[Archived] Formula 1

[T4E]

What a race! All I can say. F1 certainly come a long way in terms of entertainment in recent years.

Had the commentary on Five Live and it was amateur in those final laps as they didn't know who was where and what was happening. No mention of Glock (who was bound to be slowing down) during the last lap and it all seemed over.

I left the house with 17 laps to go to go hit a few balls down at the range (no, not with Gordon).

I had the (dis)pleasure of listening to the final few laps on Five Live and had absolutely no idea what was going on., Their amatuerish coverage totally spoiled the moment for me. Granted if I was that bothered I'd have stayed in, but still it sounds like supreme entertainment that they made a complete hash of.

Forget Brand and Ross, that debacle is worthy of several thousand complaints.

[Rover down South]

Really pleased for Lewis & his team. Fantastic entertainment. That was the first race I have watched in full since Hill won it I think. Will be watching more next season.

Anyone who missed the race should catch the highlights tonight to see how close it actually was.

WELL DONE LEWIS.

[grizfoot]

What a dramatic ending to a superb season of Formula One. Thought Hamilton had chucked it away when Vettel overtook him. Thoose Torro-Rosso and inparticular Vettel take to wet tracks like ducks to water.

Then lo and behold on the last lap Hamilton was a full 15 seconds behind Glock who was on slick tyres on a wet track. Then with two corners remaining you hear the commentator go "It's Glock! is it Glock? Yes I think it's Glock!" and you see the McLaren breeze past the slow Toyota with barely last croner remaining. A truely memorable commentary and ending to a race, one of which will take some beating. Also I'd like to add that I thought the ITV coverage was top notch, they kept you really informed on what was happening out there. I'm disappointed to hear that some of you got some rather average radio coverage of this truely great sporting moment. Hopefully the BBC coverage will be improved for next season.

Overall Hamilton as deserved this title, he's been unfairly punished in a couple of sititations in my opinion. Fair play to Massa though, I actually don't mind him despite me despising anything to do with Ferrari.

Got to laugh at the Ferrari pit at the end thinking he'd won the championship when he hadn't. I guess it was a similiar reaction from all the anti-Hamilton fans out there when Vettel sailed passed Hamilton. But Lewis had the last laugh and got fifth and becomes the youngest ever F1 champion.

Well Done Lewis!

[LeChuck]

Had the commentary on Five Live and it was amateur in those final laps

I switched over to BBC1 shortly after the race and the news was on with highlights, the coverage of that was absolutely appalling. They made no mention of the drama in the final lap, the just simply said something like "Hamilton managed to climb from 6th to 5th on the final lap" which didn't even begin to tell half the story.

[grizfoot]

The finale if anyone missed it or if you just want to watch it again.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0D63WnBwYWs

[Billy Castell]

My heart was pounding in those last few laps. I thought "Oh ___" when Vettel overtook Lewis, and then to see Glock in the last few corners. It was largely boring until the last few laps. I hope the FIA won't try to rig it again.

On another note, what are the changes for 2009? Slick tyres without the grooves are back in, but what else?

And are the BBC going to bring in the team who present the ITV show? I hope so, as it is a well put together show, and we'll have the bonus of no ad breaks.

[grizfoot]

My heart was pounding in those last few laps. I thought "Oh ___" when Vettel overtook Lewis, and then to see Glock in the last few corners. It was largely boring until the last few laps. I hope the FIA won't try to rig it again.

On another note, what are the changes for 2009? Slick tyres without the grooves are back in, but what else?

And are the BBC going to bring in the team who present the ITV show? I hope so, as it is a well put together show, and we'll have the bonus of no ad breaks.

Yeah they mentioned going back to the old proper slick tyres without the grooves. They also mentioned a special power boost button for overtaking moves as well (they have something similiar in A1 I believe).

Hoping the BBC coverage will be as good as the ITV, I am a big critic of ITV but I can't argue that they did at least provide a very good F1 coverage. Don't know about what team the BBC will have, I suspect some of the ITV guys will make the switch over.

[Presty On Tour]

I thought he blew it again but he hung in there and that was some dramatic action.

A championship is won over a season and he deserved it.

How hot did Nicole Scherzinger look! A lucky, lucky boy our Lewis on all fronts.

As for the coverage going back to the BBC, no adverts is obviously the main gain for viewing though I do hope they draft over some of the ITV staff with Martin Brundle top of the list. He is very good at what he does.

[Rovermatt]

I don't generally have any patience for F1 but at my father's insistence I watched the final two laps. It was terrifically entertaining. Fair play to Hamilton and I thought Massa was most gracious.

[grizfoot]

I felt for Massa, but you've got to laugh at the ferrari pits thinking he'd won the championhip when he hadn't.

[Grabbi Graeme]

SSN reporting that the FIA have changed the way the F1 drivers championship is decided this season, the champion will be the driver who has the most race wins in the season, points will only decided the championship if drivers have the same number of wins at the end of the season.

I'm thinking that the FIA have decided this to make drivers go for the win rather than settle for second place and put points on the board.

[LeChuck]

So points are meaningless now unless there is a tie-break?

Makes the whole decision to extend the number of places which points are awarded for seem a bit pointless.

[Presty On Tour]

Really don't know what they are thinking.

Say if for example Massa had 1 win and 12 2nd places, would he be behind say Alonso with 2 wins and no other finishes?

[I_saw_Batty_score]

The points still count for the constructors title I guess. Within the industry the constructors title is a bigger deal than the drivers title its just that the media is fixated with the drivers title. Constructors points was linked to revenue both from prize money and probably some contracts.

At least the idea of medals was ditched.

[Flopsy]

Really don't know what they are thinking.

Say if for example Massa had 1 win and 12 2nd places, would he be behind say Alonso with 2 wins and no other finishes?

yup.

[T4E]

Those sorts of examples are getting thrown around but they are never likely to happen.

If this was in place the last 5 seasons, how many titles would have turned out differently, and how many would have gone to someone undeserving?

[LeChuck]

Massa would have won last year. I don't care enough about Formula 1 to look at any more years.

[bellamy11]

Those sorts of examples are getting thrown around but they are never likely to happen.

If this was in place the last 5 seasons, how many titles would have turned out differently, and how many would have gone to someone undeserving?

Just last year. This article is very good for answering your question.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/20...ne_first_p.html

[SAS]

I think the new format will be quite interesting forcing drivers to go for it, but at the same time i`m still a bit unsure about the way it is being done.

[AlanK]

Got Button at 25/1 to win the title. His car has been flying in testing and he is now 4/1 !!!

Honda/Brawn have been designing that car for nearly 2 years with the aid of 4 wind tunnels.

As for the rule changes, they just can`t help but tinker.

[gillibrand]

A bit of controversy that's the most interesting thing about Formula 1 these days!

[AlanK]

The most interesting thing about F1 is the past 2 seasons in recent history.

Schumacher winning 5 titles on the bounce had everyone turning off.

However, a driver winning the world title on the last corner of the last lap of the last race is probably something we will never see again in our lifetime. ( Lewis last year)

The testing times are all over the place but the new Brawn team ( Ross Brawn bought Honda ) is looking very quick which is why the guy probably decided to buy the outfit.

Throw in the new aero design regs that were put together by a team designated to help cars follow other cars more closely to aid overtaking, big fat slicks and the best set of drivers in years then anything can happen.

[gillibrand]

I would like the Brawn team to do well but I hope Hamilton flops this year!

[Billy Castell]

Why's that Gill? Because he's a winner? He is not the most charismatic, but he has a good style.

[Tris]

They've changed their minds and the points scoring will be the same as last year