Formula One (4 Viewers)

[DaveXA]

Really the more you learn about it, the better it is to watch. You'd think, ok, it's just racing, but there are so many rules I haven't even figured out yet. It's almost NFL complicated.

Yeah, I do think the announcers in F1 bring a lot to the table and do a good job explaining the action and strategy. F1 is definitely more complex than Nascar. But there's a lot of strategy in Nascar too. I find it all interesting.

 

[mjcouvi]

Nascar races all basically the same car, don't they? It's much more standardized, right?

 

[mjcouvi]

And it's just so forking cool watching them use the DRS.

 

[DaveXA]

Nascar races all basically the same car, don't they? It's much more standardized, right?

Well, to some degree. There are some differences among the manufacturers, the individual teams and drivers still have to tweak the cars and there's still a lot they can do with the setup to differentiate their strategy from one driver to the next. There's definitely a lot of parity among the teams this season. 8 races in and 7 different drivers have won a race. It definitely makes for an interesting race to the playoffs.

 

[mjcouvi]

Well, to some degree. There are some differences among the manufacturers, the individual teams and drivers still have to tweak the cars and there's still a lot they can do with the setup to differentiate their strategy from one driver to the next. There's definitely a lot of parity among the teams this season. 8 races in and 7 different drivers have won a race. It definitely makes for an interesting race to the playoffs.

I guess I like the story lines from the dominant teams and the underdogs. I like the big differential in talent, but I guess they're trying to put a cap on that, aren't they?

 

[mjcouvi]

But no cap on engine design, right? So is that really a cap?

 

[mjcouvi]

I'm really curious about what's wrong with the Mercedes cars. They suck. Is it because of the restrictions?

 

[gavinj]

I'm really curious about what's wrong with the Mercedes cars. They suck. Is it because of the restrictions?

They are in 2nd place and it’s still early. Ferrari’s dominance is the difference.

 

[Maxp]

Max was not the only driver complaining about the Aston safety car. The other safety car is a Mercedes with a racing aerodynamic package. The Aston can't lap the circuit fast enough to for the F1 cars to keep their tires warm and the Mercedes can. I think it's a valid criticism.

 

[superchuck500]

Really the more you learn about it, the better it is to watch. You'd think, ok, it's just racing, but there are so many rules I haven't even figured out yet. It's almost NFL complicated.

I think this is it, for any sport really - but racing definitely.

To be honest, I find Nascar more interesting as a sport than F1. Yes, the glamour, the speed, the unlimited engineering, the international element . . . all of that is really cool and F1 is the premier auto racing series in the world without peer. I'm fully on-board with that and really like F1.

But when it comes to watching the actual sport, the event itself, Nascar is more interesting to me. In any given Nascar race, there are about 15 to 20 cars (out of 36 to 40 depending on the race) that are capable of winning the race. The races are long (2.5 hours to 3.5 hours) and so the story line is always developing - there are many variables always in play. And the teams are able to adjust their cars for better speed or better grip or whatever through the race far more than an F1 team can. So there's much greater movement through the top 5 and top 10 through the race. And there's so much passing - the average Nascar race will have more lead changes than five to ten F1 races, and some Nascar races might have more lead changes than an entire F1 season.

Ovals may seem boring at first but when you get the hang of how a car gets around an oval with speed and you can see it with your eyes, and then when you watch how they have get around the oval at absolute maximum (on the edge of losing it) speed with many other cars often inches away doing the same thing, it becomes very exciting.

Personally, I find Nascar to be the most intellectually stimulating sport that I have watched, it explains why I have watched (or listened to in the car) probably 90% of all Cup series races since 1996. There's so much going on, so many variables, so many things to keep track of in your mind as you're watching . . . not saying you do these things deliberately with effort, but in years of watching you just keep track of it so when some car that was running 10th makes an adjustment in the pits and starts moving up, you notice that and it's cool. And you can notice multiples of those kinds of developments as they happen through the race. People would probably be surprised or dismissive to hear someone say that they think Nascar is intellectually stimulating but I completely find that to be true. If you know what you're looking at.

 

[superchuck500]

Max was not the only driver complaining about the Aston safety car. The other safety car is a Mercedes with a racing aerodynamic package. The Aston can't lap the circuit fast enough to for the F1 cars to keep their tires warm and the Mercedes can. I think it's a valid criticism.

If that's true, I would agree. But is it actually true? Wouldn't FIA known about that when they brought the Aston on to be a safety car?

I fully agree that Max's complaint is legit and fair if indeed the safety car speed is meaningfully slower with the Aston because the Aston can't run it faster. I'm just surprised if that's actually true.

 

[superchuck500]

I'm really curious about what's wrong with the Mercedes cars. They suck. Is it because of the restrictions?

It's also a new car basically from the ground up and they have a new driver for the first time in six years. It's really early, I don't think it's going to take them long to get back to winning and regular podiums.

 

[DaveXA]

It's also a new car basically from the ground up and they have a new driver for the first time in six years. It's really early, I don't think it's going to take them long to get back to winning and regular popodiums.

Yep, Mercedes was 3 and 4 last week, so they're still on the cusp. As Gavin stated, Ferrari is the difference. And yeah, these are essentially new cars. I'm sure Red Bull and Mercedes will win some races at some point once they get some of the kinks ironed out.

 

[DaveXA]

I think this is it, for any sport really - but racing definitely.

To be honest, I find Nascar more interesting as a sport than F1. Yes, the glamour, the speed, the unlimited engineering, the international element . . . all of that is really cool and F1 is the premier auto racing series in the world without peer. I'm fully on-board with that and really like F1.

But when it comes to watching the actual sport, the event itself, Nascar is more interesting to me. In any given Nascar race, there are about 15 to 20 cars (out of 36 to 40 depending on the race) that are capable of winning the race. The races are long (2.5 hours to 3.5 hours) and so the story line is always developing - there are many variables always in play. And the teams are able to adjust their cars for better speed or better grip or whatever through the race far more than an F1 team can. So there's much greater movement through the top 5 and top 10 through the race. And there's so much passing - the average Nascar race will have more lead changes than five to ten F1 races, and some Nascar races might have more lead changes than an entire F1 season.

Ovals may seem boring at first but when you get the hang of how a car gets around an oval with speed and you can see it with your eyes, and then when you watch how they have get around the oval at absolute maximum (on the edge of losing it) speed with many other cars often inches away doing the same thing, it becomes very exciting.

Personally, I find Nascar to be the most intellectually stimulating sport that I have watched, it explains why I have watched (or listened to in the car) probably 90% of all Cup series races since 1996. There's so much going on, so many variables, so many things to keep track of in your mind as you're watching . . . not saying you do these things deliberately with effort, but in years of watching you just keep track of it so when some car that was running 10th makes an adjustment in the pits and starts moving up, you notice that and it's cool. And you can notice multiples of those kinds of developments as they happen through the race. People would probably be surprised or dismissive to hear someone say that they think Nascar is intellectually stimulating but I completely find that to be true. If you know what you're looking at.

Well said. Pretty much why I like Nascar more than F1. Just to add for mj, all ovals are not the same. They all require different setups. Ovals vary in size, shape, banking, surface (material/age) and each turn is a bit different requiring a variety of entry and exit points and speeds. And there is a pretty good lineup of road course races, which can be run in the rain if necessary.

 

[Devildog]

I love F1. I just wish there was more parity like in NASCAR. I'm tired of see the same dudes win every. Single. Race.