Yep.....and he's RACING.

Well, I agree. F1 is a motorsport. NASCAR is RACING. There's a big difference......look at the difference in average speeds, and number of position changes, between the two. That's why, except for the Indy 500, F1 can't do s*** in the United States, where it has NASCAR competition.....and, like it or not, NASCAR blows it away.

 

You have your tastes, I have mine.

 

I watch F1 but the racing could be improved, if you qualify poorly most likely that's how you finish, best chance for passing is the start of the race and pit strategy doesn't allow for improved track position, a common powerplant will make it even more boring.

Marshall you meant Daytona and Talledega, Charlotte (Lowes) Motor Speedway is a fast 1.5 mile tri oval that can't be run wide open, the Coca Cola 600 will be run there next Sunday night, big test of man and machine.

 

all the caps and rules, f1 is socialism's idea of racing 'fairness'.

nascar? git 'er dun...

 

That's been the gist of my argument......F1 isn't true racing, as I see it.

Thanks. Yes, I meant Daytona and Talladega. NASCAR, unfortunately, won't let the guys run flat-out there....they have to use the carb restrictor plates. Still, it's more of a contest there than typical F1.

 

Of course......I wasn't trying to suggest otherwise. But the problem is that F1 is losing so many fans in Ameica (and NASCAR is gaining so many) that I don't think, in the future, we'll see much more open-wheel racing in the U.S., except maybe for the ever-popular Indy 500.

And the thread topic (Ferrari maybe getting out) isn't going to help F1 either.

 

I'm not sure that F1 was ever very popular in America. The fact that there isn't even a race on the continent anymore is a bigger detriment than the fact that Ferrari might not be there.

 

Back to the specific topic at hand. This is an excellent interview with Max Mosley who "runs" the FIA. I think if you watch and listen you will find he and the ideas he are promoting aren't as crazy as they seem at first. There is even a Toyota related mention at the very end of the video.

Now that the relevant stuff is out of the way... I'm certainly not interested in debating about the opinions of those here and I've made a conscious decision to stay out of most of this but I have have to add three comments/corrections here.

1) NASCAR has been losing fans and sponsors not gaining them in the past two years.
2) WRT: Caps and Rules and socialism... I could get into a lengthy discussion but even with all those things F1 has pioneered driver safety via survival cells and created the state of the art in helmet designs, introduced carbon fiber construction to racing, created engines that rev to almost 20K RPM, pushed the state of the art in engines from 1.5L turbos to 3.0L V12 and V8 engines as well. They have even introduced KERS (against many peoples will). Every entrant actually designs and constructs their own car. NASCAR OTOH is still racing with non fuel injected V8 engines in what is almost a spec series (what everyone fears F1 is headed towards).
3) WRT: Racing... To me a series that throws "competition yellows" or has yellows at a predefined point in time isn't real racing. It's more akin to playing Mario Kart where when you get too far behind you get the better power-ups handed to you.

That's all I plan to say about that. As I thought MR_F1 said before we have our preferences. Lets agree to that and agree to not take this thread further off topic as it isn't the one to argue it.

 

I made reference to that in my last post.....the thread topic.

It still is not going to help F1 any if Ferrari pulls out, especially considering that the Ferrari team had Michael Shumacker, arguably the best modern F1 driver of all, though some others, like Hakkinen, are close.

 

Well, there is Fernando Alonso who beat Schumacher twice in 2005 and 2006. And Lewis Hamilton, regardless if you like him or not, has brought alot of exposure to the sport as well.

 

Obviously it's not [going to help]. F1 needs Ferrari more than Ferrari needs F1 IMHO.

 

I know there are other good drivers in F1. I just used Shumacher and Hakkinen as examples.

Back on topic, I think there is a reason why Ferrari and other manufacturers are jumping ship. Both of F1's main branches, CHAMP CAR and the IRL, have a history of rather arrogant management and rulemaking.....the car companies are just getting tired of it. A perfect example of the bumbling and arggance happened a few years ago (I'm sure you guys remember it) with the fiasco at Indy involving Michelin tires, tire replacements, and the scheduled start of the race. That ticked a lot of people off who had paid good money to see the event.

 

The former Champ Car and the IRL have nothing to do with F1. They are both open wheel racing series. That's it.

On the USGP you cite: That was a PR blunder beyond compare. Again that was teams thinking the FIA would blink WRT rules. They didn't. The teams had the option of running but pitting more often. They chose not to. They wanted to disadvantage Bridgestone which brought a tire that worked. Compare to the fiasco with the NASCAR fiasco on Goodyears last year. Talk about something not being a race.

As for Ferrari, I think many of us agree that F1 needs Ferrari more than Ferrari needs F1. It would be a terrible mistake to have FOTA try and setup an alternate series. The FIA will continue to run F1 races but they won't be the same. The alternate series may run for a while then whither away as the manufacturers end arguing as they always have.

Any comments on Mosley's video in the link? Specifically the quote about what Toyota's Howett was trying to do and Ferrari being the only team against a cap?