sunsalem

That is why I didn't bite.


Liberty hasn't presented any evidence they REALLY are on top of the sport of F1.
Like most of my fellow Americans, they TALK a good game but ultimately come up short.

VetteDrmr

It's not Liberty specifically. In my experience, it's literally EVERYONE that starts this kind of service. As Helmuth von Multke famously stated: "No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy." Or, as we in the software defense industry say: "you can test forever, but you'll never test out the bugs the customer will find."

And it's not an American thing either. Go ask any customer of a German car in the first year it's released; the number of problems is huge compared to subsequent years. If the Germans, who are the supposed masters of engineering, can't make it work, then it's a pretty systemic issue.

Or, IOW, being on the leading edge always costs more.

Have a good one,
Mike

Nowanker

Rule number one in life:
NEVER buy a German car in its first year of production!

mattastick

Fixed for you.

Personally, I'd love to see Grosjean lose his seat. He's made enough bone headed decisions that it's time to move on. I'd honestly love to see something put in driver's contracts about them having to pay for things they tear up. But that'll probably never happen, unless they're a pay driver.

As for F1 TV, now that ESPN has fixed their broadcast, and Mothers has stepped up, it's a service that isn't needed, IMO. It sounds good in theory, and when our only option in the US was the 3 chuckleheads, sure, but now that we have Sky Sports coverage, I don't care anymore. I've been watching the replays on ESPN.com when it's convenient for me, and I can even watch F2 races on demand (which are amazing races, if you guys aren't watching them). I'm pretty excited for the F1 cars next year with front wing changes to hopefully make for better racing. I don't care if they're slower, let's see them race. F2 is something like 14 seconds/lap slower than F1, but they can run nose to tail for several laps. It's highly entertaining.

sunsalem

These days "masters of engineering" is nonsense.
It's a reputation originally built (unintended pun) from what they accomplished during 1930s and WWII.
I don't buy it today.
Very true.

HEY NOW!
They might have been "chuckleheads," but they were OUR chuckleheads.
I perfectly understand your sentiment.
Sky Sports is nothing special IMO.
Those guys have the personality and charisma of plywood.
I loved how Christian Horner put Brundle on the spot during Qualifying in Spain by asking, "Well, what would YOU do, Martin."
I'm too cynical these days to believe much will change.

VetteDrmr

That was excellent! Especially when MB tried to dodge it the first time, then Horner pushed him to answer the question. And honestly, Brundle gave a pretty good answer.

Have a good one,
Mike

Nowanker

I'm reasonably OK with the Sky lineup...
I just turn the sound down a little, to muffle that Croft guy. He'll probably have a heart attack soon anyway.
Brundle is perhaps lacking personality, but his commentary does have a little insight to it.
I must be getting used to Paul DiResta's accent, seems I can understand 90% of what he says now...
But bring back Will Buxton for the grid walk. Brundle is so bad at it that I'm embarrassed for him. Bad is a massive understatement.

sunsalem

I do think their analysts are good (Davidson, Brundle, Di Resta), but the others are excruciating to the ears...they remind me of listening to some of my ex-wives.

mattastick

With the exception of Buxton, they were all 15+ years removed from the sport, too. That's the biggest issue I had with them. Their technical understanding was a joke. The newer cars are the most complex we've seen ever, and they simplified things down to explain them to 5th grade level science. The UK guys simplify things, but they have a lot more technical information than the US guys ever did. Whether that was on the presenters or the people running the show, I don't know.

Nowanker

Z06PSI

Now we know. How many do you have?

BrianCunningham

For all the Halo haters

https://jalopnik.com/the-halo-alread...ead-1826147440

sunsalem

Thanks, Brian.


Yes, the thing is ugly.
But it can save lives.
IMO, it's worth it.

sunsalem

More considerations for spicing up the game:
http://gptoday.com/full_story/view/6...ice_up_racing/

VetteDrmr

As I predicted before the season, we're getting used to it. One thing we still haven't seen either via testing or (heaven forbid) a real accident, is a driver getting out quickly. Sure seems like it takes a lot more effort, but that's also in normal, relaxed conditions, so may not be relevant to an emergency situation.

Have a good one,
Mike

sunsalem

Exiting the car bothers me too...particularly in a fire situation.

sunsalem

MB quitting?
http://gptoday.com/full_story/view/6...uit_F1__Lauda/
Take your extortion B.S. and GTFO...and don't let the door hit ya in the a$$ either!

VetteDrmr

Story has any weight at all only if you give any credibility to Lauda, who I don't. He says what he wants, everyone appears to just dismiss any opinion he puts forward.

It's just the theater of F1.

Have a good one,
Mike

Z06PSI

sunsalem

He is the non-executive chairman of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merced...in_Formula_One

He can't be completely ignored because of the position he holds.
Like others who are in positions of great power, their twitter twaddle has to be taken seriously...regardless if they're dumba$$ ********* or not.
"Theater," yes, I agree.
No doubt it's also part of the negotiation strategy Ferrari is using too.