL (which has F1 FTA to 2020 at least) often leaves a thumbnail of the action on screen during the ads.
Works for me.
Cheers
Clive
Sod that. I'll just watch the C4 coverage.
Quote from: Newportnobby on April 01, 2019, 10:06:35 AM
Quote from: bridgiesimon on March 17, 2019, 09:46:45 AM
Well, after this morning's very boring race I think maybe I voted the wrong way!
Best wishes
Simon
Not sure anyone could say the Bahrain race was boring. Several drivers had a bad day, especially the Ferrari drivers.
Totally agree with that, one very exciting race start to finish, loads of action, loads of overtaking, big shock stories and brilliant wheel to wheel racing, F1 at its best!!!
Best wishes
Simon
I do not mind the Ch4 coverage of F1 it's not too bad, not too bothered about watching everyone live like my son who has the sky coverage. My other son who as come back from living in Holland says the F1 is on normal terestoral tv over there, why do we brits have to get ripped off all the time. Thanks guys I will watch the motogp on quest now I know, even though its higlights, still better than nothing.
Because Bernie Eccleston signed a deal with pay-TV providers in the key European markets (UK, Germany and Italy IIRC), to make billions of pounds. Don't take it personally.