Formula 1 2011 Season Thread

Ladies and Gentleman,

The 2011 Formula 1 racing season is almost here.
Let's hear your thoughts.

I'm a Ferrari fan and with the introduction of their new car for 2011, I have high hopes.

McLaren makes me a little scared though. Hamilton is an aggressive driver.

How funny is it that Ferrari had to change the name of their car, as if there was the likelihood of any confusion with Ford's pickup truck.

I'm also a Ferrari fan, although for sentimental reasons I would like to see Lotus put up a fight this season. Jim Clark was one of my heroes when I was a kid.

C'mon, I know there are more F1 fans out there.
There has to be. There just HAS to be.

I'm a Finn and I'm kind of dissapointed that Kovalainen is not capable of winning a Championship, he was so hyped here abouts. Räikkönen is doing rally now, but I never really liked him although he was fast for a couple of seasons.

Finnish F1 drivers haven't been the same since the flying-finn, Häkkinen retired. I used to love watching the battles between Häkkinen and Schumacher, epic.

In addition, they made the live broadcasts pay-tv, so it's much less accessible now too. I still follow, but not closely.

I follow but not closely as well for the last 4 years. I would watch a nice race but just don't ave a favorite team. I kinda like Masa but dislike Alonso.

I generally shout for Lewis Hamilton (brilliant driver, though perhaps he has attitude issues - doesn't matter to me, I ain't never going to have to interact with him ).

This year looks like a lost one for him and Button. The car doesn't look competitive at all. So I'll be on Schumacher's side for a while.

It's strange, as I never liked Schumacher when he was at Ferrari, but now that he's the underdog, I want hm to win.

My instinct tells me that Alonso will win it all. He and Hamilton are the two best drivers (on the track, and with feedback). Red Bull may have a slightly better car this year, but they'll implode as the car isn't going to be that much better than the Ferrari's at the beginning of the season.

When Schumacher retired in 2006 I became a Button fan. TBH it is too early to tell who has the competitive edge yet. Becuase of the cancellation of the Bahrain GP Mclaren have used the extra two weeks to their advantange and have completly redesigned their exhaust system, giving them extra downforce.

I don't like the rules they have these days. I know they make for more even cars, and easier/cheaper to run a crew. I wish they would lift restrictions on some things, like turbos. Engine size is alright, dimensions are fine. Instead of making entry easier through restriction of design, make cost restrictions, if you go over $-so-much, then you get penalty. I think this would spur innovation that would later make it into road cars, and make for cars which differ greatly, and could make for a more interesting season.

Discuss

Really looking forward to this season starting. Practice actually starts tomorrow.

This year a lot of talk seems to be on the tryres, Pirelli are the new tyre suppliers and were given the task of designing tyres that WILL get shredded up and not last as long. Hamilton mentioned that after 9 laps during testing on a dry track that the tyres were worn down to the canvas. So tyre management will be a hugely important factor this season and with tyre management comes plenty of pit stops & hopefully excitement.

There are loads of great videos here, but I'm guessing if your not in the UK you wont be able to access them? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/f1_videos/default.stm

My money is on Alonso. Although I would love one of the English drivers, Button or Hamilton to win. I am looking forward to seeing how well the new faces get on especially Paul Di Resta (Scottish former DTM winner last season)

Still deciding whether I will get up at 6am Saturday morning to watch the race live

Pescara said:

How funny is it that Ferrari had to change the name of their car, as if there was the likelihood of any confusion with Ford's pickup truck.

I'm also a Ferrari fan, although for sentimental reasons I would like to see Lotus put up a fight this season. Jim Clark was one of my heroes when I was a kid.

Click to expand...

Lotus, 7 time world champions. Colin Chapman rip, the man was brilliant.

One of the best races in a long time today! Very entertaining. I wanted Vettel to win, been cheering for him since came on the scene, and I hate Hamilton. Terrific race none the less.

Button going to the Red Bull pit box got me thinking. I feel like they should add a rule that something like that should incur a penalty of some sort, drive through or stop an go. And here is why I feel that way:
A) Vettel was right behind him and had to slow up getting into his box
B) Very dangerous for the RB mechanics who are not expecting that car to come into their stall, especially the front jackman who then has to be alert enough to jump out of the way because Button would want to speed up to get out and to his own pit.

I completely agree with you about this 'mistake'. What's to stop a team from asking the 'lesser' teammate to hold up a competitor to the #1 guy, in the pits - 'by mistake'?

Embarrassing error that should be punished.

I was hoping Vettel wouldn't win, so I was happy. It was a really good race.

I like all the major autosports, Nascar, Indycar, F1. I've been a Schumacher fan for a long time but it's painful to watch his comeback and struggle like this...