Unpopular F1 opinions

[CarlosFerreira]

Kimi Raikkonen is a witty, clever guy who has way more personality than any five drivers currently in F1 put together.
Single-lap qualifying was actually pretty fun to watch (especially for those who follow backmarkers).
Monaco has no business being on the F1 calendar (although it's hardly the first that should be cut).

I agree with this man.

F1 needs more manufacturers.

Which part of it do you agree with?

The 3 bits; most especially the top 2.

[rffp]

Martin Brundle was more impressive than teammate Michael Schumacher in 1992, he was just unlucky.

+1

I'm glad someone else thinks this, so I'm not completely mad.

Martin Brundle was more impressive than Stefan Bellof in the Tyrrell in 1984. This makes him the most overlooked and underrated driver in the last 25 years!

[coops]

Martin Brundle was more impressive than Stefan Bellof in the Tyrrell in 1984. This makes him the most overlooked and underrated driver in the last 25 years!

Amen to that brother! In my opnion he was also something or a rarity in that he was always full of character, which is what makes him a great pundit/commentator.

[ibsey]

Risk taking in modern F1 is definitely frowned upon.

[Phoenix]

Martin Brundle was more impressive than Stefan Bellof in the Tyrrell in 1984. This makes him the most overlooked and underrated driver in the last 25 years!

2nd at Detroit, in dry conditions. That says much, really.

[Faustus]

Martin Brundle was more impressive than Stefan Bellof in the Tyrrell in 1984. This makes him the most overlooked and underrated driver in the last 25 years!

2nd at Detroit, in dry conditions. That says much, really.

With an underweight car. Great performance, nonetheless. It was stupidly hot and there lots of drivers crashed into the concrete walls lining the track, wasn't it?

[shinji]

This is worth watching.

[Debaser]

The book he did a few years ago with Maurice Hamilton on the racetracks of the world was a really good read, some really good anecdotes in there. He said his best chance of a win was quite possibly Canada 92, as he was running 2nd and closing quickly on Berger for the lead when his transmission failed because the bolts for the transmission had been fitted the wrong way round. He also said how after that race in Detroit he was convinced he'd take pole and win in Dallas, got over-confident and ended up smashing up his legs. An enjoyable book, I'd recommend it.

[Yannick]

Ticket prices are too high. And the Paddock Club is unnecessary.

These days, Formula 1 is better on TV than trackside.

Hungaroring is a great track since it was edited, but it still has the reputation of its 80s incarnation that sucked.

The downtown Detroit track that F1 used was great, too.

At Hockenheim, the better seats are at the Mercedes Tribune, not at Motodrom anymore.

F1 needs more low downforce tracks on the calendar. One (Monza) is just not enough.

Fuji Speedway could have given us many more exciting races, had they not dropped it from the calendar.

There should not be more than 4 street circuits on the F1 calendar.

Stadium sections are boring and do not provide an interesting view for spectators.

There should be 15 team entries allowed in the Concorde Agreement since traditionally, up to 30 cars were allowed to participate in qualifying sessions.

looks like former Red Bull designer Günther Steiner.

[fondmetal-fond]

F1 has failed to be at "the cutting edge of automotive/motorsports design" since 1985.

Active suspension has been around since the late 70's; ground effects have been around since the mid 60's; fuel injection has been around since the mid 50's; militaries have tested carbon fibre in the late 60's and early 70's; turbochargers were definitely fitted to some racing cars in the 60's...

The best part? The "rear-engine layout"... panhard, auto union, indianapolis specials...all before WW2. Heck, even Cooper tested it on their Formula 2 cars first

[rffp]

This is worth watching.

Brundle also finished 5th in his debut in Brazil.
Bellof was quite impressive, but placing him as the 50 best drivers of all time is a clear exaggeration.

[ibsey]

Eau Rouge is boring these days. They should put spikes on the side of the race track and snakes in the gravel traps to make it more exciting.

[dr-baker]

Ticket prices are too high. And the Paddock Club is unnecessary.

These days, Formula 1 is better on TV than trackside.

F1 needs more low downforce tracks on the calendar. One (Monza) is just not enough.

There should be 15 team entries allowed in the Concorde Agreement since traditionally, up to 30 cars were allowed to participate in qualifying sessions.

Personally, I don't think these opinions are unpopular at all. Particularly point 1.

[FullMetalJack]

Single-lap qualifying was actually pretty fun to watch (especially for those who follow backmarkers).

I actually enjoyed watching single-lap qualifying. Mainly because we actually got to watch a whole lap on HWNSNBM driving.

[FloProAct]

Luca Badoer did fairly well in his two races with Ferrari in 2009 (considering the circumstances)

[coops]

F1 will eventually be bigger than NASCAR in the states.

[Valrys]

F1 will eventually be bigger than NASCAR in the states.

Can I have some of whatever you're smoking?

[deCrasheris]

Robert Kubica is hideously overrated.
Minardi would of done the same in 95 if they got the Mugen Honda engines.
Mark Blundell is underrated and deserved a ride for 96.
Adrian Sutil is crashprone in the rain.
Liuzzi does not deserve another ride in F1 and people forget that Scott Speed got the better of him at Toro Rosso.
kamui Kobayashi is overrated "runs in fear lol"

[thehemogoblin]

F1 will eventually be bigger than NASCAR in the states.

Can I have some of whatever you're smoking?

NASCAR is about to break itself.

[Faustus]

Mark Blundell is underrated and deserved a ride for 96.

Agree completely. I actually thought Williams should have tried to get him in 1994 after Senna's death. He had been a test driver for them and he did very well in '91 and '93.

[LucaPacchiarini]

I think the Indy 500 should be held at Hungaroring.

with the superspeedway aero package

[Valrys]

F1 will eventually be bigger than NASCAR in the states.

Can I have some of whatever you're smoking?

NASCAR is about to break itself.

I am intriguied (and know little of the foreign pursuit that is Nascar), care to enlighten me slightly?

And in the spirit of the thread:- Tora Takagi had the potential to be the best Japanese F1 driver ever

[Stramala]

Can I have some of whatever you're smoking?

NASCAR is about to break itself.

I am intriguied (and know little of the foreign pursuit that is Nascar), care to enlighten me slightly?

And in the spirit of the thread:- Tora Takagi had the potential to be the best Japanese F1 driver ever

Last years Superspeedway races almost tore the sport apart. Edwards mega crash followed by the extreme no bump-drafing rules caused more and more problems rather than solving any.

However so far this year it's been the other way round - the sport tore a Superspeedway apart - when JJ ran over a crack so many times he turned it into a big hole that needed to be fixed mid-race...twice. 6h and 30min is the longest Daytona 500 ever.

[ibsey]

And in the spirit of the thread:- Tora Takagi had the potential to be the best Japanese F1 driver ever

Ukyo Katayama wasn't the best driver grand prix racing has ever produced. J. D Delatraz was!!!

P.s. I would have said HWNSNBM, but then it wouldn't have been an unpopular F1 opinion.

[thehemogoblin]

NASCAR keeps changing the rules, manipulates the results, and is losing viewership fast.

[Stramala]

NASCAR keeps changing the rules, manipulates the results, and is losing viewership fast.

'Debris' cautions are more commonly known as 'Dale Jr.' cautions nowadays.

[ADx_Wales]

Circa Christmastime 2007:

"Wow, a Lewis Hamilton biography!!! What a thoughtful present, now I'll get to read about his history, I really didnt know how he got into F1, thanks, thats awesome"

[RAK]

Shanghai isn't all that bad a racing circuit.

The old layout for Silverstone only worked with older cars. If nothing else, the Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel arrangement works better than the old series of corners.

[ADx_Wales]

when it rains, why dont they stop the race its too dangerous.

NASCAR doesnt need Bernie Ecclestone, he would have done nothing about that pothole at daytona.

[baddriving50]

NASCAR doesnt need Bernie Ecclestone, he would have done nothing about that pothole at daytona.

He would have, but it would have meant forcing them to upgrade the facilities to his over-the-top standards or threaten to take their races away and move them to countries with little to no interest and loads of money to build what he wants. And then taking the races off the schedule anyway.

[Stramala]

Ayrton Senna is over-rated because he died before the inevitable career tail-off all drivers eventually suffer.

[Cynon]

NASCAR keeps changing the rules, manipulates the results, and is losing viewership fast.

'Debris' cautions are more commonly known as 'Dale Jr.' cautions nowadays.

Or; "Sh*t, someone opened up a 4 second lead!" cautions...

[TeamTipper]

Lewis Hamilton got in F1 because of his skill over money and he helped the team choosing Button.
Bulls**t

[Phoenix]

USF1 will postpone its entry into F1 until 2011. Then, it'll take the championship by storm with Jacques Villeneuve and Ralf Schumacher taking a 1-2 at every race. As Villeneuve will always be the winner (and Ralf the whiner), he'll replace the Canandian anthem with his own songs. After which he'll be stripped off of his Canadian nationality and he'll become the first French world champion since Alain Prost.

[ADx_Wales]

Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson have NOTHING to be ashamed about.

Tiger Woods did nothing wrong either.

Lost was awful last night.

Have you seen my mansion?

[MaxZero]

Irrelevant to how badly they were run, i really liked Spyker
and their road-cars are fantastic

[rffp]

Ayrton Senna is over-rated because he died before the inevitable career tail-off all drivers eventually suffer.

Let me understand, Senna is overrated because he wouldn't according to this opinion win any more titles, but that means that his 3 WDC count very little to his overall rating?

[WeirdKerr]

Ricardo Patrese was over rated.....

[ibsey]

Damon Hill was overrated....

...Think about it what has he ever done outside the Williams?

Belgium 1998. The two Mclarens & two Ferrari all didn't finish in that race. If he hadn't of won that race, he would have been a bigger reject then I already think he is. Furthermore both his team mate Ralf Schumacher (and judging by the comments made about Ralfy in the Stefan Gp thread, we all know how good he is!!!) & Alesi were quicker than him towards the end of the race. Instead Ralf was ordered to protect Hill from Alesi.

Hungary 1997. He was on the much better Bridgestone tyres in that race, & look at the quality of the other Bridgestone runners. To prove how good the Bridgestones tyres were, remember the last lap Shinji Nakano was up batting with Eddie Irvine in a Ferrari, and tried a Banzi move. Enough said. Furthermore Frentzen would have won, had he not retired. Schumi crashed his new lightweight Ferrari in morning warm-up, so had to use the older spec Ferrari, which destroyed his tyres, otherwise he could have won. Finally JV (another great driver!!!) was stuck in traffic for most of the race, after a poor start.

Now look at his time at Williams....

1993 - He had been tested in the Williams throughout 1992 so should have know the car & team well, yet it took him until Hungary to win his 1st race in A VASTLY superior Williams. His teammate was a retiring Prost, who even in his prime, rarely was the out & out quickest, & seemed to not bother too much after he won the title again.

1994 - Schumcher had at least 36 points deducted (40 if like me, you think Schumi would have won in Britian not Hill). Yet Hill still didn't win the Championship. Now this is going to be really unpopular, but I think the Williams was at least equal to the Benetton, if not slightly better. I mean if Senna could got 3 poles, in a Williams which wasn't by any means sorted at the start of 1994, then if Damon is to be ever considered a top driver he should have been dominating when the Williams had been sorted!!!

Further proof that Hill wasn't a top driver, look how far off the pace Damon was compared to Senna in Brazil, he even got lapped by Senna, despite having 2 years more experience in Williams over Senna. I wasn't expecting Hill to exactly rival Senna, but getting lapped by your team mate, that is J. D Deletraz skill level in my book.
Before anyone, mentions about the traction control nonsense. To my knowledge Benetton were never proven guilt of having used the traction control device in a race weekend during 1994, otherwise they would have been banned from the championship standings. Plain & Simple. I have read, that they had kept the system in the car, but where is the EVIDENCE that they had used it in the race?

With the Fuel filter, they got punished for that. Furthermore I believe the disqualification in Belgium, Britian & the two race penalty was unfair when you look at all the facts. It is blantly obvious to me, Bernie wanted to regain some much needed interest in F1 following Senna's death, so he had to fixed that year's championship. Just like he had done in 1999 (when Ferrari, got disqualified from Malaysia, then undisqualified...despite admitting to breaching the rules?).

Adelaide. Schumacher's move was cheeky I give you that, but if Hill didn't want to risk contact, then he shouldn't have given Schumi the opportunity to take him out. Hill even admitted he should have waited. Anyway, Hill did the same to Schumi in Britian 1995 & Italy 1995. So it evens out.

1995 - Do you really have to ask how bad Damon was that year??? If so then just watch, for instance the Pacific GP, typical example of Hill's incompetence. I mean HOW did he finish 5th in that race in the superior Williams? My dead granny could have done better. Even Murray & Dr J Palmer were saying how bad he was performing during their commentaries that year.

1996 - Williams was by far the most superior package. Only had his team mate a rookie JV (who we all know how good he turned out to be) to beat. Again, if he hadn't won that year, I would have tracked him down & given him the biggest slap ever. In fact he almost didn't win, it came down to the last race. If you though Button was cracking under the pressure in 2009, can I remind you of Hill's dismal performances from Spa to Suzuka in 1996. All in the vastly superior Williams, don't forget.

In the races where Hill had to race in the "pack" (Nurburgring, Sliverstone, Spain) he showed he was no good at overtaking. Even Tom Walkinshaw admitted that was Damon's flaw when he hired him for 1997.

Apologies for the long winded rant, but thought I would get this one off my chest.

[coops]

Everyone here will sit and read Ibseys post (above)