NEW F1 Season

[Chris]

I know we have a FEW folks on here who follow the F1 series.
I didn't keep up with much in the off-season... and missed the race LAST week because it was on at the same time as the CUP race (one of those rare occasions)
I see we got several new topics to watch for in 2008:
F. Alonso has a new teammate in Nelson Piquet Jr.  With his dad being a three time world champ it'll be interesting to see how well and fast this rookie can progress.
A HUGE factor in 2008 is that F1 did away with traction control.  It's ALL in the drivers hands now to learn to work the throttle,.. especially in the rain.

I see last week was a wrecking yard... curious if this is the 'learning curve' of much of the 'brains' of the car stripped out and drivers having to learn how to "drive"
Some things did NOT change... L Hamilton run well as last year, and claimed the first win of 2008

Looks to be an INTERESTING season.  Might even convert some NASCAR fans with so much more competition, and more emphasis on ability

Cars moving out for the pace laps now for race #2.... and rain is expected at some point.  Might be a good chance for some folks to look in since no other racing is on...

[flamehothead]

I made it a point to watch the Australian GP for the simple fact they had no Traction Control.

I knew TC was a BIG help to alot of drivers but I wasn't 100% convinced that every driver in the field could handle all that power going to the wheels at once.

At first I was really surprised to see Team Ferrari with two DNF's (In Australia) but I wanted to watch the Malaysian GP just to be sure it wasn't from the first race jitters.

IMO, FIA taking TC from the cars is really going to show who is really a race car driver and this is going to be an interesting season.

[flamehothead]

Something I forgot to mention in my first post was, Could you believe the Red Bull car driven by D.Coulthard?

I have a feeling someone is going to be in a little trouble over the Red Bull car coming apart like it did. One of the comentators said, The guy who builds that car likes to build them right on the edge between Weight and Strength but if I were in that car I would want a little more than that lol.

The thing that surprised me the most was the how the wheels came off. They are supposed to be Tethered just as the Cup cars are and someone is very lucky that someone wasn't hurt or killed by a flying wheel/tire.

[Chris]

Yeah I was surprised how easily the front wheels come off...  I'm sure F1 is looking closely at that.

Massa ran a good race yesterday and it looked to be a close race between the teammates... looks like he got caught not being used to the traction control removed,.. got on the gas too soon,.. spun himself out,.. and was out of the race.

[Tyyrus]

I made it a point to watch the Australian GP for the simple fact they had no Traction Control.

 

Yep , that an watching to see how Sebastien Bourdais would fair , in the Elite Open Wheeled Series !  Your correct Flammer , the Drivers all seemed a little less Spectacular without the TC . They seemed a little tentative at times , after having the ability to rely on TC during certain on track maneuvers !