MY GP: File another one under "duh..."

[SD_GR]

Good going guys... Make GPs in Asia to follow the local money but then also look for more cash back home, so schedule the GP as late as possible to make sure everyone back home can watch. Then, when it pours in a country known for monsoons (yet, despite your best or worst efforts, not for GPs no matter how long you insist on holding events there...), wonder why everyone turned the channel as they figured out you have to call off the GP. 300+ down the straight is just not on when it's a lake out there, and it's also not on in darkness.

So, sell any expensive commercials? Well it's all alright then. Never mind people spit on the Earth when they think of your "planning." You're wealthy, what do you care?

Planning another night event this year? Brilliant! Having half the roadways in a city visible from outer space falls right in line with the "greener" F1 image you're cultivating with KERS or whatever that electric chair is called. Yay...

[cavallino333]

It really is getting bad. Nothing like spending an hour watching pit crews meander around the starting grid for an hour.

The KERS system seems more dangerous the more I hear about it. I mean they literally to have jump out of the car to avoid getting shocked and did you see the smoke coming out of Kimi's car during practice! I can't imagine it was good to breath that in. On top of it it doesn't seem to be successful in races.

Ferrari made even more bungles this time after seeing such promise in practice. First Massa in qualifying then putting Kimi on the wets before it started raining. I didn't expect them to be 1st and 2nd but they could have done so much better without these mistakes. The Scuderia Ferrari Club forum was filled with more angry threads then I've ever seen. I still haven't heard exactly why it was that Kimi had to retire at the end, although it didn't matter anyway.

I had to laugh though at Kimi having ice cream while everyone else waited in the rain for that start that never came. Perhaps the only good strategic decision by the team this weekend.

[SD_GR]

Ferrari made even more bungles this time after seeing such promise in practice. First Massa in qualifying then putting Kimi on the wets before it started raining. The Scuderia Ferrari Club forum was filled with more angry threads then I've ever seen.

Must be young guys. I remember Ferrari going ages without a win in the turbo era. Granted, I have to admit that Ferrari's F1 record has had absolutely no bearing whatsoever on my decision whether to own a Ferrari road car.

I had to laugh though at Kimi having ice cream while everyone else waited in the rain for that start that never came. Perhaps the only good strategic decision by the team this weekend.

He also illustrated a dark secret of modern marketing and society. He's a professional athlete and has several people dealing with his cardiovascular system to make sure he's fit. He drank a regular Coca-Cola. Conclusion: Diet Coke is for fat people. Drink water and eat less I suppose...

[cavallino333]

Must be young guys. I remember Ferrari going ages without a win in the turbo era. Granted, I have to admit that Ferrari's F1 record has had absolutely no bearing whatsoever on my decision whether to own a Ferrari road car.

I think most of the people on there are old enough to remeber but I think the Schumacher era made people spoiled. I don't think it's as much the not-winning as it is the catastrophic way in which decisions are made. Even in really bad seasons like 2005 there wasn't nearly the amount of bungles as there has been in the last 2 seasons. Remember the multiple disasters with the damn pit-stop light last season.

[SD_GR]

I can't help but think that the Schumacher era came about because of the unfortunate end of the Senna era. It's a real shame the latter never drove for Ferrari IMO.

I used to support Ferrari in endurance racing because at the time they were the underdogs (I don't blame them, it's not like I could beat Porsche either -- although Jean Rondeau did, in his own car at Le Mans, something that has never been repeated, ever!... But that's another story... And I can't help but add the irony: Rondeau died in a Porsche road car. Anyway...).

FIAT has enough money to bail Chrysler. They can afford to win or at the very least try to buy Grands Prix. The talent is there, the development team is there, they just need to get their heads together. Remember what the narrator told The Dude: Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear, well, he eats you."

EDIT: What are the guys saying? "I'll never buy another Ferrari again!..."

[cavallino333]

[/I]EDIT: What are the guys saying? "I'll never buy another Ferrari again!..."

The SFC forum that I go on is mainly just for non-owner/buyers and fans of the f1 team. I think they have a separate forum on the owners site so they don't have to mingle with the peasant rabble.
Ironically I think the people on the SFC forum get more "into it" than people that actually own Ferrari's.

[SD_GR]

The SFC forum that I go on is mainly just for non-owner/buyers and fans of the f1 team. I think they have a separate forum on the owners site so they don't have to mingle with the peasant rabble.
Ironically I think the people on the SFC forum get more "into it" than people that actually own Ferrari's.

What Lambo have proven repeatedly, and what the old man never chose to deal with I guess, is that you don't have to win Grands Prix, endurance races, or any form of motorsport to sell cars. All you have to do is make the cars desirable at astronomical prices. The same people that bought Ferraris will buy Ferraris no matter what the F1 team does -- or doesn't.

I wonder if there will be a Brawn road car.

[RayfieldsWRX]

+1 on silly scheduling...though I suppose Europe is their target audience, and it's hard to sell ads when people are asleep.

Though...having said that, I suppose many Euro's DVR it anyway, as we in the States do?

Also, speaking as someone who's worked as an electrical engineer, if the driver has to hop from the car or risk electrocution, you're doing it wrong.

[SD_GR]

+1 on silly scheduling...though I suppose Europe is their target audience, and it's hard to sell ads when people are asleep.

Though...having said that, I suppose many Euro's DVR it anyway, as we in the States do?

I'd either watch the GPs alone at home (no DVR) or go to a bar and watch them there, especially in summer if the bar had an outdoor bigscreen and outdoor tables. One problem with trying to play a GP on a "public" TV at a bar though is that they are run on Sunday, and in somecountries they conflict with football (read: game over for F1).