Comments on: Brazil voted best race of 2009, Turkey named worst of a bad bunch

By: Soumya Banerjee

Soumya Banerjee — Mon, 17 May 2010 08:06:08 +0000

yeah the reliability factor is also important.
i would love to see cars struggling with reliability problems.

By: t***9

t***9 — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 07:44:46 +0000

Tilke is tempermentally unsuited to designing F1 circuits, club circuits possibly, and he’s hurting F1 racing. He thinks like an amateur club racer and his designs consistently reflect that; the number of nusiance, even non-sensical, corners is astounding in comparison to the classic circuits still being used. Corners where there should be none, arcane corner designs that have no race flow to them, and the absence of real high speed sweepers – a lap of Silverstone at speed would likely be a major dread for him.

Admittedly the F1 design guidelines, as written, make modern circuit design often a spirit deadening endeavor. However, imagination and vigor can still create enjoyable racing circuits for both drivers and viewers. I’m puzzled why an elite former F1 driver did not embark into designing circuits with the soul and flow worthy of great driving talent. It’s not soon enough that one does so and revises Tilke’s circuits to classic standards, with full regard for modern safety standards.

By: Antoine

Antoine — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:49:51 +0000

this was the first season in awhile where I missed a few races and I think it’s down to the fact some of the excitement has gone. the off track scandals have been more interesting than the racing…that said, I’m happy for Jenson

By: beneboy

beneboy — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:38:07 +0000

But why Spain have got 2 races has always been beyond me.

Probably because Spain isn’t a traditional fan base for F1 so when Alonso became WDC Bernie went all out trying to get the average Spaniard hooked on the “sport”.

Such a shame he tried doing it with two of the most boring race tracks F1 has ever seen in an era of extremely boring cars…

By: Hallard

Hallard — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:33:45 +0000

Like many others here, I am surprised that this season was rated so closely to the 2008 season overall. This year was so dull by comparison, watching Button amass a big points lead and carry it through the whole championship. Button was leading the championship from Australia all the way to the end, usually by over 20 points! A credit to him, but it makes for a yawn-worthy championship battle (or lack thereof). This year the cars were uglier, the racing much more processional, the scandals were frequent and the FIA were more belligerent than ever. Not a good year for F1, for many reasons. All I can say is bring on 2010!

By: PJA

PJA — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:22:23 +0000

I think some will rate an individual race on factors other than the race itself. Such as how close the Championship is, would Brazil this year and especially last year have got quite so high a rating if it hadn’t decided the title?

Another reason is who won the race, for example at Turkey after Button had won so many races already, I think it got a lower rating than if another driver had won in exactly the same fashion. I know I am guilty of this as if a driver I like wins in totally dominant fashion I enjoy the race a lot more than if another driver won by leading from start to finish and never being challenged.

Overall I wouldn’t say this season has been bad although it probably hasn’t been as good as recent seasons.

By: PJA

PJA — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:16:58 +0000

If my memory is right Raikkonen was set for his first win but ran wide on some oil which allowed Schumacher through to take the win and the title.

By: Ads21

Ads21 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:20:09 +0000

I’m surprised ’08 didn’t get a higher average considering there were only 2 or 3 dull races all season, with several absolute classics, for me it was the greatest season ever, and if we’re honest it probably had a lot to do with the weather.

The latter half of this year was brilliant tho, a spell of 6 races with 6 different winners, let’s hope it stays that competitive next year.

By: PeriSoft

PeriSoft — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:13:18 +0000

Oh, also, this is classic, from the Wikipedia article about Tilke:

“Tilke established Tilke Engineering in 1984… to provide complete solutions for motor racing and waste disposal projects.”

So, now we know why the racing’s gone down the toilet since he came on the scene…

By: PeriSoft

PeriSoft — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:01:49 +0000

Let’s see which tracks Tilke has designed!

Brazil 8.309

Australia 7.937
Belgium 7.852
Germany 7.096
Italy 7.049

Hungary 6.808
China 6.69 Tilke
Bahrain 6.42 Tilke

Abu Dhabi 5.794 Tilke
Britain 5.755
Japan 5.58
Monaco 5.504
Europe 5.355 Tilke
Singapore 5.336 Tilke
Spain 5.33
Malaysia 5.284 Tilke
Turkey 5.276 Tilke

Hmmm….