First F1 race of the year was terrible, second race pretty good

[crosscourt]

Lousy coverage by ESPN using Sky's coverage and a lot of race time wasnt seen. The race itself overall was boring and Vettel ended up winning due to a software4 issue with Mercedes, affecting their prediction abilities with pitstops. Loved seeing Alonso being able to race again and finished 5th, a great start for a new team setup. Theyve got to do something about being able to overtake other cars in general, like the old days otherwise whos going to watch? They need to adopt a universal aero package kit such as seen with the recent Indy cars thats made a huge difference in overtaking overall.

Miss the NBCSN coverage already but they got nixed because Liberty wants to stream race coverage and they offered ESPN a free ride, and it appears their bad coverage might have been intentional to push people to purchase streaming from Liberty.

[tlmiller]

I agree about the coverage, that was awful. No chemistry between the commentators. Boring. That said, until they get it so there's some action in races instead of a follow-the-leader, no chance of me ponying up even $1/month to watch the races, they're simply not worth the money with the level of boredom MOST have evoked the last 2-3 years.

The race itself, I thought was quite good WHEN COMPARED TO THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS OF AUSTRAILIA. This is a snooze inducing track that is legendary for being difficult to pass on, so I didn't exactly have high hopes. Verstappen managed to provide some excitement by going balls out to TRY to make a pass, although obviously it ended with him losing multiple positions instead after spinning. And while I despite him, Hamilton made it interesting after he was jumped with how hard he was pushing (I still am surprised he didn't just drive Vettel off the track, since that's his MO through all his championship years where he wasn't in a MASSIVELY dominant car, just drive your opponent off the road).

I personally think all they need to do is change 1 rule. Front wings can be a single element only. NO vanes, winglets, hangoffs, etc. Same with rear wing with the provisor for DRS to remain. DRASTICALLY simplify the wings, you decrease the downforce but also MASSIVELY reduce the affect of being in another cars wake.

[crosscourt]

Agree, Australia is one of my least favorite tracks and Verstappen has quickly become my favorite driver.

Agree as the universal aero kit that Indy uses is exactly as you describe, no funny stuff, just a simple package.

[tlmiller]

Yeah. He's received a lot of criticism for his driving in years past, but he's exciting to watch race, and he's still young enough that he'll try things that older, more experienced drives will know has an INSANELY low chance of working. Whereas a Vettel or Ricciardo will ease off and just try to goad the driver in front into an error, Verstappen will go for it. Makes him a lot of fun to watch. He's probably my favorite to watch right now, although I do like Perez and Alonso more as a personality and will root for them over Verstappen.

[crosscourt]

The other issue is the 3 engine limit. Hamilton admitted that after the mistakes they made in strategy he was hesistant to push the engine really hard only to be penalized down the road.

[tlmiller]

Well, 1 other issue. There's a RAFT of issues with the regulations. Having to run at the fuel-savingest settings due to the fuel limitations thus artificially limiting how much you can push. Having the cars designed so that they can't get within 1/2 a second of the car in front without losing all aero-downforce. Only having 3 engines so that the drivers have to baby the engine and further limit how much they're willing to push. LIberty has a LOT of super-annoying and anti-competitive regulations they need to sort.

[crosscourt]

Agree and I hate Liberty quite a bit so far.

[crosscourt]

Bahrain was a fun race with Hamilton coming back from 9th to 4th, Raikonen ran over one of the pit crew to drop out and Hamilton went to third with Bottas chasing Vettel to just miss out on winning the race.

[tlmiller]

Yeah, wasn't a bad race. The coverage was a little better too, the team seems to be developing a little rapport with each other. Still not great, but quite a bit better than the first race. Gasly looked incredibly for Toro Roso.

[crosscourt]

Sky's coverage was good. Verstappen was an idiot, running into Hamilton at a point where he needed to be a bit more cautious and stay in the race. It affecte Hamilton somewhat but I doubt it would have allowed him to win ior even get second if it hadnt happened. Felt sorry for Riccardo as he was driving well and the car let him down again. Gasly was amazing but would not have finished as high if it haddnt been for the issue with Riccardo, Hamilton and Raikkonen.

The accident in the pits with Raikkonen that brke the pit crew members leg in two places was tragic. Alonso did well but performance with the car is still lacking but at least it performs well enough he has a chance and can stay in races. Magnussen with Haas did very well but the infighting with Grosjean at one point in the race was stupid as Grosjean ended up in the pits anyway. Grosjean to me is a liability when he drives like that but I understand how difficult it is to deal with Magnussen whos considered a jerk by most of the drivers.

Looking forward to Shanghai.