Ecclestone slams Jerez test ‘farce’

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Bernie Ecclestone brands the opening pre-season test as a ‘total farce’ after a number of teams suffered severe mechanical difficulties.

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Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more.

New F1 rules have created a total farce, says Ecclestone (Adam Cooper)

“The whole thing with the new engines is totally absurd. People want noise – something special, that’s what F1 is all about – and now we have quiet engines and nobody on the track.”

Lotus and Marussia complete 2014 Formula 1 entry process (Autosport)

“Lotus and Marussia have both paid the necessary entry fees for the 2014 Formula 1 season. Both teams’ places were described as “subject to confirmation” when the FIA released its official entry list last earlier this month.”

Five things we learned from F1 pre-season testing in Jerez (Telegraph)

“What a difference a week makes. If I was a betting man, I would not have put any money on Red Bull being the team which would struggle the most in the first test in Jerez.”

Daniel Ricciardo in best position ahead of Australian GP, says Niki Lauda (AdelaideNow)

Lauda: “From a potential point of view I think he is very good, very quick. There’s no question about that, so far everything is absolutely right for him. He just has to be aware he is fighting Vettel but he can learn a lot from him and get himself going.”

Toto Wolff Q&A: Team principals a thing of the past (Formula1.com)

Wolff: “Yes, that position is a thing of the past. The structure we have decided to implement is one of clear competencies and skills within the management.”

VIDEO: A Ricciardo se le cala el coche al salir – Test Jerez 2014 Red Bull (YouTube)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfqgI4lhlj4

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Comment of the day

After Alonso claimed yesterday that 2014’s slower cars invoked no less emotion in him as a driver, reader Brian believes that speed really should matter.

There may be no less emotion on the part of the driver. But a big part of being the premier racing series in the world is that you can also claim to be the fastest – and certainly considerably faster than your feeder series’.

The FIA are already severely limiting the technical development side of the sport with promises to further restrict it in the future. Jenson Button has recently said that GP2 will be much closer to F1 lap times on certain tracks this season. I don’t think it’s healthy for F1 if the perception becomes that it’s not that much faster than something like GP2.
Brian

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On this day in F1

Mika Hakkinen drove the new McLaren-Peugeot MP4-9 for the first time 20 years ago today at Silverstone.

However the Silverstone weather was running true to form and the team abandoned their plans to test their after Hakkinen spun the brand-new car on his first flying lap.

The team had only announced one of its drivers at this point as Alain Prost weighed up whether to continue racing in F1 and join McLaren as Hakkinen’s team mate.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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111 comments on “Ecclestone slams Jerez test ‘farce’”

  1. Even if GP2 cars ended up being faster, can you really say their best drivers are better than Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton, and Vettel?

    1. @rjoconnell And that’s the thing. I think most people think “pinnacle of motorsports” = “fastest motorsport”. But the cars of the ’09-’13 era had become very very drive-able. We were seeing the world’s fastest drivers driving cars a little too perfect if you catch my drift?

      For me, the pinnacle of motorsports should be one where there are very high speeds, but the driving must also be highly challenging. The RBR most notably, seemed like it was forever on rails!

      I’m looking forward to seeing drivers actually drive!

      1. @rjoconnell
        Who knows. For as far as we know, the GP2 boys could own the F1 drivers in equal machinery. It’s impossible to tell, really.

        1. @kingshark There are impossible things, and then there are improbable things, you just stated one…

        2. Did you not watch Monaco last year? Half of them didnt make it through the first turn.

      2. you should check out WRC
        high speeds, & travelling on loose variable ground with jumps, trees & sheer drops should fit the requirements of highly challenging.

    2. Of course that’s true. But it isn’t really the point. If people are complaining about the quality of the cars, then that’s what they’re complaining about- the drivers don’t come into it. I understand these complaints. F1 being slower than not just a spec series, but its own support spec series is rather tragic. The key thing though- reserve judgement until Australian qualifying.

      1. Reserve judgement till after the race :) These cars are faster in qualifying form vs their race pace vs last year’s car.

        The whole reason (if you can call it reason) for the rule change was for fuel consumption over a race (see sporting regulations). The real change is over race distance, not one lap pace.

        Good thing for the rule makers though, the disparity is the only thing people really pick up on during race and over all pace, so it’s more likely that the ‘drama’ and mechanical failures will add to the spectacle while the cars are slower and not really driven very hard at all, except at ‘key’ strategic over taking periods, cause thats when the cars will actually be able to be driven. Lolz.

        It’s like the rule makers are doing everything they can to take the speed out of F1 in order to promote it to the people behind the television screens who don’t care about the integrity of the sport.

    3. No, my view on this subject is that the spectators have now loss 2/3 of the thrills of f1. I can still remember standing at the end of a 1km straight and start seeing the f1 car emerging from the heat haze the noise gets louder and louder a screeching v10 is coming then a flash goes past your right and then it stops on your left the car miraculously manages the bend of those 3 thrills 2 have been severely cut down the visual surreal and the audible earthquake. Thrills aside the sport has pseudo rational interests, the scientific perspective of new technology and the sporting changes as the double points races that should satisfy the people that have a more “rational” bond with “sport”/”game”

      1. Double points is not more rational or logical.

      2. The 2014 cars, with ERS produce a similar amount of power to the 2013 V8’s, the amount of power governs how fast you can push something. The 2014 cars have less downforce and thus lower drag, so they should be faster (however at this point let’s remember that speed was not governed by power last year at many circuits but by limiter) also the 2014 engines have significantly more torque and thus will have superior acceleration. Yes the new 8 speed gearbox is going to have an impact on both speed and acceleration as it can not be tailored to one racetrack, but that 8th gear will certainly limit this IMO.

        The downside to less downforce is less grip through the corners.

        So lets be clear the cars should be faster but will have a slower lap time, until the teams improve the efficiency in obtaining downforce given the new regulations.

    4. @rjoconnell – I agree about the drivers, but it’s not GP2 cars that will be putting F1 cars under pressure in 2014. In terms of raw laptime in 2014 the fastest F1 on the grid will be the fastest racing car in the world, but not by a large margin as was the case in 2013. In 2014 the fastest of the F1 cars will be only several second faster than Dallara’s new Japanese Super Formula series chassis, which is faster than the Dallara GP2/11 chassis, the modern Formula Renault 3.5 series chassis, definitely faster than the new Audi R18 replacement and is roughly based on the findings of the Dallara HRT cars. The car, (which you can read about here if you have AUTOSPORT+) will most likely be faster than this year’s F1 backmarkers. And yet, is that really a bad thing for Formula 1? I would argue no. It will still be the fastest series in the world comfortably, and it will going about it in a way that is much more technologically advanced, and being at the pinnacle of motorsport is to be at the pinnacle of technology. The only racing car that even remotely fields a level of technology to rival F1 is the Audi R18 e-tron quattro of the FIA’s World Endurance Championship, and yet that is made with hundreds of millions of pounds from one of the richest car manufacturer’s in the world, whereas the equally hybrid powered Marussia MR03 is faster and was made on a shoestring!

      1. @william-brierty

        Any words on IndyCar? How fast are they compared to F1?

        1. @paeschli – The Dallara IndyCar chassis is broadly similar in terms of performance to the current GP2 chassis, if a little slower through the corners. Of all the major single seater chassis the Formula Renault 3.5 car has the most downforce, but is lacking in power compared to the Japanese Super Formula, GP2 and IndyCar chassis, which would probably make it slower on most grand prix tracks, although on an “aero track” like Silverstone I’d imagine the World Series car could manage a similar laptime to an IndyCar chassis, and only just slower than the GP2 and Japanese Super Formula cars.

    5. Do you really think our drivers of today will stay if less people are watching the ecodrive and slow cars??
      Less interest means less money and the deathspiral is here. The fastest, the coolest, the loudest series will attract the fans and the best drivers. F1 is loosing it now….sorry to say. Face it!! Talk abt the elephant in the room! Kick out the FIA mgmt at try to re-instate f1 at the top.

  2. Follow up headline: “Everyone else calls Ecclestone a farce.”

      1. Farce is right. Way to promote the sport!

    1. Ecclestone is butt hurt is is right in saying practically that f1 ain’t le mans f1 was never stock racing its purpose is to support racing and this change isn’t worth the money either but then he believes that pure racing is receiving an extra fee for granting abu dhabi with the most important race of the calendar, Bernie that matters too.

      1. +1. I think the word ‘farce’ is being applied to certain points related rule changes for 2014 by almost all the f1 community… Except those with the power to make the rules. Are you listening Bernie?

  3. Bernie. It’s time to get back in your rocking chair in the nursing home now.

    Since when was pre-season testing ever that big of a concern for him?

    1. maarten.f1 (@)
      1st February 2014, 8:09

      @mouse_nightshirt since a certain indictment…

    2. Indeed. Not to mention that this is the guy who came up with as credible ideas as Medals, shortcuts to pass, sprinklers to water the track for more “fun” and Abu Double.
      Him mentioning that no one is turning up to watch after he took the sport to places where no one wants to watch anyway and forcing the tracks where people do want to watch to ask prices that actually turn them away just to make sure they won’t come. What was that about a Farce again Bernie?

      1. @bascb Nicely put.

        Despite most people in the forums I read initially being against the new engines, now everyone seems to like them. Except for one bitter old man who hates change. Unless it’s change that mangles our sport in the interests of his bank balance.

      2. Hear, hear @bascb! I have to say I like that all cars seem to sound clearly different now @gongtong, even if that won’t last for years, it still makes a difference now.

        Even the noses provide more entertainment, compared to the dull everybody stepppwd with mayve a panel high flat noses of last year. Or maybe that’s because some are as ugly as the cars from times they were still experimenting with that new aero stuff. Granted, those were the cars I wanted/had toys of as a kid, so that could be nostalgia leaking through, but so far it has at least not been more of the same; I think the comimg months will be interesting to follow.

  4. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    1st February 2014, 0:39

    I’d rather have quiet V6 engines, than double points Mr. E.

    Funny how he attacks these new regulations as if they’re bad for the sport, and yet he’ll happily be the driving force behind the double points rule, as if it makes complete sense.

    Crazy I tells ya!

    1. He doesn’t like that his favorite little german is having trouble. He also says that F1 is all about noise. I want a sport, there’s plenty of noise to be found on TV already.

      1. Bernie complaining about quiet engines.
        I wonder if he’s going deaf?

    2. @tophercheese21 if I’m honest, I rather have the V6 turbos over the old horrible sounding V8.

      I hated the V8s. Maybe we need to remind Ecclestone that we moved on from the glorious, glorious music of the V10, and we’re never going to return there…

  5. and now we have quiet engines and nobody on the track

    So (ignoring the fact that reports say the engines aren’t all that much quieter) Red Bull are everybody now?

    1. @matt90 ha ha well spotted

  6. I know we shouldn’t be taking Bernie’s words so literally, but when he says “nobody on the track”…I don’t think quiet engines are to blame for that.

    1. His cataracts probably, considering how many cars were actually doing a decent number of laps by the end of the test.

  7. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    1st February 2014, 1:00

    I guess people’s reaction when Ricciardo’s car halts is quite normal for Spanish fans, who obviously support Ferrari, but I don’t know if it’s right to call it booing so early.

    1. Its a shame to see/hear. I’m sure it’s Rebull that they are booing at in regards to the dominance over the past few years and their failure to get track time in this test.

    2. @omarr-pepper
      Next time Horner opens his mouth or Newey starts talking about “safety” ask yourself if it’s some great injustice or are they maybe getting a genuine, honest voice of disdain from fans around the world.

    3. Jack (@jackisthestig)
      1st February 2014, 7:02

      Talking about patriotism towards, or in this case against an F1 team, I wonder how much fan love Red Bull will get at the Austrian GP. For whatever reason they just don’t seem the sort of team that a home crowd would get all that exited about despite their success.

      1. @jackisthestig @tifoso1989 The problem is that they sell energy drinks and not cars.

        Everybody hates it to have their favorite team (whether it is McLaren, Ferrari or Mercedes) being beaten by a company who just wants to have a ‘rebel’ image.

        I personally support them. Often when some new team joins F1, it’s is to become another back marker. They:
        – had ambition (Caterhams objective this year is to not finish last …)
        – were ready to put a lot of money in it, and that lead to success which isn’t that easy as we all remember the Honda failure despite their huge budget.
        – they help talented drivers join Formula One: thanks to Red Bull, we have an extra 4 non-paying drivers who are there on merit.

        The problem is not because they win all the time: does Usain Bolt gets booing? It’s because they sell energy drinks, that’s all and it’s a shame. Some people should get over it and respect them for having risen to fame in such a short amount of time.

        Of course I can understand it that people call it boring that always the same guy wins but heck: we’ve survived the Schumacher era, right? We are Formula One fans and that’s why we will continue watching, even if the same guy wins again, despite the double points rule, the quieter engines, the bomb company Pirelli producing tyres: it’s about the fastest drivers in the world and the most clever engineers in the world fighting each other.

        I support Red Bull and Vettel and always will in the future, but I also hope it will be a fanatstic thrilling season, like we had in 2008, 2010 or 2012 :)

    4. @omarr-pepper
      How about last year in Silverstone,Canada and Singapoor, like i told you it is not about Vettel as this time it is Ricciardo, It is Red Bull who are getting the booing and it is not because they are dominating this not the first time a team dominate F1, remember McLaren, Williams and Ferrari, BTW the tifosi used to cheer for Ayrton even though he has never driver for Ferrari
      The F1 fans are sick of RBR attitude which is arrogant even Adrian Newey has joined the party this year, the only problem is that the wrong people are getting the boos Vettel and now Ricciardo but as for RBR team they definitely deserves that attitude for their arrogance

      1. Tifoso1989 Your views are filled with passion, but not facts. Mark Webber was never booed and I don’t think you will see Ricciardo being booed on the podium either. The booing was aimed at Vettel and the way he projected himself as a sportsman. I do agree with you regarding the attitude towards Redbull but this is surely in jest and aided by the geographical location, Redbull may appear arrogant, but don’t most champions?

      2. It depends on the point of view @tifoso1989
        If I was at Jerez yesterday and saw Alonso stopping on track, I would have cheered in similar fashion shown in that video. Not because I don’t respect the driver in question but because of the same reasons you said about RBR.

      3. Ferrari fans cheering Ayrton? When? Maybe you’re confusing the kind of enthusiasm they had everytime he abandoned at Italy. Remember when the driver you support abandoned and every Ferrari fan started cheering because of that back in 2006? Nobody likes a winner and thats a fact.

        1. @crandreico
          I’m not confusing anything, if there is someone who is confusing things then it is you, Ayrton Senna has a very good relationship with the italians, he actually speaks italian and used to communicate very well with the italian media, just watch these videos and you will understand that
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gl4t9etgls
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWEiGfxZt9A
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Uutmjwrg-Q
          After the italian 1993 GP Ayrton was very upset because he has retired from the race, he was at the hotel with his girlfriend and the tifosi figured that he was there so they were cheering for him under the balcony, he went out to salute them

      4. Does anyone else find it amusing when a Ferrari fan calls another team “arrogant”?

        1. ;-) spot on.

    5. I don’t see why all this negative reaction to red bull is so bad. F1 is a sport and like every other sport, everyone supports different teams. I suspect most of the people who booed vettel etc don’t particularly hate him, it’s just the fact that he went up against the team/driver said person supports and won.

      Make a comparison to football and it’s not very often that before a game, a team’s fans will boo the other team, it’s only during those 90 minutes that the opposition become “the enemy” as such. It’s the same as the f1 season, red bull are winning and so the supporters of the 9 other teams who want their team to win are naturally going to see whoever is in their way (in this case, red bull) as opposition or an enemy.

      1. I think it is a very bad tendency in F1. When I attended the F1 race at Spa in 2010, there was nothing of that sort of mocking or hate from fans or between fans. I hope I will experience the same “we are all F1 fans, foremost!” attitude, when I go to Spa again this year. F1 fans should keep themselves to good to act in this way.

    6. Wow are people seriously getting upset over that video. I’m sorry but when the team that’s won the last 4 championships car breaks down as soon as it moves 2 inches from its garage, people are going to laugh.

      Besides what’s the difference between people at the race track mocking them and people on various internet forums doing the exact same thing. Something tells me you wouldn’t have posted that comment if it has been Marussia people were laughing at.

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        1st February 2014, 17:08

        @davef1 that’s why I said “I don’t know if calling it booing yet”, because I wanted to hear both sides giving their opinions. And as you and I can see, there are more than just 2 sides. But imagine being Ferrari the ones who halt, maybe the reaction would have been more like a “Oh, what happened” and not “Yeaaaaah hahaha”.

    7. @omarr-pepper I think the reaction (which started off as laughter) was down to the fact he had barely completed a metre out of the garage before halting, a ridiculously small distance, rather than to the fact he was driving for a rival team.

      1. Exactly – when you make Andrea Moda look reliable (at least they usually made it out of the pit lane before breaking down), you know that something is going very badly wrong. That is why most of them are laughing and jeering – you don’t expect a car to break down that quickly…

    8. It’s not normal because they support Ferrari, it’s normal because they support Alonso. Remember back in 2008 and 2009 the racist attitudes towards Hamilton?

  8. I swear to god, what world does Bernie live in? To me the cars sound pretty damn good – especially on the footage the Beeb has put up on their site. They certainly don’t sound ‘Quiet’ and as Keith said the cars sound alot more individual than they have for the last few years.

    Is it just me who thinks Bernie is literally saying anything to try and make it look like he’s still the ringmaster in this circus – or at least distract from other, less flattering news stories surrounding him?

    1. @bendana
      You have to remember that how loud it is, when you play it on your computer is determined by the volume you set. Not how loud the cars actually are.
      To know that, you need to be there and hear it first hand.

    2. Since I mostly watch on TV and not on track, I don’t really care about how loud they are (subject to some minimum level of course) but how they sound. And I agree that the turbo whining together with the deeper sound of the engine is much better than before.

      I heard though that the cars are indeed significantly less loud so the experience at the track might be quite different; many people will not like it, others may actually enjoy not having to wear earplugs.

      @bendana @mads

  9. Yes Bernie, advanced engine technology and aerodynamics make F1 a farce, but your double points gimmick for the last 1-3 races is the definition of seriousness, right?

    I believe this is just a bruised ego issue. Bernie feels he’s the one who should be in charge of F1 and he has not had it his way.

  10. Will someone throw this crooked ******* in jail already?

    I just don’t understand how can he force himself to get this garbage over his tongue. I mean, I’m sure he doesn’t believe a single thing he says himself, and yet, he is saying it all.

    And other thing, what do Bernie and broadcasters have to do with points and come to think of it, engines and aerodynamics too? Isn’t that FIA’s job, the sporting side of things, while Bernie should look into how to best promote the sport and make it financially sustainable, not how best to bleed it dry.

    Max Mosley and Bernie have ****** up F1 for a goddamn century.

  11. Haha, my local newspaper (The Advertiser, website AdelaideNow) is the last one I expected to see in the round up XD.

    About the pinnacle of motorsport thing: I agree that it’s not good for F1 to be getting slower. Whilst I also agree that pinnacle of motorsport doesn’t have to be the fastest in terms of drivers, it sorta be in terms of engineering – because motorsport isn’t all about the drivers. If we all wanted to see who the most skilled drivers were, we’d put all the F1 drivers in a bunch of 60s/70s muscle cars done up with modern internal parts for reliability and safety, but things like suspension and the chassis built to specification as it was in the 60s/70s. The cars would have lots of power, very vague and heavy handling – those who could master driving fastest would have to be truly skilled and, but the cars would be slow – which means safe(r). For those who don’t know, this series already exists pretty much as I described it, in the form of the Australian Touring Car Masters.

    But there are two problems here, created by the slower cars: Firstly, the engineering/team side of the sport becomes much less important, because they can’t design their cars from the ground up, and secondly the general public will look to another “faster” series because of the perception that faster=harder. This is true to an extent, but there is more to it than that. So, I would conclude that F1 should be “as fast as possible” because of this.

    1. Also, just for general interest: You can watch races from the touring car masters on this youtube channel, some good races there (however they’re only 20min races, so some can be destroyed by a single Safety Car :( )

  12. I totally agree with Martin Brundle’s tweet. Despite the questioning from F1 fanatics, the sport does need a shake-up. Ugly noses and smaller engines might not be the answer in our opinion, but hopefully it generates more interest in the sport and more investment via outside sources for the teams. We can only hope these new rules will be adapted and overcome as there will be salvage plan big enough to save the FIA if the cars can’t complete race distance on their restricted fuels loads.

    1. @funkyf1 – Brundle is the only pundit I respect. He has a deft knack of always hitting the nail on the head…

    2. @funkyf1

      I doubt the restricted fuel loads will be of any concern. They’ll simply adjust the engine maps. You’ll have instances like last year where drivers are told to save fuel and you’ll probably see some cars stopping right after the finish line but I doubt there will actually be cars stopping before the end of the race because they’ve run out of fuel.

  13. Bernie may think the new V6 Turbo’s are quieter & therefore somehow more boring, Yet what does he suggest?

    Sticking with the old V8’s that had practically no torque, Were 7yrs old & as one of the engine people said on sky last year were completely irrelevant to the engine manufacturer’s.

    Do they go back to V10/V12’s? Yes that would be a popular thing amongst fans im sure but again there completely irrelevant with regards to the engine manufacturer’s.

    I know ‘relevancy’ isn’t a popular word amongst fans, But it is what the engine guys want & thats why practically every manufacturer led series is going the small capacity turbo route, With hybrid systems also been thrown into the mix.

    F1 & Indycar both went to the people who woudl actually be building the engine’s & asked them what they wanted, Both series came away from those discussion with the engine manufacturer’s & went to V6 Turbo’s because thats the sort of engine’s the engine manufacturer’s want to compete with because there far more relevant to them than a V8/10/12 is.

    Had F1 stuck with the V8’s or gone to a V10/12, Considering its not what engine manufacturer’s seem to want how many engine suppliers would we have in F1 in a few years?
    The new V6 turbo’s enticed Honda back into F1 for 2015, There was that pure project which sadly fell through, Cosworth are working on a V6 turbo, BMW has expressed interest in coming back under the new formula as have Zytek.

    Did we have all this interest under the old formula? No because as I said the old formula isn’t relevant in any way to the engine manufacturer’s.

    F1 must move forward, It must go in a direction to entice new engine manufacturer’s as well as retain the existing one’s. This new formula is what they wanted, They don’t care what Bernie wants & they probably don’t care so much about what engine’s the fans want because neither Bernie or us fans are the people who will be designing the engine’s.

    At the end of the day the new V6 engine’s are still powerful things, there still very fast, they have far more torque than the v8s which will make the drivers have to watch the throttle exiting corners & overall engine performance will be similar to what were used to.
    Yes the hybrid systems will play a role in bringing the total bhp upto around 750 but so what, 750bhp is still 750bhp regardless of how its been achieved.

    As to the sound, From what I’ve heard they sound cool. Maybe there not quite as loud as what we have heard recently but there still louder than your average road car & probably most other forms of racing. We had turbo engine’s which sounded very similar back in the 80s & nobody complained about how they sounded.

    To conclude my long post (apologies for that) , The new cars will still be fast, the new engine’s still sound like race engines, They still produce a lot of power, The racing will still be fun & the best driver/team will still win. So not much is going to change apart from the sound, Deal with it!

    1. No need to apologise, succint and to the point, excellent post.

    2. Dear peterG,
      I hope it is ok to challenge you.
      I want to put another perspective to the discussion..
      The F1 fan. The guy or the girl that pays for the f1 spectacle. We who pays loads to watch all sessions on TV or travel the world and see and experiance irl. If we loose the interest, then we face a death spiral with less money, less sponsors, less media interest, less interest from the engine-manufacturers shouting abt ‘relevance’
      I am one of the fans. Since 25+ yrs. F1 is suppost to be ball to the wall performace & technology & loud. I want to see the best drivers push it to the edge. Yes, sometimes certain teams get it really right and win back-to-back. Then, they are the best. The guys to beat.
      There are many other series to watch – f3, indycar, wtcc etc etc. and I do. But now, f1 is not cool anylonger. I am not prepared to pay for electric motor racing, tiny low rev turbos and eco-drive. Not interested. Sad times, sorry to say. The guys responsible sit in the FIA mgmt in their ivory towers. They really pulled it off this time. I am sad now :-(

  14. It’s very irritating to see people (I won’t call them fans as they don’t deserved to be called that) whistling, cheering, laughing and clapping when the Red Bull can’t make it out of the garage. I understand that it feels weird and a bit of a change to see Red Bull struggle so much but to actually celebrate like they did is very unsporting.

    No wonder, these were the type of people who booed the World Champion in 2013.

    1. Unsporting, maybe, but certainly understandable. People are just sick of Red Bull’s dominance, and some of their tactics – blaming Webber for everything (Istanbul 2010), mis-treating their junior drivers (Marko abusing Alguersuari), constantly trying to force the FIA into making other teams give up their technical secrets (Mercedes double-DRS) and so on – have made them very unpopular. There are some, myself included, who feel that it is about time their luck changed.

      1. @prisoner-monkeys
        Well even I am not sad at the way things are going for Red Bull. I labelled myself as a ‘sadist’ by feeling good about their lack of running but personally, I though they crossed the line here.

        1. oh come on @neelv27 ! Don’t you ever have a light hearted laugh when a newbie in a car ahead of you stalls at the traffic light? Is that crossing the line for you too? Really?

          I myself find booing unsportsmanlike, but to call reaction in that video “crossing the line” is way way over the top

      2. I wonder why Robin Frijns rejected red bull backing twice?

      3. @prisoner-monkeys @neelv27 – I agree most heartily Mr Monkeys. Red Bull have gone about racing in recent years in a way comparable to manner in which Apple goes about business; utterly monopolistic and always the first to lobby the FIA for a rule change or a review of a technical verdict. In early 2013 they had built a car not as good on its tyres as the F138 or the E21, but instead of simply looking to themselves for improvement, as Mercedes did, they pushed through the change to the 2012 tyres, and probably spent much of the British GP with very broad grins. It is completely unsporting to boo one of the most incredible young drivers in the history of the sport, and equally so to cheer when the latest creation of what is unquestionably the best team on the grid breaks down, but, as Mr Monkeys says, somewhat understandable. F1 needs a change of the guard, just don’t prematurely get your hopes up, we don’t know what the RB10 is like when it actually manages to complete a lap…

      4. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        1st February 2014, 17:33

        @prisoner-monkeys

        People are just sick of Red Bull’s dominance, and some of their tactics

        They weren’t the only team with “tactics” last year, yet I didn’t see any booing for the other teams…
        Ferrari kept playing Massa down, even in races where he could have been better. (team orders – the same level or more than Red Bull’s)
        Mercedes Double DRS was banned as well as the blown diffusers (technical innovation banned for Mercedes AND for Red Bull)
        Mercedes got a secret test, but nobody booed Rosberg when he won Monaco just after the scandal.
        So the booing was unfair (because it’s alway unfair and) because many teams had something to be blamed for, but just Red Bull became the “bad guys”. If you don’t like Marko, why do you boo Vettel? If Webber can’t beat Vettel a single time all year long, complaint about Webber, don’t you think? Maybe he should have retired a year early, or to move to another team to try something else. It looks like Vettel and Marko have becomed the parents-in-law “nobody” loves.

    2. The problem with RedBull is not that they are winning, it’s what they do and say after winning – always rubbing it onto their rivals noses, always accusing their rivals of what they themselves do (team-orders), always talking disrespectful about Vettel’s main competitors. Every time one of their key figures opens his mouth – an extreme ‘stench’ of arrogance comes out of it. So one can understand that they are getting exactly what they have given – a classless attitude.

      1. @klaas
        Amazingly, I wrote the same thing above and I must honestly say, I’m not surprised that there are so many people here who also despise them as a team because of the exact things you mentioned.
        I just replied to you because I don’t think anyone put it so vividly in so few words. :)

        Every time one of their key figures opens his mouth – an extreme ‘stench’ of arrogance comes out of it.

        Gold! :)

      2. Couldn’t disagree more. I think Your disgust start in your own mind, and then You interpret all information from RBR to comply with Your predetermined image of the team. It is a well known phenomenon, but I’m a bit disappointed that apparently a number of fans on this forum have reached this level of hate against a certain team.
        All teams have good and bad sides, people with good days and bad days. Some drivers come out disgusting at times and later You change your mind about them, that is if You have an open mind – Romain Grosjean is an example.
        Try to listen to RBR with an open mind and think if someone thought what You think about RBR about the team You favour?

    3. @neelv27
      I don’t know who deserves to be called an F1 fan, the people who gets from the morning to the night to follow a test session, or the people who are bashing them behind their comfortable desks or while playing with their iphones ?
      You seem to ignore the fact that RBR are very arrogant and disrespectful to the other teams especially when they were winning and now it’s payback they are getting what they deserve

      1. @tifoso1989

        I don’t know who deserves to be called an F1 fan, the people who gets from the morning to the night to follow a test session, or the people who are bashing them behind their comfortable desks or while playing with their iphones ?

        By that logic, the people who booed Vettel were also fans since even they were there to attend a grand prix unlike people like me who sit behind their comfortable desks. A fan cannot be defined by who attends the F1 and who doesn’t.

        I only condemn the attitude showed by those people when the car failed. RBR might have been cocky and they are labelled as ‘arrogant’ which is justified but since you used the word ‘payback’ then that is equally arrogant and that has been exactly my point.

        1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
          1st February 2014, 17:15

          @tifoso1989

          You seem to ignore the fact that RBR are very arrogant and disrespectful to the other teams especially when they were winning and now it’s payback they are getting what they deserve

          What is arrogant and disrespectful? Winning? You make it sound as if the goal of the teams was finishing second, and they disrespect the others just because they win.

      2. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        1st February 2014, 17:14

        You seem to ignore the fact that RBR are very arrogant and disrespectful to the other teams especially when they were winning and now it’s payback they are getting what they deserve

        What is arrogant and disrespectful? Winning? You make it sound as if the goal of the teams was finishing second, and they disrespect the others just because they win.

    4. Zantkiller (@)
      1st February 2014, 10:49

      I think people are really digging deep to attack fans here. In no way is this comparable with the booing.

      It is just comical for an F1 car to get a few feet before stalling and so the fans laughed and had some playful cheering at the situation. They would have done it if it was a Ferrari, McLaren or a Marussia.

      Sure because it is Red Bull it is a bit more funny but they aren’t attacking Red Bull they are just having fun. Are fans not allowed to express some lighthearted fun?

      1. They would have done it if it was a Ferrari

        @zantkiller

        No they wouldn’t.

    5. Well I just voiced my opinion. Unfortunately, we aren’t on the same tangent on this one which is fine. End of argument. Thanks for your responses.

    6. @neelv27: I think You’re absolutely right. I was very much into Soccer back in the 80’ties, but as it was more and more disgraced by a small fraction of very bad behaving fans I abandoned it. I hardly see any soccer anymore, not even when the national team is playing. I fear that F1 fans are moving down that route, beginning with the racist incidents – also in Spain I’m afraid.
      What if we saw a driver or top F1 team executive, jump out as a Homosexual? Would we see unworthy bad reactions? Would we see bad fan behaviour at especially the Russian GP?

  15. Jack (@jackisthestig)
    1st February 2014, 6:53

    When is the Caterham open top bus parade?

  16. Dear Mr Ecclestone ,

    I have a suggestion to make .If you want millions of people to turn up at pre-season testing venues , please pay a few millions to your associates so they can arrange for people to be there . Of course, there is always the risk that they could take the money and forget that they ever agreed in the first place.

    My points :
    1) Having heard them in videos , the engines and the turbos sound cool . This is coming from a fan of engine sounds and not a techno geek.

    2) As Keith pointed out , the sounds are unique for each car and this makes it interesting to identify and watch.

    3) These are top engineers in the world and they can be very very competitive , just give them some time .

    4) It’s not the rule maker’s fault that Renault are having problems . Heck even Red Bull are chill about it .

    I am waiting for Abu dhabi Mr Big E , when your plans go horribly wrong and when people chuck f1 in it’s current artificial DRS-esque avatar down the drain .
    Of course ,by then you would forget that you even made the double points rule at the end of the season in the first place .
    Forget Mclaren , they are doing really well . We need some change in ideals and leadership at the top . No Bernie , I don’t mean money when I say change , I am talking about reforms .

    1. COTD for me !!!

  17. A classic bit of misdirection from the Bernie book of “how to get people talking about F1 without mentioning what’s really wrong with the sport”.

    Bernie’s playing us all.

    1. either that, or he has lost the plot entirely

  18. David not Coulthard (@)
    1st February 2014, 8:36

    @keithcollantine disagree with you, bernie, and a lot of people who’s seen the MP4/4 in a GP, perhaps.

    Besides, take “f” from “farce” and that’d be a pretty good name for the double-points rules.

  19. I didn’t think Ecclestone went to the test? If he wants louder engines, just turn the telly up.

    Plus, this is a test, not a race. First test of a whole new drivetrain system which is miles more complex than anything ever seen in F1, so it’s to be expected that some would have problems. Once again Ecclestone does his best to convince the world that the sport he owns is a load of rubbish. I’d say he’s mental but that tactic seems to have made him obscenely rich, so I guess it must work..

    1. that tactic seems to have made him obscenely rich, so I guess it must work

      yeah, most people start watchin f1 out of pity for having a boss like bernie :)

    2. the new engines are loud, maybe not as loud as the past v10 and v8s, but still massively loud, and no difference to millions of tv viewers. f1 was famous in the 80s with turbos – perhaps it was its greatest era??

  20. Bullfrog Slams Ecclestone
    What’s he trying to distract us from this time?

  21. More laps than Red bull, torro Rosso and lotus didn’t show up. Shows what spirit and right people can do. Not just money.

    With all due respect Mr. Fernandes, I feel it is precisely because your team has less resources that it is currently more reliable. The sidepod openings for example are capacious, and the rear packaging far from tightest. It seems a rather conservative design towards the back – like the limits are not being pushed.

    In stark contrast to Red Bull.

  22. If we have a situation where come Melbourne we have 21 cars retiring and Chilton winning then perhaps there is a problem. However, I can see the reliability issue for Renault and to a degree Ferrari not being anywhere as bad by Melbourne.

    Also, I prefer the sound of the V6 turbo to the V8. Never went much on the V8.

  23. Firstly, Ecclestone’s opinion doesn’t really matter because there’s no turning back now anyway. Secondly, one always has to understand why he says something because he obviously doesn’t always believes it himself.

    Ecclestone contradicts himself by saying that unpredictability is a good thing, yet wanting to keep the old, very predictable engines. It’s also obvious that we would still have the 1950 technical rules if the rule makers had always followed the same logic. F1 is all about technical development (not ‘noise’, which is a matter of taste) and it goes without saying that setbacks and failures are inevitable in the process.

    I’m really looking forward to the new season and I hope that Ecclestone, the teams and FIA manage to get rid of things that really ‘create a total farce’, such as the double points rule and the ugly noses. That is their job.

  24. It’s the first test of a new era in F1 and Ecclestone’s already criticising it. I know he never liked the idea but give it a chance at least.

    In the grand scheme of things, the noise or the reliability of the engines really isn’t a concern. Reliability will improve in time, of course. Some of the noses being hideous (Toro Rosso and Caterham) and going into the season with that season finale niggling at the back of our minds, ready to potentially skew the final standings are real concerns, especially the latter.

  25. I see a brilliant future for Juncadella. Very consistent!

  26. ecclestone is an idiot, he is obviously hoping even testing brings in money for him, and with a team like red bull doing little running, no wonder he is heart broken – all the moron cares about is money.

  27. Bernie is sooo right. All challeging comments to his statement is BS, all knows that. Talk abt the elephant in the room.
    I have been using the farce word for a looong time now. FIA heads have pushed this crap now. I see two possible directions from here – either F1 RIP or sack the FIA mgmt (risk for this comment to be censored) and put it right again. I will repeat myself (for the 1000 time) – we F1 fans that actually is paying for the show, we just love (and pay loads of money to enjoy) ball to the wall performance and load cars and really racing drivers putting it to the edge. We ARE NOT interested in electric motor racing, tiny low rev turbos or eco driving. Nor the silly looking cars (come on) Get down from the ivory towers FIA heads!!
    Actually, for me and thousands like me, we are all sad to watch this farce. The sport is killed. Sorry to say :-(

    1. The irony of the situation is the new rules have cut down the fuel so drastically that the only time they will even be close to the limit is during overtakes.

      People will be entertained by expensive cars w/ reliability issues, low fuel strategy overtaking, and with the turbo button and DRS for the straights. Ratings will probably go up because anything can happen as the motors will be running very hot.

      It’s good for TV, and what’s hot in the political world, but it really is ruining the integrity of a sport which is turning in to little more than an expensive over hyped spectacle. MotoGP is what F1 will probably be in 3 or 4 seasons. The only thing keeping F1 intact is the interests of multiple teams, but the more they agree to get along, and abide by the ‘new’ rules, the worst it will be for people interested in ‘real’ competition.

      1. *worse

  28. I love how Kobayashi was overtaking in testing. Love that guy!

  29. Re. the comment of the day, I’m wondering how representative the relentless, continual negativity towards present-day F1 from commenters here is of the overall feeling of 1) all the readers of F1Fanatic.co.uk; and/or 2) just the people who take time to leave comments & forum posts — or is it just 3) indicative of the personality of those who highlight “reader” opinion and shape/influence discussion.

    1. I mean, this is the same place where the site’s owner(s)/director(s), as an ‘official’ act, pressured readers to contact various F1 teams and complain about, what was it, the points schema for 2014??…

      1. @joepa “pressured” is grossly misconstruing the reality of the situation: it was quite clearly based on the response of the reader’s themselves (not even those solely who comment) in the poll on the same topic – only 10% in favour of the rule.

        And it was clearly optional – I doubt @keithcollantine had any intent to pressurise anyone nor would anyone feel obliged to do so regardless, as it was an article highlighting the F1 Strategy Group meeting’s existence and that concerns would be better voiced to those who have real political influence.

        It is without question that the majority of F1Fanatic’s members are against the double points rule.

    2. Well, of course F1 should be the fastest, the loudest, the coolest technology, the quikest drivers….
      …that is why we fans pays loads of cash to follow and really pays for the spectacle. If F1 loose the major fan base, then the death spiral is here. Sorry to say, in my view, that’s where we are now. It is sad that people ( incl Bernie) have not realised until now. 2014 version of F1 is a farce and to me and thousands with me, not interesting anylonger. Sad times :-(

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