Formula One - General Chat

[MUFC]

15 minutes ago, nudge said:

Hmm I think in two years time Leclerc will either have already won the title or gotten very close to it, depending on how good and reliable the car is. Mick would be signed as a #2 driver, as a promising talent and also as a great marketing opportunity. I don't think Ferrari would see a dilemma here; it's a win-win situation for everyone involved. Of course it depends on how well Mick develops in the first place. It's his first season in F2 and also his first F1 test; he needs time to adapt to the machinery and Pirelli tyres, and while I don't doubt that he'll end up in F1 one way or another, I hope they don't rush him and I think Ferrari will put him in a Sauber seat first.

I know but historically Ferrari usually have a number 1 and 2 driver. He may well join as you said, but then stiff competition can cost points. I just don't want Charles being a sacrificial lamb. 

 

[nudge]

2 minutes ago, MUFC said:

I know but historically Ferrari usually have a number 1 and 2 driver. He may well join as you said, but then stiff competition can cost points. I just don't want Charles being a sacrificial lamb. 

To be fair though,  Ferrari know what they have in Leclerc while Mick still has a long way to go until he's anywhere near that level and it remains to be seen if he can even reach it. So unless he absolutely takes F2 by storm this or next season, I don't see Ferrari sacrificing anyone - especially Charles - in favour of Schumacher.

[Tommy]

It's not even 100% clear if Mick will ever make it into F1. Let him progress in F2 and then we'll see. 

[Tommy]

Corinna watching on as her son tests for Ferrari.

Blasts from the past left and right. 

[nudge]

 

Good job by Mick!

[Tommy]

Verstappen, Schumacher, Sainz, Fittipaldi. Quite some names. 

[Stan]

5 minutes ago, Tommy said:

Verstappen, Schumacher, Sainz, Fittipaldi. Quite some names. 

Never heard of any of them before.

[MUFC]

 

[Tommy]

[Eco]

So, honest question from someone who has never watched F1. 

1. Is Lewis Hamilton considered the greatest ever? He's the only F1 driver I have ever heard of, and he always seems to win. 

[Stan]

6 hours ago, Eco said:

So, honest question from someone who has never watched F1. 

1. Is Lewis Hamilton considered the greatest ever? He's the only F1 driver I have ever heard of, and he always seems to win. 

One of the greatest ever. 

[nudge]

6 hours ago, Eco said:

So, honest question from someone who has never watched F1. 

1. Is Lewis Hamilton considered the greatest ever? He's the only F1 driver I have ever heard of, and he always seems to win. 

I'm honestly quite surprised that you've never even heard of the likes of Senna or Schumacher  Until now I was under impression that even those who had absolutely no interest in racing and motorsports still knew those household names!

Anyway, the answer to your question depends on whom you ask. One thing you have to realise is that the sport has changed so much over the years that there's no way to rate drivers over different eras objectively and so comparisons across generations are pretty much useless. Different cars, different attitudes and mentality, different technology, different standards; just a different racing culture altogether. As an example, it's one thing to drive a heavy death trap of the 60s and 70s with no power steering and help from the team garage on unforgiving tracks with poor safety standards, a completely different one to drive a modern heavily aerodynamics-reliant F1 car with all its subtleties, the electronics and driver aids and constant team feedback over the radio where the driver has to do a lot of information management in the cockpit. 

Rating the drivers based on the era they raced makes more sense I think. I'm only following F1 properly since late 80s/early 90s so can only judge the previous generations based on some archive footage, stories I've heard and books I've read, but that's how I'd do that:

50s - Fangio
60s - Clark
70s - Lauda
80s - Prost
90s - Senna
00s - Schumacher
10s - Hamilton

The list still misses a lot of extremely gifted drivers; Mansell, Piquet, Häkkinen, Alonso, Stewart, Moss, Patrese, Hill to name a few big ones.

My personal list from the ones I followed closely would be Schumacher - Senna - Prost - Hamilton. Michael will always be #1 for me (for numerous reasons; some of them being objective, some very subjective) but I'm putting that list in no order otherwise. Hamilton is definitely the best driver of his generation, only Alonso comes close to him in my opinion.

[Tommy]

What about Scott Speed? 

[Stan]

20 minutes ago, nudge said:

My personal list from the ones I followed closely would be Schumacher - Senna - Prost - Hamilton. Michael will always be #1 for me (for numerous reasons; some of them being objective, some very subjective) but I'm putting that list in no order otherwise. Hamilton is definitely the best driver of his generation, only Alonso comes close to him in my opinion.

For me, I only started watching and taking a large interest in late 90s, early 00s so since then it's drivers like Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Massa, Vettel, Hakkinen. 

Mostly in no particular order but Schumacher remains number 1 for definite. 

[Tommy]

Michael Schumacher is still the GOAT. He also proved himself in a weaker car, which a certain someone, who is without a doubt one of the most gifted ever, never had to. 

 

Senna is still the most iconic name alongside Schumacher for me. Then Prost. Once Lewis retires, he'll be mentioned alongside them, for sure. 

[Tommy]

Just now, Cannabis said:

Told you.

I always respected Lewis for his talent, and said he's one of the best ever. It's just his personality that is cringy as fuck. 

[nudge]

37 minutes ago, Tommy said:

What about Scott Speed? 

Seriously you couldn't find a better American driver?  

 

[Tommy]

12 minutes ago, nudge said:

Seriously you couldn't find a better American driver?  

 

Of course, but he's the most recent one (next to Rossi), who was considered the big American hope

[nudge]

36 minutes ago, Tommy said:

Of course, but he's the most recent one (next to Rossi), who was considered the big American hope

Yeah but you can't expect someone who's not into motorsports to have a clue who he is despite him also being American  I wonder if @Eco has heard of Andretti family though  I also reckon he should join us by getting into F1 and starting following Haas 

[Tommy]

12 minutes ago, nudge said:

Yeah but you can't expect someone who's not into motorsports to have a clue who he is despite him also being American  I wonder if @Eco has heard of Andretti family though  I also reckon he should join us by getting into F1 and starting following Haas 

He could watch the Netflix documentary. Loads of new F1 because of it, especially from America.

[Tommy]

Oooooooooooh. Guenther Steiner on Beyond the Grid this week. Should be a good one. I'll listen to it later. 

 

[Eco]

2 hours ago, nudge said:

I'm honestly quite surprised that you've never even heard of the likes of Senna or Schumacher  Until now I was under impression that even those who had absolutely no interest in racing and motorsports still knew those household names!

Like Michael Schumacher? Yeah I know that name 

Again, it's all Nascar here...and I hate Nascar. 

[Eco]

37 minutes ago, nudge said:

Yeah but you can't expect someone who's not into motorsports to have a clue who he is despite him also being American  I wonder if @Eco has heard of Andretti family though  I also reckon he should join us by getting into F1 and starting following Haas 

I also know Andretti. They have opened up a few entertainment venues here called Andretti Cars and Games, and it's great outing. 

Problem with F1 is that I can't find a way to watch it here in the States. When I search for the TV rights, it says ESPN, but ESPN (according to their website) doesn't show it. 

[nudge]

Just now, Eco said:

Like Michael Schumacher? Yeah I know that name 

Again, it's all Nascar here...and I hate Nascar. 

Phew, that's a relief  

US motorsports scene has so much more to offer than just NASCAR... IndyCar for example; similar to F1 in terms that it's open wheel single seater racing but less technically complicated and unlike F1 it's a spec chassis series. Very entertaining as now they only have a few oval tracks on the calendar and way more regular road tracks with a lot of wheel to wheel racing and action. Also IMSA Sportscar championship which features prototype and GT cars of different classes racing together; it offers very competitive entertaining races with many different manufacturers and good drivers.

[nudge]

18 minutes ago, Eco said:

I also know Andretti. They have opened up a few entertainment venues here called Andretti Cars and Games, and it's great outing. 

Problem with F1 is that I can't find a way to watch it here in the States. When I search for the TV rights, it says ESPN, but ESPN (according to their website) doesn't show it. 

ESPN absolutely shows it! They use Sky Sports F1 coverage. https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/26082657/espn-f1-tv-broadcast-schedule-2019

Also Formula 1 offers an official online subscription service to F1TV Pro where all F1 races (including all practice and qualifying sessions as well as all supporting series) are being broadcast live. In the US that costs 10$ a month or 80$ a year.