Rate the race: 2014 Malaysian Grand Prix

2014 Malaysian Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Malaysian Grand Prix.

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought of every race during the season.

Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2014 Malaysian Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (2%)
  • 9 (3%)
  • 8 (11%)
  • 7 (24%)
  • 6 (24%)
  • 5 (17%)
  • 4 (9%)
  • 3 (5%)
  • 2 (2%)
  • 1 (2%)

Total Voters: 873

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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2014 Malaysian Grand Prix

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Image © Caterham/LAT

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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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285 comments on “Rate the race: 2014 Malaysian Grand Prix”

  1. Boring to watch, even more to listen to. Save fuel & tires to win. Insane. This is a very efficient way to kill F1. sorry if you don’t agree but thats my opinion.

    1. @aimalkhan I highly doubt fuel-saving is as big an issue as you’re making it out to be – Hamilton would have used more than 92% of his fuel if he was marginal.

      1. Agree with Aimal this time. I found it uninteresting o watch.

        1. The Blade Runner (@)
          31st March 2014, 8:49

          Me too. It pains me to say it.

      2. Hamilton has had the advantage of being far ahead in the lead, i don’t if it was down to him (hats off in that case) or is it a problem on Nico’s car because the difference in performances and in fuel saving were obvious

        1. Perhaps it is all down to how efficiently you can lift and coast.
          Rosberg also had clear air ahead of him, after his early tyre problems he did stabilise his fuel consumption even if marginally higher than Lewis.

          1. I think that Hamilton had the best fuel flow meter, that they knew read 10% less than it actually was – that’s why they bought them all up. It allowed him to open the car up more, explains the fact that he was much quicker than his team mate, and finished with ‘More’ fuel! I can’t think of another explanation?

          2. If his fuel flow meter was that much out he would have probably run out of fuel. Measuring liquid flow rate is pretty easy, a magnetic flux meter is in the order of +/- 0.3% Don’t believe the hype

      3. @ciaran – Hamilton was coasting pretty much through the whole race. if he needed to push for real, how long do you think he could have done that before being told to save fuel?

        1. Considering he was coasting and still often the fastest car on track?

          1. More efficient lifting/coasting possibly and probably Hamilton saved fuel early in the race when he was ahead and Rosberg was closer to Vettel and was worrying about him… Then later in the race, Hamilton was probably using a similar amount of fuel per lap..

          2. The thing is, Rosberg had clear air for pretty much everything beyond the first lap. Even for that first lap, Hamilton was far enough ahead to have minimal impact on Rosberg. It’s all well and good saying that Rosberg used more fuel because Vettel was close, but Hamilton was actually going faster than both of those cars during that time.

        2. @aimalkhan If he was coasting, then why was he consistently posting fastest laps every few laps up until the end?

          1. Because Mercedes has a huge, homologated and now unassailable lead in performance. They only have two competitors, neither is even remotely close to them in performance (although a combination of Merc sandbagging and Red Bull flattering their utterly hopeless Renault powerplant somewhat hides that fact), and with homologation and no testing, there’s simply no opportunity for any non-Mercedes rival to catch up.

            Did you miss where Merc were not only coasting, but also had their engines turned down to save life as well at the halfway point in the race — and yet they were STILL the fastest cars on track?

            Merc are going to win every single race this year, barring weather, safety cars, or an extremely unlikely double-DNF. Mark my words.

        3. @aimalkhan fuel saving at this stage is nowhere near my worst fears, actually I don’t hear fuel saving messages more than last year. I rate this race a 7 and can’t go higher because Mercedes is too far ahead and no other team seems able to fight for the lead but racing good.

      4. I think it is. They are constantly saving fuel. Not pushing to the limit. But this was the case with the tyre saving, too.

    2. rated 7. pretty boring race. very few action. mostly processional race. i worry i may lose interest in f1 if it continues to proceed like this.

      1. A 5 for me. 7 is way to high i am afraid.

      2. Seven.

        There were nice moves and battles.

        1. No, no real fight. For the first 35-36 laps there wasn’t any racing. They just drove one by one.

      3. I fail to see how a “boring race” deserves a 7.

        1. @pjtierney I agree, everyone here votes 7 the whole time! I gave a 6 but I didn’t think it was THAT awful, it was a bit dull but I guess I’m biased due to the result.

        2. Yeah, that’s a weird logarithmic scale. That’s 7 points covering terrible to boring, but only 3 for alright to spectacular.

        3. I believe rating is strictly personal and one can use their own logics and philosophies to come with whatever rating they feel rightly deserve for a particular race. I rated like this: starting from average rating of 5, add 1 point for my passion for f1. So a pretty awful race will still get a rating of 6 anyway based on my rule ;P Nevertheless, today’s race is not that awful, there were a few action here and there. +1 for that, consolidates 7 as the final rating. Hope this explanation is satisfactory.

        4. I gave this a 6 for a little bit of action here and there . But yeah , the numbers are pretty high here.

        5. @pjtierney – I agree. I’m thinking that people may be looking at it from a classic grade school scale divided by 10. So a boring race but not a bad race = 70/100, which would be a C grade here in the States. I think this is misguided, but may be their rationale.

          I, too, found it pretty boring but not outright bad. I gave it a 5.

    3. It’s funny how some jump to knee jerk reactions after a race, Toto has just stated that fuel was never going to be a concern during the race. Not once during the race did I feel that everyone was trying to conserve fuel, what was interesting was to see who was using more fuel than others.

      As for tyres, more to do with the potential of rain than anything else, green track and high temperatures didn’t help though

      1. The teams told several drivers that they were good on fuel and could start to push. Which means they were saving fuel and not pushing up to that point.

    4. 3/10
      This race made Australia look exiting. Before it was all about saving the tires, now its save fuel and don’t push.
      Let’s just say I’m looking forward to the Indycar race later tonight.

    5. Still in exploration phase. Needs few more races to stabilize fuel and tyre experience, then it we be back again to engine, aerodynamics, and driver efficiency. Don’t lose interest yet !

    6. Agree it was boring but I wouldn’t say it was because of fuel saving though. It’s more the large gaps between teams

    7. RE boring to listen to: FOM has definitely altered the sound levels on the microphones. In Australia you could barely hear the cars during the race while the commentators were talking, yet this weekend the cars sounded just as loud over the TV as they ever did last year – which obviously isn’t true in person. I actually like the sound of the new engines but it would be better if it was louder. Personally I don’t get why anyone even liked last years engine sound. It was just unrelenting, piercing noise – and not even decent noise, just a bland high pitched screech (and yes I have heard them in person).

      1. just a bland high pitched screech (and yes I have heard them in person).

        Completely agree. When you watch races live you understand that the V8s sounded like high pitched, ear tearing go kart engines on steroids. They sounded especially bad in 2011 with the exhaust blown diffusers.

        But I have to admit the V8s sounded pretty good on TV. The new engines probably sound much better live… but they just don’t cut through too well when broadcasted

      2. @nick-uk I am glad somebody else noticed the turned up volumes. But I believe they turned down the commentary volume a little bit . I don’t think that would do the trick as there are a lot of background noises that clearly shows that its the volume turned up . Let V8s be V8s and let us enjoy turbo whines and tyre screeches. Also , anybody else feel the Pirelli wet tyre is $^^!) ?

    8. One of the most boring races of recent years! The future of F1 is in trouble.
      All of the excitement and magic of F1 seems to have evaporated. Even the commentators are struggling to make it interesting.

      1. W (@yesyesyesandyesagain)
        31st March 2014, 3:49

        Agree, this race was garbage. Amazing how one sided Sky F1 is in favor of Hamilton and Mercedes. I know they are the national broadcaster but come on.

        1. @yesyesyesandyesagain I know that the race was not exciting . But garbage ? C’mon ! what would you prefer? what would you say if you were a broadcaster ? that it was boring and people should stop watching ? Merc have an advantage and because of their great engineering , they have gone up front . To be fair , Red Bull are about the best team to come back at them with developments.Sebastian has said that it is a question of time in his opinion. If it is an Engine problem , then Mclaren , Williams can try their best . Ferrari will also improve. This sport has always been about driver + car . Was 2011 any different ?

    9. I disagree with a lot of the griping about this race. There were several good batches of good racing going on throughout the field. Fuel saving never really came into it and the tyres performed quite well despite the green track.

      I was quite happy with the race as a whole.

      1. The first stint and first round of pit stops created some fantastic battles that weren’t ruined by DRS. Also the start of the race I thought was better than usual. I really enjoyed Ricciardo taking it to Vettel. The Hulk vs Alonso. Williams vs Mclaren and of course the Williams in-team battle/tensions. Also very encouraged by how close Vettel got to Rosberg.

        I was very generous and give it an 8, mainly for the above reasons but also because we now know what order the teams are in terms of out-right speed. A very interesting race for me.

    10. Agree with Aimal, very boring race. No one were pushing and basically no racing in the top while the Merc guys were only cruising. Sound, well that part is sooo bad – the cars sounds like 125cc road racing bikes.
      Sad times.

    11. No passion, too many things: mgu h, mgu k, tires, fuel, penalties, strategy , Massa let pass bottas. And so on.
      No passion, no enjoyment

    12. I don’t think this one really had that much to do with fuel saving, most drivers were fine on fuel, I think just nothing interesting happened that was able to keep us interested for more than 30 seconds.

    13. This is “Accountancy F1” I’ve been obsessional with F1 at times, Love driving, have a pile of F1 Ps3 sim games and still find that exciting. The cars just don’t look that quick and the sound has no excitement or passion. The commentary is like someone going over a balance sheet.
      I pray this same fate doesn’t await Moto GP which at present is in a different league of visible racing talent, real action and entertainment.

      1. I think you are being unfairly harsh. The circuit had more to do with the outcome than anything else. Read about the Tilke designed circuits, everyone seems to have forgotten about the effects of these

    14. Couldn’t agree more. I am already at the point where I can no longer be bothered to watch these yawn-worthy processions live, and yet even watching it mid-morning I struggled to stay awake.

      This is, most likely, the second-last race of F1 I will ever watch, after a quarter-century without missing a single race, and watching almost every single one live. I will give it one more chance next weekend, and if — as I fully expect — it’s yet another snoozefest, then that’s it.

      There’s no longer a shred of excitement or sporting fairness in this formula. We push-to-pass-without-talent, we team-order from the first race of the season, we homologate an utterly unfair advantage for one engine manufacturer and then don’t allow rivals to do anything to catch up, and the cars don’t even sound or look good any more.

      Literally the only good thing in this race was Felipe Massa refusing to abide by team orders. I’m sure soon enough we’ll have a push-to-team-order button in the pitlane to prevent such defiance, as well.

      Formula One, you are a pathetic shell of the sport I once loved.

    15. Boring…. fuel wasn’t an issue – they all had fuel left at the end so if they were lifting and coasting to save fuel, they did it more than they needed to and should have driven faster.

      The problem was the lack of racing action – the same problem that F1 has had for the last 15 years – namely that if you make the rules ever tighter then the cars will be ever closer in spec and performance…. and aero is still a dominant factor so there is no close racing any more (not seen since the 70s and 80s).

      1. I thinks its probably to early to tell if this season will be boring due to the new regulations although this race did seem to drag on forever. I just wish they hadn’t changed the aerodynamics of the cars. Reducing down-force has made the cars slow into long sweeping corners and unable to change direction like they could in the past. In my opinion that’s what made the cars look so fast and amazing on the track. I don’t have a problem with any of the other changes at this stage but I could see the fuel saving being a problem later in the season when they really start to push the performance out of the cars.

    16. Yep. Crap engines, crap sound, crap rules.
      I’m glad Lewis won but my god, every time I hear those engines and watch the onboards I just want to vomit! Partly because it gives me something more pleasant to listen to!
      Euggh!!

    17. Totally agree. Snoozfest. Had to rewind it a couple of times after I fell asleep

    18. Yeah.. I can’t tell how much it gets the testosterone going watching fuel percentages and hardly hearing any noise for two hours … Seriously?? Balls to walls racing is about conservatism???? Rock n’ Roll!!! Oh wait, that’s dead too….

    19. Found my self pondering as to why am I watching this Formula 3000, turned it off.

    20. Jorge MacNAIR
      31st March 2014, 15:39

      The new Formula 1 is too boring to watch, but I want to go beyond only watching it on TV… just think about watching it on the circuit, If you have the opportunity to go to the circuit and your grandstand does not have big screen to watch the race the MAIN attraction was the sound of F1 … now, what is the main attraction in the circuit? If we have luck and with this new saving/non-attack-because-you-are-going-to-be-run-out-of-fuel rules, maybe we can see one or two overtakings at the turn you are sit.

      It is as absurd as if in football the FIFA asks Ronaldo or Messi not to touch the ball many times, or not attack the other team.

      the nature of Formula 1 and all sports is to compete, not to save energy (fuel) to win, the main purpose is to strive yourself to be the best, to beat your opponents, yourself… this is not F1, this not a Sport any more.

      And in sustainability/green manners it is not going to destroy or world 20 cars spending to many fuel and if this is the case, F1 should work on new fuel regulations instead of killing the competition.

    21. This is getting really sad and pathetic. I only started watching F1 in 2004 and it has been run into the ground since then.

    22. The “race” was basically a leisurely, albeit high-speed, Sunday drive for Mercedes. Much better racing competition was to be had on the NASCAR and Indy circuits.

  2. Better than last year’s average, though the worst Tilkedromes are still ahead of us.

  3. Not much, really…

  4. Meh.

  5. Zantkiller (@)
    30th March 2014, 10:48

    Last 18 laps or so were pretty good but the rest was boring.

    Average race.

  6. Utterly boring race, only hope was rain and that didn’t come either. Yawn.

    1. I don’t know when he will get his chances in a Top Team

      1. sorry the reply was on @joshua-mesh

  7. The Hulk never stops impressing everyone, yet still cant get into a good team.

    1. Force India IS a good team. Better than Lotus, Sauber, Torro Rosso, Caterham, and Marussia at the moment.

      1. @sushant008

        True. Hulkenberg should be in a top team, a good team is not good enough for the Hulk.

        1. @baron-2 Ya. That man is a future champion. Reb bull or Ferrari must consider him seriously after a season or two.

          1. @sushant008 Yes, but it’s already his fourth…

      2. Better than Williams and Mclaren? On par with Ferrari?

        1. Did you just see the race? He finished AHEAD of both the Mclaren and Williams and only few seconds behind Alonso. Atleast he has got a ride capable of finishing in top 10. Better than sitting outside and waiting for a seat in a top team.

        2. I don’t think anyone here would say Force India is on par with Ferrari and better than Williams and McLaren. Force India seems to be 6th quickest team atm, and Hulkenberg is really doing great with that car. Force India might be better than Williams in wet, but certainly not in dry.

    2. Imagine if he had gone to Lotus like everyone wanted…? He dodged a hell of a bullet this year!

      1. Indeed, he made the right choice this year, force India is a better team than lotus and Sauber at the moment.

    3. It’s so annoying because he deserves a top team, but he’s unlikely to get one just because of his height. Let’s pray one of them give him a chance next year.

  8. “Felipe, Valtteri is faster than you.” Massa keeps his seat in F1 because he has backing, not because he’s good enough. To be fair Massa isn’t that much slower than Bottas but reality is Massa is not F1 grade and people shouldn’t be sympathetic with an egotistical surrealistic driver.

    1. Track position shows he was faster overall than Bottas.

      1. He wasn’t faster than Bottas overall: Starting 5 places further up, Williams denying Bottas to fight Massa at the first laps when Bottas already catch him up. Massa was very average at best this race.

      2. Williams didn’t allow Bottas to fight Massa at any stage, he could have had him, probably Button too.

        1. Yeah, that’s the sad bit. Bottas could have really taken the fight to Button. Massa was just cruising behind Button.

          Williams could really have used the extra points Bottas could have brought them.

          Bottas has the problem that Massa is pretty much a qualifying specialist. Poor at racing, but good at qualifying. He can’t attack Massa (wasn’t allowed to do so even until the last few laps) so he’s pretty much stuck if he can;t qualify ahead of Massa.

    2. I disagree with that. Massa showed he wants to race and proved it by speeding up and staying ahead.

      1. @bascb Massa was very average, Williams themselves denied Bottas for overtaking Massa at the start of the race.

      2. How did he show he wants to race? The only time he “attacked” Button was after the pit stop put them side by side. Besides that forced incident, he didn’t even bother pretending to attack Button once.

      3. He didn’t show that he wanted to race when he asked that Bottas be restrained early on. He only wanted to race when it suited him.

      4. But wanting to race your team mate sometimes, means the team loses more points than was potentially available. But the team missed the right message which was Bottas had fresher tyres and could more aggressively attack Button which had the potential to open up 6th and 7th places for Williams.

      5. Sorry if you guys are fine with team orders, I do not think they are appropriate @lari, @matt90 and OOliver.
        Now, I certainly liked Bottas reply when he was asked not to push Massa as much at that time, and good on him, and I think Massa asking the team to have his teammate backoff rates as high with the duds for me as Button asking his team to hold Perez back last year (wasn’t that also in Malaysia?).
        But why do you guys think that if one is fine (Massa not wanting to lose his spot because the team tells them to right at the end of the race) I also think I would endorse the other (Massa asking his team to have his teammate not race him earlier), especially as at that early moment in the race, it might have been a good idea to let Bottas past and see if he could get anywhere when he was faster.

        1. I’m not saying I like team orders. I’m not really commenting on the orders themselves, just Massa’s convenient use of them. I’m saying Massa was being a hypocrite. If you whine and try to get orders used in your favour then you are a terrible team player when you ignore some against you. The idea that he wants to race doesn’t stand if he explicitly tried to stop a race when it suited him.

          1. I think there is a whole load of difference between not wasting effort on inner team battle early on / mid race (meaning in this case that they should have put Bottas in front when Massa was holding him up earlier on) and changing the race results a couple of laps from the finish @matt90.

          2. I don’t. Massa wasn’t concerned about the team, he didn’t want somebody to pass him when it suited him. I still don’t see how “Massa showed he wants to race” can possibly be true.

        2. @bascb I’m not okey with team orders, not in the slightest bit. Doesn’t matter if the order is to keep position, let someone trough or anything else. I say let them race from start to finish. Williams was also very inconsistent with their orders, first not wanting to fight and then later on trying to make the other driver let his teammate pass him. I think this teamorder partly ruined Bottas’ gameplan, because I’m pretty sure, give the pace he had at the start, he would’ve passed Massa and Magnussen at that point. That would’ve made his plan and outcome a whole lot of different than what it is now. Trying to “give back” something in the last laps of the race after that kind of screw up is not the right thing either. So I’m furious that Williams denied the racing at start and also furious that Bottas seems to be too much of a teamplayer, he needs to be a bit more selfish. World champions are almost always somewhat selfish people…

    3. Does anyone know why do the williams cars use so little fuel? Seems such a waste, they had used about 86-87% if i remember correctly. Boring race, btw, gave it a 4.

      1. They have the most experience with energy harvesting as they have the special company for hybrid technology and Porche have used their KERS in endurance racing.

        They will also supply batteries for inagural Formula E championship.

      2. @gicu

        Probably their fuel gauge system was inaccurate, maybe it was provided by the FIA ;)
        Agree with your race rating, a bit dull so slightly below average 4 seems about right.

    4. an egotistical surrealistic driver

      Gotta ask – how does one go about being that?

    5. Ok, but faster drivers can overtake without team orders…

      1. Who says F1 doesn’t move with the times? We used to have the ‘Trulli Train’, now we have the ‘Massa Monorail’!

  9. Mediocre race – Merc absolutely dominant and really awesome performance by HAM. But battles for the positions weren’t there and the gaps in the field too large.

  10. Good for Massa. Glad he kept the spot. If Bottas cant event overtaken Massa then what chance did he really have overtaking the faster Button?

    1. RE: He wasn’t faster than Bottas overall: Starting 5 places further up, Williams denying Bottas to fight Massa at the first laps when Bottas already catch him up. Massa was very average at best this race.

      1. At least next races Bottas will know to race against Massa.

      2. @lari
        Sorry I don’t quite get you, at which earlier stage was Bottas near Massa? He only caught up in the later stages and Massa defended very well. Yes, Bottas had better race pace but you know, it’s his own fault for qualifying behind Massa and picking up an additional 5-grid penalty on Saturday… IMO Massa did the right thing, as if he needs any more psychological damage like he did in Ferrari and it’s not like Bottas was entitled to be in front of him.

        1. You must’ve missed it, but Bottas and Massa were 9th and 10th in the beginning of the race, and Bottas who was catching Massa was specifically told to wait for Massa to overtake Magnussen, which he never did.

          1. @eskopeso If Bottas and Massa were 9th and 10th as you claim, how could Bottas catch Massa? By reversing on the track? :P

            (PS. Don’t take this comment seriously)

        2. @woshidavid95 Bottas was right behind Massa at lap 3 (?) or so already and if you did watch the race and listen to the team radio, Bottas was told NOT to attack Massa then. They were both driving behind Magnussen at that point. Massa couldn’t overtake Magnussen and Bottas already catched Massa up despite starting 5 places further down.

          Bottas got 3-place penalty, not 5-place.

          As for the end of the race, I agree that you should be able to race, so it was right for Massa to race Bottas but it wasn’t right for Williams to deny them racing at the first laps.

          1. +1, Bottas own fault that he didn’t take Massa early in the race, where he also could or should have done it. I can fully appreciate however that Williams altogether lost out on a chance of overtaking BUT, but that is part of the game. Team orders always bring additional hidden costs, because of the people involved. Williams used team-orders twice this race and now they will have problems with a kind of war between the 2 sides of the garage for the rest of the season?

        3. @woshidavid95

          Sorry I don’t quite get you, at which earlier stage was Bottas near Massa?

          Before first pit stops, I believe. Massa even complained on the radio about Bottas being too aggressive so I don’t know how you could’ve miss it, if you watched the whole race.

          1. Sorry my brain wasn’t working just now, those things slipped my mind

    2. Bottas agreed with team orders towards the start when told just to follow Massa past the McLaren and not attack his teammate. So he could be forgiven for thinking massa would play ball the other way around.

      But I think the pit wall screwed up. As soon as they repeated almost word-for-word the phrase he got at hockenheim they lost him. If they’d have elucidated the situation a bit better, perhaps even touching on his earlier request that bottas obeyed, he might have yielded.

      1. Yeah they definitely needed to use different wording, that was amazingly stupid. Must’ve been brutal for Massa to hear those exact words.

        1. What Williams needs to do is stop saying anything like that, in either way. No “don’t overtake” and no “let xx overtake”. Both of those messages are just stupid. LET THEM RACE!

          1. @elbasque @lari

            Massa didn’t play ball like Bottas did but given his previous treatment in Ferrari, I’d forgive him… though yes, after some previous clarification I agree that Bottas would have finished ahead of Massa had there not bee any team orders to begin with.

      2. @elbasque

        But I think the pit wall screwed up. As soon as they repeated almost word-for-word the phrase he got at hockenheim they lost him.

        It was weird. I was watching the race with my father and we were joking about whether Williams should tell Massa that Valtteri is faster than him and then they did exactly that. Williams could’ve told Massa that “Bottas has a better chance of overtaking Button” or something like that, using those famous Hockenheim words must’ve been humiliating for Massa.

        1. Yeah, like @woshidavid95 said if you can forgive anyone on the grid for ignoring an order to cede a place then it’s Massa, especially when the call comes through so callously (considering his history).

          It must stir up a whole host of ghosts from his past, and whilst I understand massas racing in no small part because of his backing, and bottas is a kind of Williams chosen one, it doesn’t help drawing comparisons to his Ferrari experience in any way over the radio as we all know he’s a fragile guy after taking that spring to the skull.

      3. Exactly!!
        They should have enphasised Massa’s worn tyres compared to Bottas’ fresher looking set.

  11. Great drive by Hamilton, a pity Rosberg couldn’t take the battle to him today but we’ve got 17 other races for that. I imagine there’ll be a bit of fallout from that Williams team message as well…

  12. Pretty average! No real battle for lead. RB and Ferrari. Great to see Massa defying team orders! need to catch up fast! 6/10

    1. sorry the ctrl-x and and ctrl-v were in the wrong place lol!

      It should read: **RB and Ferrari, need to catch up fast**

  13. Your average GP. No particular drama. 6/10

  14. Happy for Lewis. Average race.

  15. Boring race 5/10 for me, Mercedes “En plein” Lewis got the job done with ease Roseberg was struggling, Red Bull could have been better for both Vettel and Ricciardo if it wasn’t for the yellow flag that saved Roseberg and the disastrous pit stop. Ferrari clearly down on power Alonso was flying in his final stint but the problem is that the hybrid system could not hold that level of performance for the whole race, Raikkonen simply unfortunate. Great to see Massa ignoring team orders and the tifosi cheering for Alonso after overtaking Hulk who is another time taking the car in places that shouldn’t belong. Watch out for Vettel his fuel flow meter failed, let’s see if Horner will maintain his words and ignore the FIA directives

  16. A Good race i give 6/10
    Great Performances by LH, SV, FA showing what they are

    1. LH, SV and FA all showed what they needed. LH didn’t have any competition as NR was struggling with tyre deg. SV and FA just held their position, nothing spectacular. Only NH really impressed me in this race, he was again punching above his weight.

      1. With a Fastest car and Getting clutches into Some second per lap slower car is impressive
        Not taking any thing from NR but i don’t think he was impressive this race

        1. @harsha I didn’t say I was impressed by NR, I said NH.

          1. Im sorry i thought it was NR
            Pardon me for my mistake

          2. @lari
            I agree with you about NH though

    2. Ricciardo was impressive too. Until they started to gamble with his strategy and then completely messed things up.

  17. 5
    Decent first lap, and some determined racing by Alonso, Grosjean and Kobayashi.
    But way too much managing, saving, team orders and engineers meddling with the show.
    Long, boring middle of the race, and double points isn’t gonna fix that.

  18. didn’t think the race was that bad, some nice scraps through the field & some good racing went on.

    its also so much more fun watching the drivers have to drive these cars, for all the whining about noise these new engines/power units make the cars so much better to watch, especially from the onboard cameras with drivers fighting them again.

    not much lift/coast fuel save was going on from the onboard shots i saw on sky’s ipad app. tyre saving was much more of an issue going by pit channel radio messages, they were all trying to stretch stints to cover off the chance of rain so were trying to eek out tyre life.

    7/10 overall.

  19. 6/10 ok start , enjoyed Ricciardo putting it up to and beating Vettel at the start, boring middle parts with the customary mid-race scraps. Hulks strategy worked well and Lotus looked ok.

  20. Feel really bad for Ricciardo, hopefully he will have better luck next time :/ Also what the hell Williams, you’re asking Massa to move over? So glad he ignored that, as if he needs any more psychological damage from moving over for Alonso so many times before… plus he outqualified Bottas for both races already so it’s not like he’s underperforming like he was in Ferrari.

    1. He wasn’t faster than Bottas overall: Starting 5 places further up, Williams denying Bottas to fight Massa at the first laps when Bottas already catch him up. Massa was very average at best this race.

      I agree that he should keep fighting for position, but Williams already helped Massa by NOT LETTING Bottas fight him at the start when Bottas caught Massa up despite starting 5 places further down the line.

      1. @lari
        RE: Sorry I don’t quite get you, at which earlier stage was Bottas near Massa? He only caught up in the later stages and Massa defended very well. And at which stage did Williams told Bottas not to race Massa? Yes, Bottas had better race pace but you know, it’s his own fault for qualifying behind Massa and picking up an additional 5-grid penalty on Saturday… IMO Massa did the right thing, as if he needs any more psychological damage like he did in Ferrari and it’s not like Bottas was entitled to be in front of him.
        Reply

        1. @woshidavid95
          Bottas had a great start, he was right behind Felipe after the first few laps. And yes, on that occasion Williams asked Bottas not to race Massa.

          1. @yobo01 @lari

            Ah yes I remember, sorry my brain wasn’t working just now

  21. Classic F1! Ambitious but rubbish. ;)

  22. Some nice duels but a dull race in general. Gave it a 6

    1. Dull = 6?! Dull=1-4 6 is more decent than dull.

  23. 4. Shaping out to be an even worse season than last year, such a boring race, but at least drivers can somewhat push this year.

    Also, looks like team order controversy has become a norm in Malaysia.

    1. Gosh it’s only the second race, it’s going to be a terrific season. Yes at the moment we have one team that’s dominant but I can see that Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull have lots of potential and they will catch up

      1. @sars
        The problem is that most of their potential is in the engine department, at least with Ferrari and Red Bull. And doing significant performance development on the PU under the engine freeze is not something do over a few races.

        1. Engine freeze, yeah right, lets make changes to the engine so it’s more “reliable” which has a by product of increasing power

          1. @sars
            The FIA has to be satisfied that the change is not for performance reasons.
            No doubt their “reliability” upgrades will yield performance, but it takes much longer then ordinary upgrades.

          2. Without doubt it won’t be by Bahrain but I’m sure they will be significantly closer after Spain

  24. Man of the season: Nico Hülkenberg

  25. Race was disgusting. Almost no racing manoeuvres and fighting for positiion through all the race. Alonso – Hulk (it was not a real fight for position), Bottas – Massa (with team order), Raikkonen – Grosjean (again – terrible Ferrari with no speed/appropriate accelerating).

    And now I would love to see Ferrari finish 5th or even 6th in the WCC, that would be lovely. Terrible car, terrible strategy, awful race pace.

    1. I’d love to see RBR finish last in the constructor’s championship due to how badly they treat their ”number 2” drivers.

  26. Deduct 100 points for Rosberg’s hideously cringeworthy podium speed.

    1. @keithcollantine

      He took speed on the podium?

    2. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      30th March 2014, 11:10

      I get that it’s their home race, but yeah, that was pretty cringe-worthy.

    3. Yes, and hand the WDC to Lewis already so we get the Brits happy.

    4. @keithcollantine

      Come on. He was simply letting a hand to the guys who are paying for him to have the fastest car on the grid. Nothing wrong with that.

      1. You can certainly do it in a less overtly cringe-worthy manner.

        1. @matt90

          Easy to say that from the confort of your home and not in front of hundreds of people, without counting the millions watching via TV.

          Rosberg is a racing driver, not a PR/Marketing guy, I think we all can make a little pause in our overly-judgemental trends in this case.

    5. Mr win or lose
      30th March 2014, 16:17

      Deduct 100 points for Rosberg’s hideously cringeworthy podium speedch.

      So I should give the race something like -94?

  27. Boring race made even worse by stupid RBR messing up the number 2 driver’s race again! 5/10 from me.

    1. What could RBR possibly win by intentionally missing out points?

      Please try to make some sense.

      Btw., last race it was Vettel who suffered, so please think carefully before posting.

      1. Ricciardo suffered as well with his disqualification due to RBR and FIA…

        1. Yep. Such is life. Welcome to motorsport, it has only been this way for the last 70 years.

          Seriously…

  28. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    30th March 2014, 11:05

    So happy to see Lewis get the win. I’ll watch the most boring race, and love it if Lewis wins… But yeah, that wasn’t terribly exciting.

    The first and last 10 laps were very good. Fernando catching Hulk, and Felipe and Valtteri inter-team battle was great.

    Terribly unlucky for Daniel, but hey, that’s motor racing.

    And hey! Kamui drove brilliantly!

    But, gave it a 5.
    Just seemed like too much tyre and fuel saving. Especially the tyres.

    1. @tophercheese21 What inter-team battle? Bottas and Massa weren’t allowed to fight each other until the last 2-3 laps.

      Fernando catching 5secs off Hulk within 3 laps = he should be able to overtake him with that pace difference. Also Fernando then only just finished on the place he started the race. Hulkenberg was really the man who impressed there.

      Agree with Daniel, that man has been dealt with the bad luck charm for the moment.

      Also agree with race rating, dull race.

  29. about as entertaining as watching paint dry and the BBC commentary and intereviews, bleh

  30. The most boring race I can remember watching.

    4

  31. I voted 4 out of 10 for this race.
    The start was nothing out of the ordinary, cars squabbling, the crash at T4, and no real movement after the 1st lap.
    I was backing Ricciardo and his Pit-Stop, Front Wing Failure, Stop/Go Penalty and eventual DNF within 15 minutes almost made me turn the TV off altogether and prepare for bed despite there being 5 Laps left.

  32. The Vettel Effect* strikes again.

    *Similar to Steve Jobs’ Reality Distortion Field.

    1. Meant to add, with Ricciardo in the mix it could have been exciting. As it is, it was interesting, with spots of excitement. 6 or 7. I give it 7.

    2. I didn’t realize that the jack man’s name is also Vettel. Must be confusing

  33. Well the race kept me interested at 9am on a Sunday, so they must have been doing something right :)

    I gave it a 6, I was never bored but never really excited either.

  34. Average, 6/10.

    Those Mercs are great, and they have two great drivers to match.

    Special mention to RBR’s improvement rate, now confirmed what we suspected after Australia. It will be quite interesting to see where they will be in a couple of GPs.

  35. I’m feeling generous, 6. It wasn’t exactly “bad”, but not much happened. Most passing was the result of DRS and/or tyres, and there were very few battles or even incidents of note. I was rarely bored though, and it was interesting watching Sutil and Kobayashi trying to make the 2-stop work.

  36. yawn. Rain wouldve helped

  37. Formula 1 is to give the best of !!
    Is not for “regulation rece” where drivers are holding back the cars.
    2014 changes compromises not just the engine sound but the actual race.
    Hope complains from fanatics can turn back to real races!!

    1. Agree. FIA will not change if the reactions are not massive. I suggest you to mail the fia-heads and express your view. The more of us that does that, the better I think.

  38. boring race , a 5 for me

  39. I gave it a 3 due to no rain at all and very boring as it was like it wasn’t worth it. Bernie should make the race at 5pm local

  40. 6/10. It was an okay race, but didn’t thrill.
    Ironically, they just re-showed the opening by Eddie Jordan, talking about “rain and clashes!” Not this race, not much.

  41. Race is okay but the problem is mercs way in front in every area at the moment whilst their is a good battle between who is second best car between about 5 teams. Fuel saving and cruising through the race is still an issue. I see Ricciardo has inherited Webber’s car with the same issues and bad luck.

  42. Rated 4.

    If the race-highlights are a battle including a Caterham on worn tyres, a team-radio-message and a 2-corner-short battle between drivers who also had very differently aged tyres and an (at that point) 1.5 to 2 seconds faster car for the overtaking driver, that says it all, i guess.

    That said, in Massa´s position I might have just immediatly stopped the car and rage-quitted the job when hearing that message. It´s not like he needs the money anymore, i guess.

  43. I thought this race was an 8, but I appear to be in the minority, so I’ll explain my reasoning.
    -A good start, with Vettel giving Rosberg just enough room, then nearly losing out to Ricciardo and Alonso.
    -FOM giving the fans a graphic that they definitely needed in the fuel usage graphic. Definitely helped in painting the picture of the race and hinting at the season.
    -Ricciardo again showing he’s a great choice, only being let down by the team.
    -Bottas, Raikkonen, Kobayashi, Grosjean etc all fighting their way through the field. Great battles at the end of the race between Raikkonen/Grosjean and Massa/Bottas.

    So I really enjoyed that race. I’m not too sure which race the complainers were watching…

    1. im with you buddy, i thought it was pretty good

    2. Mr win or lose
      30th March 2014, 16:02

      I like the fuel usage percentage too.
      The race had some interesting parts, but all in all it was a little dull. The Red Bulls seemed to be happy to be able to follow Rosberg’s Mercedes, but he never was in real danger of losing his second place, which was disappointing.

    3. Glad to see I am not the only one who had a thoroughly good time watching @keeleyobsessed!

  44. Gave it a 7

    You need more than talent to win a race now. The new formula is fantastic. So much more to take in during a race.

  45. I rated 6 . Not too much wheel to wheel action other than in the pits. Would have loved to see Alonso challenge the Bulls . Sadly his car is not fast enough .

  46. Regular race. In the competition level, well, it was boring. But, considering the new tecs, regs, etc, i’ll have to give it a 6, which is still very low for F1 fans standards. Let’s hope things to get better in Bahrain.
    Mercedes still very fast. But I have to say, at some point I felt sick of listening Ham promoting Primax (during pre-race, in the simulator program) and Nico promoting Petronas in the podium (during interview session)! Arghhh…
    RBR was surprisingly competitive for the podium places. Ricciardo IMO is proving that is going to be an excellent driver, tough he hasn’t grab any points yet.
    As for Ferrari, something is wrong with the F14t. They need to push more if they want to be in the top level this year.
    As for Williams, felt sorry for Massa. He – like no other pilot – doesn’t deserve to be “instructed”. F1 is for “victory eager’s egos”, not for whining spirits.
    Congrats for Hulk. Great race. Congrats for Grosjean. Who have thought? And a word for Catherham and Marussia. Good job nonetheless. They are improving. Or the rest of the teams are getting worse.

  47. 6/10 Overall a pretty bland race, in my opinion. The threat of rain made the teams a bit passive, meaning that there was little strategic variance (Force India and Caterham were the only ones willing to do something different). DRS was way too strong, resulting in rather dull overtakes. Grosjean at one point passed Ericsson(?) on the back straight, but was re-passed on the main straight. One lap later, he learned and stayed behind on the back straight, and passed on the main straight.

    This was the first race in which I used pen and paper to make notes, because with the current live timing and FOM graphics I can’t follow the race at all. I think I will just keep doing that until they fix the live timing.

    On a positive note, I liked the fuel stats during the race, but unfortunately they dropped it in the second half of the race.

  48. 5

    Good in the initial and final stages but 30 laps of nothing just killed this one for me.

  49. Gave it a 3. Boring race, last week, or even las month anywone could predict the winners…

  50. Fikri Harish (@)
    30th March 2014, 11:41

    @lari
    Hulkenberg didn’t exactly gain any position either though.
    Ricciardo’s race was pretty much ruined and had Raikkonen didn’t make contact with Magnussen, I doubt Hulkenberg would have ended up in fifth that comfortably.

    1. Fikri Harish (@)
      30th March 2014, 12:23

      Huh. That wasn’t supposed to be here.

      Anyway, I don’t know if this was because I was up very late talking with a lady friend but I nearly dozed off during the middle part of the race there.
      And it was only 5 p.m. where I watched the race from.
      So, a solid 4 then.

  51. 5/10

    Dull race. The Rosberg/Vettel and Ricciardo/Alonso battles didn’t materialize in the end which meant there was basically no action in the top 6 positions. The Massa/Bottas battle was fun but was ruined by team orders on both occasions. Kimi didn’t really fight to the field as much as I hoped and the gap between Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari/Force India is too large that if the next race is dry it’s not difficult to guess who the top 6 will be.

  52. SennaNmbr1 (@)
    30th March 2014, 11:49

    Dull race. But at least it showed two things. Mercedes still has a fair advantage and Nico Hulkenberg is perhaps the best driver on the grid.

  53. What do you people want? OK, Hamilton cleared off (and he annoys me more than most), but the action behind him was great.

    Some of the things I really liked:
    Ricciardo made an average start but brilliant positioning allowed him to take Vettel and threaten Rosberg around the first few bends.
    Vettel catching Rosberg and may even have had a shot at him if it wasn’t for the yellow flag at the hairpin.
    Massa and Bottas race-long struggles to get past first one McLaren and then the next – and most of all each other.
    Cars twitching everywhere out of the corners and the drivers really struggling with them. Magnificent.
    Hulkenberg’s brave tyre strategy.
    Alonso’s brilliant racecraft (but this is normal, I suppose).
    Kvyat continued to impress.
    The suspense of Grosjean’s battle with Raikkonen: would Kimi get past? Would Romain even get to the finish line?
    And Kobayashi’s brilliant 13th place :)

    Some of the things I didn’t much like:
    The coverage showing someone (Button?) driving into the entrance of pit lane when Vettel / Ricciardo / Alonso were all battling for position at the other end of the straight.
    The instruction to Ricciardo to change the engine mapping when he was getting too close to Vettel – for the sake of energy harvesting, of course.
    The fuel usage displays – I would prefer this to be kept a secret from the teams so they always have to worry about a surprise from one of the others. Doesn’t really add anything to the coverage for fans except to remind the malcontents that some drivers “might” be conserving fuel. (There was far less this year than last.)

    But the thing which really gets my goat:
    Live timing on F1.com – this is going very close to ruining the coverage for me. Live sector timing tells all you need to know about how the cars are performing: you can always tell who is catching who and by how much right through the field right through the race. Without this I have to rely on the television coverage and, frankly, just showing one or two cars on a TV screen is not nearly enough. Formula 1 is really doing the fans a massive disservice with this.

    1. SennaNmbr1 (@)
      30th March 2014, 12:05

      Personally, I would prefer the cars to start with enough fuel to finish the race without having to save fuel. And get rid of the blue flag rule. Do that and F1 will be perfect for me :)

    2. Live timing on F1.com – this is going very close to ruining the coverage for me. Live sector timing tells all you need to know about how the cars are performing: you can always tell who is catching who and by how much right through the field right through the race. Without this I have to rely on the television coverage and, frankly, just showing one or two cars on a TV screen is not nearly enough. Formula 1 is really doing the fans a massive disservice with this.

      @sennanmbr1 Couldn’t agree more: as I wrote above, I’m now taking notes during the race just to be able to get an overview. The live timing is a complete joke.

  54. An average and somewhat eventless race. I gave it a 6. There where a few good overtakings from among others Alonso and Magnussen. Being a McLaren fan the race was also a fairly average race to watch.

  55. That penalty to Magnussen was a travesty.

    Great interview by Ricciardo. Starting to really like him.

  56. I have watched every race since 1997 and I very much doubt I’ll be watching the next race.

    Regards,

    Your typical F1 fan

    1. bye bye ;-)

  57. 7. Better than last year’s average, though the worst Tilkedromes are still ahead of us.

  58. Enjoyable race in my opinion. Many battles, although at times a bit dull. No overdose of tire or fuel saving, and no too-easy DRS overtakes. 8/10.

    1. I also gave an 8/10 as I really enjoyed this race, seemed exciting to me and I was interested throughout.

      After watching F1 for around 20 years, last year my passion was fading a bit, I now cannot wait for the next race.

      I am really liking watching the drivers having to

      drive

      the cars as opposed to the cars looking like they are on rails.

  59. 8/10
    Lot’s of battles in front, midfield and between teammates….

    1. Where? I’m sorry n to watched by you’re TV

      1. @hipn0tic
        So your TV didn’t show you the Rosberg/Vettel fight for 2nd.

        1. So you’re “lot’s of battles..” was that? Ok…my mistake

  60. Gave it a 7, mainly because it is the first circuit race, more representive of F1, showing that there is a slightly differant level of technology, skill and attitude this year. Mercedes came through perfectly, RBR showed much better promise, albeit with some tardy luck and a tantrum or 2. ferrari showed improvement, Williams were wonderful, McLaren, well, the drivers do the best they can with what they have got. Nice one Jenson. Caterham were up and down, SFI good 10points, could have been more. All in all an interesting race. Those who thought it boring must only want to see Fettel and co bang wheels til they fall off and have no interest in the other 16 drivers. Sad.

    1. Watching 70 cars travelling at 200mph around an oval track of 1/2 mile 500 times… well that would be boring. NASCAR.. no right turns, no DRS, nose-to-tail, foot to floor, occasional fireball.. No finesse.

  61. this is F1, get used to it,
    if you dont like it watch something else,
    most people on here seam to think it should be all about noise and passing,
    it has never been like that since ive been watching F1, 40 odd years and its still the same, just different drivers now,
    F1 was and never has been entertaining, its always about strategies, if you cant handle one team dominating the sport, give it a miss because your not worth listening/reading about,
    i for one love the way it plays out, drivers being pulled in for new tyres then start catching the driver in front to have him receive a new set before he is undercut, the chance of rain throw a twist into the works by letting drivers go out again on medium tyres then us wets to finish the race,
    if you dont like what F1 is about then your not interested in the other aspects of what happens around these guys cars and your not worthy of F1,
    go watch something else because the sport is not going to change for you,
    it never has and never will.

    1. “if you dont like it watch something else,”

      How arrogant and presumptuous. It’s not up to you what the rest of us watch. If people want to watch the race and then complain about it, it’s entirely their prerogative. Not yours.

      You don’t know what the word “discussion” means, do you? It means that all opinions are allowed, including ones that are different to yours. You’re not special and you don’t get to decide what does and does not get posted.

    2. If the sport develops in the wrong direction, I think it is healthy to debate it. Bending over for the crazy rule changes by FIA is not for us fans to do in my opinion. People like F1 for many reasons but your view is quite odd I must say.

    3. I have watched and even some years later rewatched the 2005 Indianapolis GP. That means even knowing how entertaining/boring it was, I found it entertaining enough to rewatch. Still, that race would have received a rating of “1” from me.
      So when I rated todays race “4”, it´s not against the sport of F1, it is that this race within the history of F1 was below average, not halfway on the scale between Indy 2005 and, let´s say Montreal 2011.
      And when I say this race was boring, I still would have preferred watching it to e.g. any football match, any tennis match, any NASCAR-race, many movies. But it was relatively boring for an F1-race.

    4. @lethalnz

      go watch something else because the sport is not going to change for you,
      it never has and never will.

      Surely you’re joking. They’ve been fiddling with F1 for decades to make it more ‘TV-friendly’. In-race refuelling, DRS, double points – whether for the good of F1 or not (and I say not on all three counts) all were done in the name of ‘improving the show’.

  62. Dull, dull, dull.

  63. Solid 7 for me. Red Bull a lot more competitive than I thought they would be. Good fights in the mid pack. Kvyatt continuing a strong start to his rookie season. Drama in the pits for Ricciardo and an interesting last few laps for the Williams drivers.

  64. Great race for Mercedes but boring to watch; definetly Hulk is the most exciting guy who at least dares to fight, like Alonso; Ferrari did a big mistake not taking him and going for Raikonnen!

    1. I think we shouldn’t be discounting Kimi just yet. He had Electrical problem in Melbourne and here K- Mag ruined his race. You must not forget Kimi was actually faster than Alonso during the dry pracruce sessions. Kimi will be up there challenging Alonso, he just needs a bit of luck on his side.

      1. Practice*

  65. I went for 4/10

    I don’t think it warrants any lower. To get lower, it would have had to have been one of the worst races ever. I think more happened in this race than in those. However, it was relatively bad. After the great start, it just died off. I think it could have gotten more spicy towards the end, but because the teams feared rain, they extended their stints just enough to protect from rain, which meant that strategy wouldn’t help bring the pack together. It felt like one of those slow burners that might have an exciting conclusion, but the conclusion never came. I’d say this was definitely a lower rating than Australia, which I gave an average 6/10.

    Also, I was impressed by Hamilton’s win today. It’s been a huge long time since he’s had such a comfortable win, and it was nice to see. I just hope there’s more of a challenge so that the racing doesn’t literally just become lapping.
    Shout outs to:
    – Hulkenburg for once again proving he should have a top seat.
    – Vettel and Alonso for doing what they do best… Driving to the best they can.
    – Koboyashi, for trying his damned hardest to hold faster cars off.
    – Cumberbatch, for actually doing a good job on the podium
    – Rosberg, for his sweet moves on the podium

  66. 6. Pretty dull, the problems for Red Bull and Ferrari added some excitement, but no real fight for any significant position.

  67. 6 from me. Slightly better than Australia in my opinion, but still kinda boring overall.

  68. 3.
    The start was slightly better than average thanks to the positioning of the Red Bull drivers. Afterwards, it became increasingly processional until the final handful of laps. Engine-saving alone on Mercedes’ part likely kept a few more drivers from being lapped. Then, add the overage of penalties, and Cumberbatch cutting the drivers off on the podium. TV coverage wasn’t optimal, either, but at least it sounded like the microphones were recalibrated, and those engines sound much better than the V8, (yet nowhere near the V10 or V12’s).

  69. 6 for me. Good result for me as I like Lewis, but I’d rather see him pushed. The combination of a Merc that is fast in a straight line and a Red Bull that excells in the twisty stuff could make for interesting races later; Vettel was really close to taking pole when the conditions favoured grip and balance over grunt.

  70. 4 — Pretty boring, not much real racing. Top four and bottom three more or less the same as on the grid, with Bottas gaining the most and Raikonnen (unluckily) losing the most. Her’s places gained/lost from grid to finish (remember 7 non-finishers):
    Lewis Hamilton 0
    Nico Rosberg +1
    Sebastian Vettel -1
    Fernando Alonso 0
    Nico Hulkenberg +2
    Jenson Button +4
    Felipe Massa +6
    Valtteri Bottas +10
    Kevin Magnussen -1
    Daniil Kvyat +1
    Romain Grosjean +4
    Kimi Raikkonen -6
    Kamui Kobayashi +7
    Marcus Ericsson +8
    Max Chilton +6

  71. 3 for me. Boring race, stupid penalties (which are killing the sport).
    F1 is getting emasculated by its rules, its tracks, its penalties.

  72. Average 5/10 for me. While the opening laps were intriguing, somehow the race just failed to deliver. All too quickly the cars were evenly spread out, and we got the radio messages to “hold the gap at two seconds to save tyres”. Also, there were quite the number of underperformances or simply bad luck: Kimi’s puncture and lack of pace, Kevin’s collision with him, Ricciardo’s race going well until it didn’t, Williams duo stuck in traffic, and no real fight for the lead.

  73. Standard F1 race, 6/10. Stupid penalties, eco friendly drivel and pointless gimmicks are murdering the sport.

    1. It was the circuit that killed the race

  74. Exciting first few laps but overall pretty boring for me… 6/10.

  75. is always a bit boring to watch endurance racing.

  76. I am so frustrated by the lack of pace of the F14T. I understand that they are lacking top speed PU wise but they can at least work on the rest! Just look at how complicated the front wing of the W05 is! Red Bull has a similar flex design. But the F14T’s wing is utterly simple.
    And i think that the renault PUs are overtaking the Ferrari’s. I thought that PU wise, its Merc, Ferrari and then renault! Now its merc, renault, ferrari. The saubers and the Maurissias are suffering so much! So much for false hopes.

  77. I can’t be the only person who really enjoyed that race, there was no fuel saving, and some fantastic fights. Massa vs Button, Hulk vs Alonso, Erricson Vs Kimi and Vergne, KK vs everyone, Ricciardo vs Alonso, Grosjean vs Kimi. How could that not be entertaining? No fight for the lead, but with the amount of Hamilton fanboys around I thought they’d enjoy it!

  78. I couldn’t keep focused on the race from halfway onwards, and when I watched it again, delayed on TV (just for the HD which the streaming does not have) I thought the same. The start was fine, but not much of a surprise, as most drivers had good races but battled little, like Hulkenberg and Button.

    1. Forgot to add: vote 5/10

  79. Pretty decent race, nothing too spectacular. Voted a 6, because it reminded me of races from 1998-2001 a little bit, with stuff happening, the leader being out in front and battles throughout the field, but never climaxing into an exciting race.

    To be honest, I really do not understand why people are bashing F1 now. As I said, this race isn’t that different from races we’ve seen at places like Magny Cours, A1-ring or Catalunya in the late 90s and early 00s. In my view, people are being provoked by the media (both in writing and the clearer vision of strategy working during a race) and each other and jump to conclusions. I haven’t seen this much whining (next to the logical complaints, I’m not in love with F1 right now either) since Austria 2002. F1 sites are becoming YouTube comment sections.

    Personally, I’m a lot more annoyed by the fan reaction to F1 (on both sides) than F1 itself. On here it’s fine, but I dare not to tread onto Facebook comments on F1 articles.

    1. Guy A. Person
      31st March 2014, 3:39

      +77

      Thank you. I seriously am amazed that people act like this race was worse than, say, Abu Dhabi or USA last year. I genuinely think F1 fans are attempting to justify the fact that they were so apprehensive about this era of F1, like they don’t want to admit that they were wrong. Anyone who thinks this race was more boring than the 2013 Abu Dhabi GP either missed that race or are kidding themselves.

  80. Ahh, these engines could just be so much faster if they just let them use unlimited fuel. So annoying!!

    1. Gave it a five. Appalling penalties. Very embarrassing for the FIA to still be doing this now.

  81. Good first 10 laps, good last 10 laps, middle pretty dull. This circuit needs rain to be entertaining or some corners where you can have a big accident.

  82. 3/10
    This is getting worse than 1992. One team with a car 1.5-2.0 sec faster than any other, where no on-track battle between teammates is ever going to happen. The only excitement could have come from the rain that never materialized. Would have been 1/10 if not for Massa, who really shows that anyone who “is faster than him” has to be faster on the track, not on the radio.

  83. Grand Prix of Boredom. Fell asleep after 1/3 of the race.

  84. Let’s us be thankful to some of the back-markers fights, other than that…pretty disappointing…
    What’s this ? “Massa, Bottas is quicker than you”…hilarious, and not, poor Felipe…

  85. The race was not much interesting. But I would give a bonus to this race for the Alonso – Hulkenberg duel. Awesome scrap boys! A 6 for me.

  86. On instinct I rated 8 – Lotus got a car to the finish, the Williams had an interesting teammate battle, Hulk put that Force India in a great position, Kvyat gets another point & Kobayashi banks a good result for Caterham. On reflection, 8 is probably too high.

    I’ve become so used to a driver getting out in front at the start and running away for the win that all my attention is focused on how a car/driver is doing in comparison to what I expect from them. I found today’s race enjoyable but on reflection, I think I’d rather be watching a battle for the win.

  87. I rate this race medium, such as 6, it was a little bit more exciting than the former race, but not a good race.

  88. Don’t know how I’m going to stay awake for this season?

  89. It was very boring to watch, thank god for Sky Plus, I forwarded through most of it, crap!

  90. good battles throughout the race, kept me entertained most of the time. it’s a shame there never seems to be a fight for p1 anymore though.

    it was really nice to see some good fighting from the back of the field aswell. i think caterham have had more tv screen time than in all of the races from last season combined. i like that.

    great drives from hamilton, hulkenberg and grosjean. honorable mention to kvyat and also to chilton for finishing his 21st race in a row.

    1. 7/10 btw.

  91. Not an instant classic. As with almost every race I’ve watched for the last 25 years or so it was still great fun. Plenty going on a lot of the time, opening lap excitement as always and something going on up and down the field most of the race. Waiting to see if Hulk could hold on and if a Lotus could make it to the end, team-mate battle at Williams on and off track. DRS needing a bit of thought to make sure the pass wasn’t made before the line e.g. Alonso backing off massively before passing Hulk (I don’t like DRS but if it’s there at least make the drivers have to think about it).

    There are very few formula one races I don’t enjoy, it’s why I love F1 and will always come back for more next time.

  92. 7. Better than last race. Some great fights at the beggining and good at the end. Lewis was flawless.
    I unsderstand that people want more action on the track, but F1 most of the time has been this way, and it was only the second race with the new regulations.

  93. Though it puts me in the minority, I was rather entertained and gave the race an 8.
    Sure, there wasn’t any fighting Hamilton out front, but Seb’s pursuit of Rosberg got close a few times. Hulk was impressive as ever, and the teammate battle at Williams was rather interesting too. Everyone complains about a lack of wheel-to-wheel racing, but we had a fair amount of it in the midfield today.

    My biggest complaint lies with the overzealous issuing of penalties. The Bianchi-Maldonado and Raikkonen-Magnussen accidents looked like racing incidents, and it’s idiotic that Ricciardo has been given two penalties for a single incident.

  94. It’s a bit down-heartening reading all these reviews… I found the race quite interesting

    There was at least one good battle to follow through the race, and who can get bored with the constant lingering risk of someone spectacularly having a blown turbo or something?

    sometimes, the term ‘great race’ needs to be re-defined… it’s not just a stat of how many passes there were.

  95. Ok – still early days but I really can’t wait to see these guys pushing each other. I know they will pick up some speed but for pete’s sake Hamilton’s fastest race lap was a 1:43:066. Now isn’t it kind of tough to know that Zsolt Baumgartner’s fastest lap in 2004 in a Minardi was a 140.123? So – Schumacher would lap the field in what – 15 laps since he was doing 1:34’s? It will get better but this is tough to watch at the moment. Lot’s of work and these guys are good – I’m hopeful that the show will be better by Montreal.

  96. I gave it a 7. Some nice overtaking and battles in the middle of the pack and some boring parts too. I just hope everyone catch up to Mercedes by the time we get to the European races.

  97. Very boring ‘lift and coast’ snorefest

  98. Pretty boring. Middle was pretty bad, start was solid. The ending was markedly better than the middle, but certainly the result wasn’t much of a surprise. The racing nerd in me absolutely loved the fuel remaining graphic, though. 5/10

  99. this is the first race i missed after 2012 Italian GP. In fact i was not that bothered.

    May be because there nothing there to call it F1 anymore – No sound/Save fuel/save tires.
    Common .. this is not racing anymore. You have a much better enviroment in MOTOGP.

    Tecnology wise its a huge upgrade but its Abosolutely pathetic … What F1 has become…

    1. Speak for yourself, just because you don’t like what you see doesn’t give you the right to not call it F1 anymore. The fuel and tyre saving has always been a part of F1, only now it is a bit more important, I’m still seeing people on track pushing as hard as they can and they are most definitely still racing hard.

      F1 is moving in the right direction, all it needs is some fine-tuning, you’re going to have to learn to live with the noise because the old days are gone, the old screams that made a man deaf are not going to come back.

  100. Slackbladder
    31st March 2014, 6:02

    For the first time Ever I am not watching a race in protest of the absurd rule changes this year!
    Sorry Advertisers I missed All your Ads, not going to buy one thing you make, produce, hawk or represent!
    Until Formula One repeals the silly rules in place this season I won’t be watching or supporting the advertisers.
    and this one post is worth 1,000 other’s who feel the same but won’t post!

    1. IvoI (@ivostivanov)
      31st March 2014, 7:22

      You are so right! I am going to do exactly the same. It`s a shame…Formula 1 is dead! :(

  101. The new rules don’t bother me too much, apart from the lack of noise (wich is a real problem).
    The fuel issue won’t last, it’s a question of time until manufacturers get over it.

    The real problem (wich last since 6-7 years) is these stupid penalties. FIA is killing the sport. On one hand they complain about the lack of overtaking and add stupid gimmicks like DRS. On the other hand they do not let drivers do their job ! Which is driving, overtaking, taking risks. They are not children, they know what they are doing (like Kimi ;-) ).

    Why does FIA have to penalize simple mistakes ? Does race incidents still exist for them ? Poor Magnussen: he penalized himself by touching Raikkonnen. Did he do that on purpose ? No !
    I’m ok if FIA wants to punish agressions (like Schumacher on Barrichello in Hungary), but don’t punish mistakes !

    When a tennis player misses the ball, does he got a point penalty ? When a football player falls (not on purpose) on another player, does he got a red card ? Mistakes CAN happen.

  102. I didn’t watch Australia because it was on Sky and I was all sported out from the Six Nations so this is my first experience of 2014 F1.

    I gave this race a 4 because it just didn’t thrill me. I did get the impression that the cars were going more slowly though that may be because of all the talk about it. Forgot about the engine noise after a while (it doesn’t really matter to TV viewers). I think the problem with this race was just circumstantial – it could happen in any era of F1. If the fastest cars start at the front and gradually pull away then the race becomes very spread out and that’s that. Rain would have been interesting, but not definitely so.

    I think 2009 was the last year that truly thrilled me. 2010 was a good battle for the title but most of the races were a bit samey. I’ve watched this sport for the last 20 years and my interest is the lowest it has ever been.

  103. Worst race I have ever seen in my life.

  104. It’s all part of Bernies plan. Make F1 boring and dull, drive the share price down because no one watches, buy back all the shares, live forever.

    As for the race, a 5. If it wasn’t F1 i wouldn’t be watching anymore.

    1. If it wasn’t F1 i wouldn’t be watching anymore.

      Same for me

  105. 6/10 from me – Impressive drive by Hamilton, and some interesting battles going on else where, a bit of rain could have really spiced things up though. Really love the sound of the new engines, would be nice if they could turn the track volume up a little bit vs. the commentary.

    Redbull are not as far off Mercedes as everyone seems to think, the car was quicker through the middle section of the lap, so on the right track things will get very interesting. The battle for second was close between Seb and Nico at points; Nico wasn’t walking away from them until the late stages of the race. Shaping up to be an interesting season.

  106. Alex McFarlane
    31st March 2014, 13:44

    I’d give it generous 5/10. Some interesting moments at the start and end but long spells in the middle where wasn’t a lot of fighting for positions.
    I probably wouldn’t be watching this year if it wasn’t for the rule changes, I stopped watching for 10 years from 1997-2006 because I thought F1 was boring even then. Biggest problem so far is that half the teams still don’t really look ready to compete despite reliability looking better than expected.
    I still think there is potential for the new formula to deliver decent racing so I’m prepared to cut it some slack this year. After that, who knows?

  107. boring awfull. Disgrace. Easy to comment but I feel F1 has definitely lost its magic and quite frankly I dont know how this could be changed now.

  108. Every year is the same for me. These tracks designed by Hermann Tilke are pretty boring but then when F1 arrives in Europe, the glamour is back! NH pretty impressive as well as DR. Again, LH, FA and SV showing their top level.

  109. My favourite driver won by a mile so I was happy with the result but it was a flipping boring race, even behind the leaders. 4/10.

  110. Utterly boring and flat race.
    Gave it a 4…

  111. Not a great race, I gave it a 6.

    I didn’t think it was as good as Australia which I rated a 7, I almost gave Malaysia a 6.5 which would have rounded up to a 7 but decided to stick with just 6.

  112. This season looks like it’s going to be no better than previous seasons . Mercedes domination instead of Red Bull. Let’s hope the other teams can catchup and challenge for the front.

  113. For the second race in a row I found myself doing other stuff and just casually looking over to the TV when the commentators got “excited” about something (which wasn’t in many cases). I do not mind the sound of the engines, at least not on TV, on track maybe the sound (or lack of) would bother me, I’ll see when I go to a race.

    Fans complained about one driver winning all the time, so we get all these changes and… we still get one driver miles ahead of anyone else (different driver, but same thing as before).

    To me, racing should be great drivers, great cars, let’s see who is faster! This DRS, ERS, “you must use two types of tyres in a race”, fuel sensors, double points in the final race, doesn’t go with me, really, seeing all this, maybe Bernies idea of splinkers to create “random” wet races isn’t that bad!

  114. DUPOUY (@oneightwozeroes)
    31st March 2014, 20:19

    4… to me F1 is not anymore the ultimate racing experience. Those cars are ugly, sound bad, and even the pilots seem to be bored! Come on GPDA guys you need to do something to save this sport! How can they all agree with something as stupid as Ricciardo having a 10 places grid penalty for the next GP because of a mistake from his team! I am really worried about the future of this sport and I am really looking forward for WEC (beautiful cars + technology + great tracks with history + great drivers not concerned by weight limit) and WTCC (great racers + shunts from the first lap to the very last). If it was not for the oval tracks (7 out of 14) Indycar could be great as well (look at this video it’s pretty amazing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdJ5nHSwZrc#t=30)

  115. Dave Roberts
    1st April 2014, 11:55

    8 – whilst Hamilton’s Mercedes was streets ahead of everyone else there was still intrigue for the rest of the field, I enjoyed it and Williams provided some interest when they told Massa to cede to Bottas. I spent the rest of the race willing Massa to finish ahead.

  116. Vince Duggan (@vince-dugganvirginactive-co-za)
    1st April 2014, 12:03

    If you use the NPS (http://www.netpromoter.com/why-net-promoter/know/) method of evaluating the votes, this race comes out at -54 (at the time of my vote), which is a shockingly bad NPS score.

    It means that by far the majority of viewers think the race was not worth watching, and that those who voted 7 or 8 are likely to be swayed either way next race, i.e. another boring race and they will be likely to vote 6 or lower.

    Not a good indication at all…

  117. Fernando Alonso saved the race overtaking Hulk, that was the only exciting moment of the race

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