And NO doubt ONLY because of greed (despite any fake tears shed for the cameras). I hate that stuff. You married a RACER. He died doing an extremely risky pursuit. END of discussion. If I was on a jury for that kind of case, I wouldn't award a penny. A rock star's wife who marries him knows exactly who he is has no realistic right to expect him to become a monk. And a race driver's wife shouldn't be able to win judgement for her husband losing to the odds. It just sucks the juice out of life a little more for humanity.

Being 100% "safe" is an illusion and not what life is really about period. I've been saying for years that we're litigating ourselves right out of true quality of life.  And it seems to be in turbo mode in the present day. I blame greedy plaintiffs and tort lawyers. When I was a kid and you broke your leg jumping on your neighbor's trampoline, your own parent slapped you upside the head and said "being a dumbass is painfull". Now your parent sues that family and their insurance company,  and then goes on vacation and gets a new car. "YAY!!! Little Johnny just won the lotto!" Sue your doctor. Sue your family member. Sue your employer. Sue every company or entity who makes life more tolerable. Hand ALL the money and power to lawyers, courts, and lawmakers. The end game is a lawyer class and the rest of us. If that doesn't sound like a hellish existence, I dunno what does.

P.S. On the other hand, a modern French Revolution that disposed of most lawyers, courts, and lawmakers would have the single most productive effect on society that you could imagine. They've manipulated, perverted, and complicated the law precisely to seize power from the common man... despite most of the altruistic bullshit that most would spout about their fake desire to make things better for the common man. The simple beauty of the Constitution and the Golden Rule have been replaced by an alien and worthless language. Racing, football, and everything else will be casualty to this "improvement" of quality of life for the masses. But hey... at least the "law magicians" will be doing well. Unless they want to watch racing or football, get medical care, etc.

10/10, This man speaks the truth.

Agreed.  100%.

We "Believe" in Darwin's theory of natural selection and the improvement of the species and then throw a wrench in the spokes by protecting the weak, stupid and unfortunate.

Take the Halo away and let Darwin run wild.  

I wish the halo would go away just as much as anyone, I'm just saying I think it's going to be difficult to remove safety features once they are put in place. Especially when they put out a report showing  all the incidents across various Motorsports detailing  how the halo would have helped or not helped in each case to justify it. I think they've put themselves in a position that won't be easy to back down from.

That was the first race I had ever seen, while it probably won't be something I follow too closely, it will give me something to watch until March at least. It's not like you really get the full sound experience through the tv anyway, so that aspect doesn't bother me too much.

Hopefully Red Bull comes up with a more optimistic slogan for 2018

Subscribed...I hate Halo.

This was started in July but never caught on:

https://www.change.org/p/federation-internationale-de-l-automobile-do-not-introduce-the-halo-safety-device-in-formula-one

Yes. I derp'd

This cat's got a pretty cool YT channel... I'm sure you're all familiar. Here, he talks about Merc's engine and its ability to be efficient:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOhmgpkiIfg

Force India will reveal new team name & logo (and new car) during launch event at Barcelona (Feb 25).

AMuS (in German): https://t.co/GVGkfL2wn8 pic.twitter.com/wanY34dYaw

— Tobi Grüner \uD83C\uDFC1 (@tgruener) January 23, 2018

Anyone have any info on what ESPN's coverage will look like? Who will be commentating? Google returns no real info...

m

and I'm looking for a fantasy league run by them

Hope they bring it back for F1 and NASCAR. That was a fun league back in the day.

A bit discouraging about the lack of PR from ESPN in regards to their upcoming F1 coverage

They’ve probably forgotten about it.

It's a shame because NBC and Hobbs/Matchett/Diffey put on a show and were making headway with American audiences. A generic world feed broadcast from ESPN will basically take two steps back from all of that progress. Sad!

NBC would not allow for any online options to watch races and only aired two of the races on network TV. That is only progress compared to TV in the 1970’s.

Shocking!!!  I can't imagine Formula 1 taking backward steps!  

From Force India to just 'Force'? Thats it?

Attached File

There was a Major Indoor Soccer team in Cleveland called The Force, or Cleveland Force. They used to have Darth Vader walk out during games.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Force_(1978%E2%80%9388)

Is John Force getting into racing with corners?!?!?!

Bernie may be gone, but his spirit lives on.

Possible Vietnam Grand Prix

I remember seeing them at Ritchfield Coliseum as a kid.

Please no.

I miss the Palace on the Prairie.

Uggggghhhhhh... that doesn't appeal to me AT ALL.

OTOH... I've always wanted to see a Las Vegas Strip night race. That would be awesome. Maybe put pit row in the Bellagio drop-off in front. Would be cool to see the cars screaming around in front of the fountains, etc. Yeah... I'm just fantasizing out loud. But the wife and I enjoy our Vegas trips and I can guarantee you that we'd be at every single Vegas GP if they could ever make it happen. People come to Vegas from all over the world. Not that other F1 cities don't get some of that as well. But Vietnam, Baku, etc versus Vegas isn't even a contest in terms of international spectacle.

So excited to see some real sports car racing this weekend instead of this ridiculous parade of egos, dollars and politics.

Real Racing 2018

They talked about doing one in Greece too, even laid the track out. I didn't think it was ever a good idea and I don't think it'll ever happen.

Greece was always such a great economic investment.  Makes complete sense.

The halo is garbage and looks like it was designed by someone in the aero department. The FIA's justification was to stop an incident like what happened to Massa at Spa, except there's still a massive gap under it where debris can still hit the driver. If you want to be enclosed in the car then race WEC, WRC, or Le Man.

Yup! Stoked for Daytona. Have it all set up on the DVR. Considering how brutally disappointing the V6 era has been... I'll take WEC for excitement any day over F1. So sad that my formerly favorite form of motorsport has come to such a sad, pathetic state.

IMSA, not WEC.

I don't think that is true, I watched a bunch of races online on NBC sports website last year...

only thing that makes me happier than vettel getting shit on is vettel shitting on himself

Yes but,

1: You still need a cable/sat subscribtion to NBC sports to log in. Many young people don’t use cable anymore.

2: There was no alturnitive option. NBC would not allow for any competition in the US. If you don’t like the ESPN coverage (or don’t have a subscription), you have the option the buy online coverage, just like WEC.

You are correct. Typing faster than I was thinking. Regardless... both do share some car types.

Max fan? Or Ham fan?

Button fan

I like Button a lot (and wish he was still driving). But I like Seb more.

One is a four-time champion. So you must've had some shitty years.

More than made up for by Ferrari's second half collapse

As a Button fan, I would think that your love for McLaren (and resulting disappointment in them running nearly last on the paddock with some of the best drivers) would have outweighed any hatred you may have for Ferrari and/or Seb. I know that my disappointment at Ferrari's collapse was greater than my complete disdain for Mercedes. But hey... that's just me.

My dislike of Alonso cancels out my love of McLaren. The way he left Renault, basically phoning in the last half of the season, was disgusting in my opinion.

I know it's not F1 but it was the most action filled car racing I've seen in a long time.  One of the CBS stations carried the Goodwood Revival from last September in England.  The cars, the history, the pageantry were awesome.

It takes a lot of balls but I am glad these owners actually use these multi-million dollar and often irreplaceable cars.  In one race, three Ferraris:  250 SWB, 250LM and a 275 GTO.  Just think of that money alone.  One driver pulled off the extremely difficult....and expensive..."Quad"  as he left the track in his AC Cobra and by the time he stopped spinning, he managed to mangle all four corners of the car.  Holy expensive rebuild Batman!.

Anyway, it was great to see.  I think they show it every once in awhile so you may be able to catch it.

Forza Ferrari

Caught a glimpse of Alonso at Daytona his weekend! There were 87 billion people all trying to get his autograph. Had to stand on a table to see him.

Attached File

That last race was as competitive as races get!

The Ol' Crew Chief

It's official: Alonso to race entire 2018-2019 WEC calendar with Toyota

Given Toyota's recent performance at Le Mans, he seems to have picked the right manufacturer to have more of what he did last year.

What about just getting Imola, Estoril back ?

The Halo makes no sense whatsoever..

It wouldn't have saved JB or Massa...

When was the last time you saw a wheel come off a F1 car ?