Rate the race: 2012 Indian Grand Prix

2012 Indian Grand Prix

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

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought were the best and worst races during a 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 2012 Indian Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (1%)
  • 9 (1%)
  • 8 (7%)
  • 7 (16%)
  • 6 (24%)
  • 5 (18%)
  • 4 (12%)
  • 3 (10%)
  • 2 (5%)
  • 1 (5%)

Total Voters: 542

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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See the results for past seasons here:

Image © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo

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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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202 comments on “Rate the race: 2012 Indian Grand Prix”

    1. Oh, yeah, a 2. Maldonado provided the only excitement.

      1. I actually fell asleep halfway. Didn’t catch the Maldonado part but at least i saw Alonso overtake Webber which would just about be the only thing anyone can remember from this yawnfest.

        1. Weird, I actually fell asleep for most of it too. After lap 10 I’d had enough. Could still hear the commentary in my dreams though and I dreamt my own race. Vettel retired in mine, was quite sad to wake up to him still leading on lap 53.

          1. That’s actually happened to me before! I fell asleep on Lap 8 of Valencia 2011.

          2. They could host a race in places like Siberia or Christmas Island i dont really.

            But god they should keep Tilke away from building any more of his sleep-inducing circuits. India and Korea have combined for 2 of the most oitifully boring races i have ever watched. Along with the usual snorefests that are Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, China …..

          3. I dozed off around lap 13 and woke up on 30…only because the laundry machine was beeping that it was done!

        2. LOL! I didn’t fell asleep but I was close :-) I really think the smog affected the drivers that said they liked the track hahaha.

          1. Turns 5 to 14 are actually quite challenging technically, and a very good thing if you are a driver.

            But then again, who the ___ cares for that? Fans want racing, pure racing, not how interesting or challening a race track is for drivers, it’s not good to aspire for wanting to hear the moans couple next door, bring the action to where the desire is!

          2. I hope some day you get to watch this circuit live..you would sink up to what drivers says buddy, I am sure about it!!

        3. It’s a very fast circuit with no easy maneuvers…required hell lot of skill and nerve by Alonso to overtake 3 drivers and get at number 2..same for other drivers..don’t know what you get tee on your channels but it’s an amazing circuit to be live on… Guys…

    2. 8, for the insane crowd support!

      1. I gave it a 6, but I completely agree about the crowd support! The constant cheering during the podium was great!!

        Martin Brundell also did great with the interviews. By far the best since the new podium format has started..

        1. Who the hell is Martin Blundell?

          1. Brundle or Blundell ?

      2. mate half of the stands are completely empty i guess the novelty factor after the first race is gone I dunno which crowd you taking about…only good thing is at least alonso is still in contention

        1. Which race were u watching??? There were close to 80,000 fans in the stands which has a capacity of 100,000! Do the maths yourself!! Another point- I saw the race today on Sky Sports…man it makes the boring race look even more boring…can understand the sleeping complaints from Sky users!!!

          1. I saw the main grandstand and the banking on the outside of turns 1 and 2 full. The rest of the grandstands were empty. It certainly wasnt at 80% capacity. No way.

          2. @ajokay– stating the numbers suggested on star sports by Steve Slater! Will have to wait and read tomorrow’s newspaper!

          3. You can’t trust everything Steve Slater said. He’s one of the worst F1 commentator in the world.

          4. @bernie-ecclescake

            @bernie-ecclescake

            innit?
            Q2(not indian GP) in progress, and suddenly steve slater got very hyper, and started shouting in his dramatic tone “oh drama, oh drama….the world champion vettel has some serious issue, he’s pulling over, that’s game over for vettel in qualifying, there’s going to be some heads rolling in the red bull camp”.
            His fellow commentator could not take it any longer and shouted back “relax, that is not vettel, it’s daniel ricciardo, and he is only slowing down and moving to the side to let the driver on a hot lap go by”. And indeed, ricciardo promptly came back to normal pace immediately after!

            That’s steve slater for ya! I think there could have been 30000 spectators, but those that were did enough cheering and made sufficient noise to sound like a 80000 crowd!

          5. It was a great gathering of 68000+ spectators..who got much more than their money’s worth…amazing race through and through…don’t know how and what your broadcaster showed you guys..its an amazing circuit..!!

    3. Very dull… why are some people giving this such high ratings ? Are they rating it according to who they support or are they actually rating how good a race it was ?

      1. Because for some reason people today consider 7 as an average of 1 and 10.

        1. Yeah, I rated it a 4.

        2. No, that’s 5.

      2. 3, for the number of exciting moments in the race. Lap 1, the punctures and the Williams fights.

        1. 3 for me too. I struggled to stay awake., not for the first time this season. What’s the point in having 20 races per year if 20% of them are dull as dishwater? This is bad for F1, IMO.

      3. @marlarkey:

        Very dull… why are some people giving this such high ratings

        Just Bernie’s henchmen doing their job!

    4. “Yawn” just about sums it up perfectly I reckon.

    5. 1. I fell asleep after 10 lap. Much more boring than Korean GP. Smog doesn’t help either. It’s like watching race in forest fire.

    6. Was going for a 2, then I gave a three just because of the fight between Alonso / Button / Hamilton in the first few corners. Well deserved imho.

  1. Top driver has got to be Alonso… from 6th to second… Amazing!

      1. Whatever. Still drove a bloody good race. Will be tight between him and Vettel IMO.

  2. Good racing throughout the midfield, the front was boring up until the end. A seven.

  3. The end was OK therefore a 5, one of seasons worst.

  4. I made a cup of green tea during the race to cheer myself up. If the season goes on like this, I’ll need to take something stronger.

    1. @girts whiskey, mate… whiskey. If the race is boring, at least you have a great time !

  5. Apart from the opening lap and the tussle between Alonso and the McLaren’s…. meh. 4

    1. I gave it a 5 for that very reason apart from that dull.
      DRS was a bit too much again

  6. snoozefest

  7. The race maybe a 6

  8. 2. Only excitement was on the first lap and a couple of short battles in the midfield. Haven’t been that bored during a grand prix for a long time.

  9. The podium position battle’s never really came to anything, the tactical battles that could have materialised ended in nothing with collisions but there was some tension with apparent car problems.

  10. The end was a little exciting. That’s why I’m giving the generous rating of 3

    1. +1 as well. I hate DRS.

      1. Count me in! Just absolutely hate the way it has destroyed F1!

      2. Every time DRS is deployed a little part of me dies inside.

        1. Same here! I’ve even used that exact phrase to others!

        2. Me too. I was explaining DRS to the wife, and felt quite embarrased.

  11. Generally good race from top runners except Vettel. First lap slip streaming gives +1.

    1. @eggry

      What a joke. Vettel did just as much of a good job as Alonso, Webber or Hamilton.
      Now it’s just too obvious you hate Vettel.

      1. @f1fannl He did good job. but not race, isn’t it?

        1. @eggry

          Alonso didn’t do any ‘racing’ either. One easy pass on Hamilton and Button and another even easier pass on Webber. After passing Webber he was never under any threat for the remainder of the race because Webber didn’t get KERS back and because Hamilton didn’t have the pace to pass Webber and attack Alonso.

          The only difference between Vettel and Alonso is that Vettel started where he finished whereas Alonso was gifted second place by the McLaren’s three corner scuffle and Webber’s KERS problem.
          Alonso would have probably passed Button and Hamilton regardless because of the ridiculous double DRS zone combined with the Ferrari’s better race pace but I doubt he would have passed Webber had Webber’s KERS remained active.

          1. @f1fannl It’s too obvious you hate Alonso.

          2. @eggry

            I don’t hate. It’s irrational and a complete waste of energy.
            I don’t like Alonso as a person but that doesn’t change the way Alonso got to second yesterday. I’ve stated facts, nothing more.
            If you think I’ve got a grudge against Alonso for some reason I’ve voted for him in the DotW poll several times.

  12. Gave it a 6.

    Some good racing, close battling & some overtaking through the field.

  13. And once again, Vettel winning makes for rubbish races. Good battles in the second half, but the first half was terrible. A 5 is being generous

    1. It not Vettel winning which is boring, but the fact he wins with little trouble which is boring.

      1. @slr

        I couldn´t have said it better myself!!!! My exact same feelings!

      2. @slr

        + 1 Very well said!

  14. 5 – the first lap was great, and there was a certain amount of tension at the end, but much less overtaking than I’d hoped. Some good passes nonetheless. I was pleased for Senna getting that final point.

    1. Same, he had some great passes today and very good pace as well.

      1. No offence meant, but er… are you related to Bruno?(This in light of earlier comments)

        1. @chicanef1 …No? Where on earth would you get that impression from? Does one have to be related to be a fan of a driver? I’m genuinely baffled by this comment, lol.

          1. @leucocrystal I told you..no offence meant. If someone asked me whether I was an F1 driver’s sibling, I would’ve been flattered.

          2. @chicanef1 I’m not offended, I promise! Just rather confused is all, lol.

  15. Well, that was a waste of my Sunday evening.

    1. @prisoner-monkeys maybe the “off” button on your tv remote was an option?

      1. You’ve now used this little quip twice and can use it a third time for me. This isn’t a sport at the moment. It’s a kid playing a game on easy and a bunch of bewildered numbskulls running around in his dust. If you want 20 Indian Grand Prix’s then I agree with taurus, you can have it and I hope you enjoy every second of the predictable monotony.

      2. @raymondu999 Not reading these comments is an option for you though…

    2. I didn’t get to watch it and i’m glad I didn’t by the sounds of it. Plus, I watched Ted’s Notebook on the Sky website. It’s never a good sign when he spends more time on the off track action than the on track stuff.

  16. 3 – I wanted a Phaal but got a Korma

  17. Absolute rubbish. If this is the way F1 is heading you can keep it.

    2/10

    1. @taurus maybe the “off” button on your tv remote was an option?

      1. two of the most boring F1 races i can remember in a row. if it carries on in this direction i wont even bother switching it on in the first place

  18. Well, I’m gonna be indulgent and give it a 5. And that’s because it managed to create at least some tension here and there in the midfield, in places, between Button and Rosberg, even thought nothing came of it; because at least we had a small glimpse of a fight for the podium between Alonso, Webber and Hamilton, even though nothing much came out of that either and, well… because I never had high expectations for this GP in the first place. And nothing much to do on a Sunday morning, other than watch it.

    One sole comment: I’m firmly convinced Pirelli should have brought the softer / more-degradable compounds here. Two stop strategies for the top teams and the alternative of a three-stopper would have made for a much more entertaining GP and would have mixed things up in the field in a more desirable fashion.

    1. davidnotcoulthard
      28th October 2012, 12:57

      Here’s a suggestion: Have Pirelli bring only the rain tyres!

  19. starting to hating this late starting race. why is the race is held late in the afternoon. the lighting is the worse it should be held around 2o’clock.

  20. The race proved just one thing for me – it isn’t exactly Newey who’s making a difference, as some like to point out. KERS or not Webber in a Newey designed car got beaten by Alonso. The one who’s making a different is Sebastian Vettel. Though, make that Ferrari 0.3s faster relatively to Red Bull and no one would get a serious chance against Alonso, who is driving absolutely on another level comparative to the rest of the field this year.

    1. I think the point is that these cars run far better when in clean air. Webber had been defending for a large part of the race, before the first stop he had been far less behind Vettel

      1. @bascb he lost the big gap to Seb BEFORE the pitstops, to about 10s. It was about 11s after both Red Bulls had pitted.

    2. KERS or not Webber in a Newey designed car got beaten by Alonso.

      That’s more “KERS” than “not”. I can’t imagine how Alonso would have passed Webber if he didn’t have those X laps without KERS (I reckon it came back before the end of the race). He was already 2 seconds in front of Alonso from 0.4 seconds after both pitted.

      1. I see your point, but the fact is that only Alonso was there instantly to benefit from any Red Bull misfortune. And fragile KERS is a design issue – it is compromised for the sake of packaging and it was a conscious decision by Red Bull.

    3. @leftie
      Sir, did you, by any chance, notice the update RBR made to the rb8?? Basically the kid has his old toy back…. Gases get built up in the canister while on throttle and they are expelled when the car goes off throttle on the curves…. he gets the “blown” effect which this kid needs in order to excell…. There is you difference…..

      1. Sure mate, i also noticed that FOM cameras are now constantly spraying superglue all over his tyres for more grip and also a small rocket engine hidden in the back for a humble speed boost. Traction control software disguised as Super Mario game designed for relaxation while sitting in the pits and small austrian gnomes hidden inside the dampers changing his ride height while on track mimicking active suspension system are also worth mentioning.

  21. Fernando Alonso is a remarkable driver. At no point has a sportsman of any sport managed to overturn the instinctive and irrational dislike such as that I had for him a few years ago. He’s smart, quick and amiable – just like his main rival.

    Hopefully Red Bull and Ferrari, and dare I say Mercedes, can keep a battle as fierce as this going throughout next year.

    1. @iamdanthomas I feel the same regarding Alonso. Used to hate him but in the last year or so I’ve really grown to like him, and with that have been able to more appreciate his driving skill.

  22. 7/10. Classic F1 race: not too much overtaking, but classic battles with hard but brilliant overtaking moves. Pity for Raikkonen, which didn’t have straight line speed. He certainly would’ve been on the podium, if he qualified on the second row. Webber and Hamilton battle made me sit on the edge of my couch for the 5 last laps of the race.

  23. The most exciting moment of the race was to see Vettel’s car releasing some sparks. That says a lot about the emotions involved in this “race”…
    Alonso put a great drive, again, and the rest was a snoozefest.

  24. vettels four victories in a row ,nothing stopping red bulls if vettel keeps going at this rate he definitely had the championship before brazil.After first half of the season I would have never excepted second half to be so boring.

  25. I gave it a 7. I enjoyed watching the time-sheets and was impressed by Alonso’s consistency.

  26. Bob (@bobthevulcan)
    28th October 2012, 11:31

    The race really provided the best analogy for itself – a burst tyre. You had all the tension building up, especially at the start and near the end, but it never really amounted to anything before something finally gave way. A battle for the podium never really materialized after Alonso blasted past the McLarens on the opening lap, then picked off a flagging Webber, all while Vettel blasted off into the distance.

    You could argue that there was some good action behind the Red Bulls, and that was true. We saw some daring passes by Alonso and Senna among others, and hard fought standoffs in the midfield. However, too many, if not an overwhelming majority of these, where boring DRS-assisted “highway” passes down the back straight, often completed halfway down the straight.

    At least the result keeps the championship battle alive somewhat. A solid 5.

  27. I was entertained at the start, then all the battles seemed to go off the boil and the order became static. Webber’s KERS failure spiced things up again and made the last few laps quite tense, with successive battles against Alonso and Hamilton. On top of that I enjoyed the battles further down the field.
    Unfortunately for the third race in a row there was no battle for the lead after the second corner. 7.

  28. For me it was a better race than expected. Even Vettel did not run away with it just like that, Alonso made it a great first lap, Massa was good there as well.
    At the end we saw Alonso pushing as hard as he could, and it was nice and close between Hamilton and Webber too. In between we had beautifull battles with Grosjean, with Rosberg defending from a lot of drives all race. Senna had a couple of really nice moves and deservedly got that last point. If only he had not messed up his Q2 lap, he might have been more to the front.
    Massa did a good job to defend from Kimi the whole race too.

    It was certainly not a classic, but if one does not like DRS overtaking galore, then it was quite a good one at it. I voted a 7, because I enjoyed myself almost all race.

  29. 2 – Very little action for almost the entire race, and Vettel romping away again also made it quite a bad one…

  30. 4/10 well, that was not as interesting as we had hoped. The first lap was amazing: crash course slipstreaming, and then Alonso, Hamilton and Button side-by-side. That they didn’t hit each other was again a display of experience. After that, it was not that exciting anymore.

    Two points of criticism: Pirelli’s tyre choice offered no chance for strategic variety, and thus pretty much everybody did exactly the same thing (except Grosjean). Soft/medium might have been better, but that’s just being captain hindsight here :P

    Secondly the DRS-zone: why do we need a DRS-zone on such a long straight? One move that I clearly remember was Senna on Rosberg (lap 50 or so). Senna locked up into turn three and was miles away from Rosberg. He deploys DRS and passes him cleanly before the actual corner commences. Again showing that DRS is rubbish, a desparate attempt to increase the number of overtakes.

    1. @andae23

      Pirelli’s tyre choice offered no chance for strategic variety

      Paul Hembery has just said on Twitter they could’ve used the super soft tyre here:

      https://twitter.com/PaulHembery/statuses/262519945861156864

      Hope they do next year.

      1. Great to hear they’re picking that up.

      2. Well, I’m glad they have hindsight but shouldn’t they have thought of that before the race? I’m sure Hembery and most of his technicians knew in a very high proportion exactly how these compounds will behave here and exactly what strategies (or lack-of) are most likely. They knew it’s a low-friction surface. They had all the data, and yet, they willingly chose to go down the conservative road.

        I liked the bipolar Hembery and his passive-agressive tires more…

    2. @andae23 – perfect summary of the race.

      DRS was a joke. I think the clearest example of this was Kimi getting a properly fought advantage over Massa coming out of the pits only for it to evaporate on the straight. Kimi deserved the place, Massa didn’t.

      And just how badly did the teams read the tyres. FL on last lap but finishing 5th (Button), what’s the point of that!?

      1. @psynrg – And what part of Massa’s drive did you find so non-deserving of a 6th place? He kept Kimi at distance on merit the whole race. Kimi had DRS for the whole GP and yet his Lotus lacked the speed to pass the brazillian (Kimi was only 4-5km/h faster than Felipe WITH DRS and KERS). Massa successfully defended his position for the whole race, ergo, he deserves the spot, not Raikkonen. Any other statement is just fan boy nonsense.

        As for the scramble after Massa exited the pits: Raikkonen could have been a bit more patient and willing to position himself properly for an attack on the straight, rather than in the first 3 turns. I’m not saying he would have passed, as the Ferrari clearly had better straight line speed but, at least he would have given Felipe a slight headache there. He just rushed into a decision to overtake quickly and it was the bad one as it gave Massa DRS and with it a huge advantage on the run to turn 4. The end.

        1. @tony031r – a bit of a hysterical response there. I was merely commenting on DRS being particularly artificial here. I used this as an example. I thought Kimi & Massa’s pit exit battle was one of the few ding dongs in the whole race yet it was immediately made worthless by DRS.
          I’ve nothing against Massa’s overall classification – but it would certainly have meant more if he had to wrestle that position back from Kimi rather than be handed it on a plate. Then again that’s probably the only way he would get past anyone (even Kimi, most overrated driver in F1.)

          1. I completely agree with your DRS comments but how on earth is Kimi the most overrated driver on the grid? Being third in the championship means that he has one Red Bull, one Ferrari and two McLarens behind him!

            If anything he is underrated and IMO. McLaren just made a serious mistake by not putting him in Hamilton’s seat. I am sure Perez will be fine – in a few years but for now they are left with no contender.

          2. OK he’s not the most over rated (maybe Di Resta?). Kimi’s a great driver and consistent, the results and his championship position speak for themselves. But he never strikes me as a front runner, rather, one who is (nearly) always there to pick up the pieces.
            I also agree, McLaren have possibly missed a trick by not getting him on board again. Perez seems to have lost his edge since getting the seat. He was awful today…

  31. Agreed. No strategy battles, no real overtaking, Vettel again lonely at the front. Alonso and a few battles in the midfield spiced it up but only slightly. On the side note, the smog made it even harder to enjoy the race.

  32. A bit better than Korea, so 6 for me. Great first lap, some nice midfield dices and a bit of tension near the front. Cars look immense on TV here with the fast direction changes, but maybe they should lose the DRS on the long straight here (too easy to pass) and extend the one on the pit straight.

  33. No strategy battles, no real overtaking, Vettel again lonely at the front. Alonso and a few battles in the midfield spiced it up but only slightly. As a side note, the smog made it even harder to enjoy the race.

    1. Funny story actually: when my broadcaster decides to throw in some commercials, they use a split screen, so that the F1 feed is reduced to ± 10% its size. And every time a driver overtook someone else, we couldn’t figure out who had passed who.

  34. Better than Korea but still pretty dull. Alonso and the midfield tussles livened it up a bit but it was still extraordinarily boring. The rubbish circuit didn’t exactly help matters.
    5/10 seems fair in my opinion.

  35. 7. Not all that great, but still better than the farcical ‘races’ we got at the start of the season.

    1. It may well be that farcical races are a whole lot more entertaining (which is the antithesis of the precision keyhole surgery that is F1.)

      But now most everything is understood the season is basically forgone. We need another farse!

  36. Regarding DRS & Pirelli’s, I think it just highlights the problems & stupidity of relying on these things to create entertainment.

    DRS is too sensitive to specific conditions & there not just the length of the zone. Most the time its either too effective or does very little.

    And once the teams figure out the tyres late in the season your going to get more predictable wear as teams/drivers optimise setups & driving styles.

    People go on about overtaking needing to be more possible to make races more exciting however I’d argue that if you want races to be more exciting they need to sort of the cars & find a way of making them less aero sensitive when following one another.

    Using DRS/Tyres just masks the problems & as we’ve heard from team comments & seen with the 2014 rule changes they have taken away the drive to make the required changes.

  37. I posted this comment on yesterday’s quali report, but I feel it bears repeating:

    I get that some people don’t like domination, and on the balance of the last 3.5 race weekends, Red Bull and Vettel have certainly been dominant.

    In my opinion – ok, you don’t like the situation. Fair enough. I don’t begrudge you that opinion.

    But should we really be complaining? F1 is a show, yes. A big show with contestants. So is something like football or MotoGP. I never liked either – and the solution is simple. Don’t watch it.

    I’m sorry, but I never had much sympathy for people who complained. No one ever promised F1 would have a riveting championship, nor have they ever promised F1 would have riveting on-track action. No one ever forced you to watch F1. It is, like everything else on the telly (except the news) a show, and as with any other show, you watch the ones you like and you don’t watch the ones you don’t like.

    Either you hate the situation enough to stop watching F1, or you like F1 enough to cover your dislike for the situation. I never liked the early 2009 F1 season due to the Brawn domination – but I liked F1 too much to give up F1 on that ground. So I put up with it and kept on watching.

    You have a remote control. Use it wisely.

    1. Why should anyone “cover your dislike for the situation”, just because they like F1 in general, but don’t like the domination going on?

      1. F1 isnt a show, its a race. I saw no racing going on today.

    2. Its not about the domination. Its about this stupid rules. For F1’s sake we need to ditch DRS and Pirelles. Introduce durable tyres and reintroduce refuelling.

      1. @f1rollout

        I’m all for getting rid of DRS but I think it’s harsh to blame the tire situation on Pirelli, they’re just making the tires that they’ve been asked to make and I’m sure that if they were asked to make tires that lasted an entire race they’d do just that.

      2. reintroduce refuelling.

        why would anybody want to see refueling come back?

        if refueling came back we would just see all the passing done in the pit lane again.

    3. @f1rollout @losd @taurus
      LosD you misread my sentence. Reread the whole sentence and it’ll make sense.

      my point is – do you like the current F1, or dislike it? If you dislike it, simple – turn off the television.

      1. @raymondu999 So your answer for those of us that have found the last few races excrutiatingly dull is that we should just stop watching a sport we’ve been watching for years and years? I dont find domination boring, its that fact that all of a sudden there is no racing going on, and any overtaking we do get is via a silly gimmick like DRS. The cars are bulletproof reliable now and the circuits are soulless Tilke-dromes that dont punish driver mistakes. Not to worry though, Abu dhabi next!!

      2. Ah, so it’s a binary thing. Either you love F1, or dislike it.

        That’s a pretty limited view.

        1. @losd My point is, F1 is what it is – and no amount of complaining will change that. If you like F1, but dislike the situation (either in terms of DRS overtaking, or in terms of domination, or whatever else) then well… what’s complaining going to do?

          1. Soooo, one shouldn’t say their opinion about things. What was the point of rate the race exactly?

            BTW, the one doing the most complaining here… is you.

          2. @raymondu999 If you don’t like all the complaining that goes on there, then… leave. It’s what people do, and no amount of complaining will change that.

          3. @raymondu999 I posted the same thing to you before, but whatever: no one is forcing you to read and reply to those comments so why are you doing it? It’s exactly what Mr. Pitt, I mean @goodyear92 said you complaining is not going to change a thing…

    4. In any sport where a team or a player has a clear advantage over others and running away with the trophy the excitement levels comes down,its not just F1.No one stopped watching f1 during ferrari years when schumi winning multiple championships and ferrari are miles ahead,a f1 fan will always watch it no matter what.but its boring now beacuse the way vettel is winning and championship could be well over even before the seasons finale in brazil

      1. I’m a passionate F1 fan and I stopped watching during the Ferrari domination. If I know what’s going to transpire during the race without watching it, then I don’t need to bother. I am now in that frame of mind for the rest of this season too.

    5. @smokinjoe @taurus
      I agree completely with your comment. Without bringing into this my own opinion of the DRS overtaking situation, circuits, or the domination currently on display, however, I don’t think people should really complain.

      My internal reaction really is just, “well cry me a river.” I don’t mean to be rude, but my point is that F1 is what it is. Whether or not we watch it is completely our own choice, and it’s not something forced upon us.

      If we feel that we dislike the situation so much that we want to complain, then it’s always within our power to turn off the TV.

      To be honest, to a certain extent, nobody really cares about your view of the situation, unless they agree with it, and the complaining will make not an inkling of difference, much as we like to think it will.

      1. @raymondu999 This is a place for voicing opinions. If enough people start thinking “this is a pointless waste of my sunday afternoon” and switch the TV off, viewing figures will drop, no-one will want to pay for the TV rights and there wont be any F1 for us to complain about. That’s obviously a long way off but its a possibility.

        Why shouldn’t we complain? We’re fans of the sport and want to see a bit of excitement and drama, preferably some that isnt derived from artificial means.

        1. @taurus I did say not to complain. But complaining and disliking are different things. What would posting comments on an F1 blog do to help with the excitement and drama though? Nothing. That was my point.

          1. @raymondu999 then why are you reading the comments on this site?

          2. @taurus sigh. Never mind…

    6. @raymondu999

      I don’t think anyone wants or expects any sympathy from you, they’re just expressing their opinions – which is what I assume Keith intended when he set up a comments system on this website.

      If people find certain races boring or don’t like certain aspects of the sport then they’re perfectly entitled to express that opinion and no-one is forcing you to read them – you could just use your mouse and skip right past them without the need to tell people that they should effectively stop watching F1 and expressing their opinion about it.

      1. @beneboy hah! Touche. I just feel it’s very sad, that’s all. I’ve never been one for complaints myself, and other than this rant I’ve never uttered a single complaint in the last 20 years of my life.

        1. You gotta admit that that seems very, very believable…

      2. Haha, exactly. I love how his entire argument pretty much negates itself. A very efficient process though.

  38. 5 – some good laps, but almost no action at all. A good reason to keep working on my thesis withouth getting distracted, though. :D

  39. It wasn’t bad, but the DRS ruined some interesting battles (Alonso vs Webber, for example). 6.

  40. 7 – Nice action during the opening laps. Good scraps in the midfield. Second closest we got to seeing VET-ALO-HAM podium after Canada and a ticking bomb in the scraping under tray.
    Pretty sure when Alonso was informed about Webber’s KERS issues he would have thought ‘wrong car’.

  41. The race was a six for me, better than Korea. Alonso put on a strong performance, and so did Vettel. I am still surprised by McLaren. They did had the pace today, but still somehow they fall behind. Maybe that first lap battle when both drivers locked up their tires affected the pace of the first stint, who knows. By the way, that battle was the best piece of the whole race for me, three great drivers going wheel to wheel without touching each other, superb. Bruno Senna did a decent job today too. Massa and Kimi seam to have enjoyed that tandem for the whole race and were nowhere. Perez is falling behind since his new contract was announced.

  42. Nice work from HUL. 4 valuable points. Keep pushing.

  43. It’s not been the greatest last few races, has it? That is, unless you’re a Vettel fan. I respect his obvious talent, but he doesn’t half take the fun out of everything once he’s sat in a fairly dominant package. I don’t think this has been quite as bad as Japan or Korea, but the lack of battling right up at the front keeps any real excitement from ever materialising. I enjoyed the first few corners with Alonso, Hamilton and Button — that was world class action between those three. I also enjoyed some of the numerous scraps in the pack. It’s a shame that so many ended in a little bit of contact. Apart from all that, the race didn’t come alive too much. Webber’s fight with Alonso and then Hamilton provided some amount of excitement, but it was not nice knowing the win had all but been decided by this point. I’ll give it a five out of ten. It was average; boring for the most part; a handful of exciting moments and it’s ominous indication of just where this title will go is not pleasing in the slightest.

    What about Alonso, though? He just keeps pumping in his absolute maximum. If his car was just a little better, his chances would look so much more realistic. As it stands, though, I can’t see past Vettel come the season’s end — which is a crying shame. I don’t feel he’s been as consistently brilliant as Alonso or Hamilton have throughout this year, but the car’s some so good for him when it matters and he just can’t be touched.

  44. 6- I think it is a really good circuit, one of Tilke’s best, unfortunately a good circuit cannot stop a vettel-red bull domination.

  45. I am a huge F1 fan like most of the others here . I somehow managed to keep following F1 in Schumacher era. For me the best part of F1 was 2005- 2008. The only thing i can conclude from that era is that it was famous for two horse race.(Mclaren v. Ferrari , Mclaren v.s Renualt, Ferrari v.s Renualt). Its great for championship not so good for the race show. There was little to choose between top two teams and their drivers.

    Whereas this era offers wide competition but difference of performance between teams even drivers is huge because it depends on so many variables so drivers can come up with lot of excuses for not performing .I would suggest to bring back refuelling for the sake of competition in strategies. Ditch DRS, keep kers but make it more effective and introduce tyres war.

    I dont watch F1 for show.i watch F1 for the competition(Teams and drivers). I would take Vettel winning every race but with strong fight both in qualifying and races. Bring back 2005- 2008 era.

    1. and ofcourse i would suggest durable tyres to show true potential of drivers. How on earth they are good for competition is beyond me. I dont believe in “Managing tyres” thing.It depends on driver style. Its more of a limitation than anything good.

      1. i dont see why anyone would want refueling to come back.

        all refueling ever did was take the racing off the track & move it into the pit lane, in the refueling era 80% of all position changes were done in the pits.
        refueling was one of the biggest reasons the amount of on-track passing declined, we had plenty of passing pre-94 & as soon as refueling came in the passing moved into the pits & from 1994-2009 most the passing was done in pits at fuel stops with very little done on-track.
        when refueling was banned again for 2010 we saw more on-track passing that year than any year since 1989 & significantly more than was seen in any of the refueling years.

        1. I agree.

          Refueling may have been interesting from a strategy point of view, However I always felt it was horrible for the racing.

          Watching races like France 2004 where Schumacher went to a 4-stop strategy & we ended up with Alonso/Schumi fighting for the win despite been separated by a big gap after the 2nd stops with the eventual pass been done via a pit stop was just plain boring.
          Always felt that race would have been a ton more exciting had there been no refueling with Alonso/Schumi right together fighting for the win with Schumi having to find a way to overtake Alonso on the track if he wanted to win.

          I never liked it from the very 1st race at Brazil in 1994 where a great scrap for the lead between Senna & Schumacher was ended at the 1st fuel stop & Schumi then proceeded to simply drive away. Would have been far better with no refueling, We would have seen a great fight between the 2 on the track again with any eventual overtake having to be done on the track.

          Were many other races like that, Great fighting for position on track eventually been ruined by refueling with any pass eventually done in the pits.

          In my view refueling did far more harm to the races than good!!!

  46. It’s a shame… we had so many interesting races in first half of the season. I can’t believe it turned out like this!

  47. The first half of the race was absolutely awful, but it perked up a bit after the pit stops and the battle for 2nd and 3rd that emerged. Was still a pretty poor race though, I gave it 6/10.

  48. 4/10

    First and last few laps were reasonably entertaining but other than that it was 50+ laps where little to nothing happened other than the odd puncture and DRS enabled pass (I wouldn’t even call them overtakes as that implies there was some sort of racing involved – which clearly isn’t the case).

  49. Poor Race.
    Poor means 4

  50. It was boring as hell, the only intrigue after 3 seasons is why oh why oh why is Webber still suffering KERS problems and the other guy NOT?

  51. whoever voted 10 needs a slap!!!

    1. maybe for vettels fans its a perfect 10….some guys rate the result
      not the race

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        28th October 2012, 14:15

        as you can check below, @smokinjoe, I gave the race just a 3. And I am a Vettel fan

  52. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    28th October 2012, 13:07

    5.

    Thought that for 80% of the race it was dead boring. Only started to get good around lap 49. And then it was exciting to see if Alonso could catch Vettel and if Hamilton could catch Webber.
    Also, kudos to Senna for some great overttaking moves and showing his teammate how it’s done; with patients.

    1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      28th October 2012, 13:10

      also, Alonso’s opening lap was mega! 5th to 3rd off a massive tow from the two Mclarens.

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        28th October 2012, 14:13

        then he lost those 2 places right away. Good to see him in the race, when he finally did the overtakings again.

        1. he didn’t lost both positions right away, he lost one and after tree laps he get back the 3rd place…

  53. and also a slap for the person who made this comment

    “introduce tyres war.”

    1. @bobby-balboa

      Have you been getting slap happy with Mr. Gueermo ?

      1. The last thing F1 needs is another Tyre war!!!! Remember the American GP with about 8 drivers. Not to mention the tracks that favored one brand over the other

        1. That was NOTHING to do with a tyre war. That was an unholy combination of an extra rough circuit surface and Max Mosley doing his utmost to block any chances of the Michelin runners from running safely. It was his decision to block every offered compromise that would have allowed all the cars to start.

          1. and Max Mosley doing his utmost to block any chances of the Michelin runners from running safely

            Wasn’t down to Max, He wasn’t actually involved in the discussions.
            The chicane often talked about as been the solution could not have been installed due to FIA regulations & insurance matters & there was no way to get around either so it was never a possibility.

            The Michelin problems wasn’t even an issue with all Michelin teams, Only team that had any tyre related problems was Toyota, Other Michelin teams had done full race distances on 1 set of tyres during Friday practice without any sign of issues.

            Charlie Whiting told teams he would waver the ban on tyre changes & allow them to change tyres as many times as they felt they needed, The idea was turned down as Michelin said they didn’t have enough sets but later said they could have flown new sets over.

            Michelin & the GPMA aligned teams used what was a problem for only 1 team & used it to play politics.
            They tried to blame Ferrari even though nobody from Ferrari was ever involved in any discussions, They tried to Blame Max although again he wasn’t involved & wasn’t even fully aware of what was going on as he wasn’t at the track.

  54. I gave it a 7 , not the most exciting race but it had some good moments like the fight in the start between Alonso and the mclarens. It doesn’t had a lot of spectacle but it had some suspense.
    If someone watches only the tv coverage i guess it is pretty boring but if you follow also the live timing it is different. For example it was interesting to see how Vettel delayed his pit stop trying to built a gap bigger than 21sec to Hamilton so his not going to lose the lead and losing also time behind him if he was first in the pits. Also following the fastest laps was also interesting . The Mclarens were the fastest car’s in the prime tyre but it was too late then to close the gap. Ferrari except the first lap’s of the race were equally quick to RB’s . If Fernando started the race a little further front on the grid we would see a different race. If ferrari improves the quallifying pace the final 3 races would be very close i think.

  55. I voted the race a 6. I can’t seem to decide if the track produces a less interesting race or is it the fact that Red Bull (i.e. Sebastian Vettel) run away at the start and thus make the race less exciting. Certainly from turn 3 onwards the track becomes quite challenging to drive on but does not encourage any overtaking, quite a bit like Hungary. The crowd and attendance was way better than I had expected and the atmosphere was quite lively.

    Not a lot of battles but a decent race overall. One of the comments I read earlier spoke of the bad race timing. I agree as well. It became too murky towards the end and not so much fun to watch. I hope they make the race a little more early.

  56. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    28th October 2012, 14:11

    Fan of Vettel, happy with the result… 3 points for a race where only Alonso produced some exciting at the beginning and at the end

  57. 3/10. Just a few hours after the race I had completely forgot about it already, and had no interest in the post race stuff – simply because there was nothing “major” happening on track. A few nice battles, but mostly the field drove around lap after lap following each other.

  58. 5/10
    Great start, Alonso was trying to make it interseting all the awy through. Curiously even though DRS passes were usually done halfway-through the DRS zone, it wasn’t as easy as I thought to actually get close enough to the car ahead. It’s a pity that most cars got far from each other very early; Massa and Raikkonen beaing the only exception. Massa was clever to have Kimi cross the DRS detection line first.
    Webber was highly unlucky, again, with his KERS, but helped spice things up a bit. It was great to see Alonso driving the car to 110% of its potential, but there were many possible surprises that failed to realize themselves.

  59. One of the dullest races of the year, great first lap after that, only things of note Maldonado and Koyabashi (is that really noteworthy or just normal though?) and Alonso overtaking Webber, which I managed to miss as I was chopping veggies infront of the TV to make dinner (for timezone context I live in Singapore) – yes it was that exciting….

  60. 6 but with a few good moments.

  61. Gave it a 6. Although the most of the race was plain dull, there were some battles on the way which were just under exciting. They need to do something to increase tyre wear at this track…

  62. the second most boring race of the season, after monaco. the first round was good, but then it got very boring. hopefully the next race will be better ….

    5/10

  63. Alonso made the day for me!!
    He is never tired of trying.

  64. 4/10. Anyway, great victory for Vettel, the best F1 champion of this time after Schumacher.

  65. Total trash! I stopped watching it at Lap 40, first time this year.

  66. 5: I enjoyed 5 laps out of 60. We’ve been spoiled by races in recent years. What I find interesting is that the circuit flows nicely, it’s fun watching cars go through sectors 2 and 3. There’s enough elevation change to make the circuit visually appealing, much more so than some recent Tilkedromes. And yet both races have been dismal. I really hope that this combination of visual appeal and dull racing doesn’t apply to COTA in 3 weeks’ time, but I think it probably will.

  67. these new tracks where the only place to over-take is a boring DRS straight are super awesome!

  68. The Mclarens/Ferrari wheel to wheel start was awesome, likewise was Lewis’ pitstop, the rest was pretty dull. Loved the first half of the season, now it is reminding me of 2011. 5/10

  69. Dire.

    Roll on 2014.

  70. Gave it a 4 because I only slept for 10 laps and for the Hamilton steering wheel swap. The track has a nice flow to it but still too many huge tarmac run off areas and some portions are ridiculously wide, in the purest Tilke tradition.

  71. To those 1% of people who rated this race a 10 – what the hell is wrong with you??

    1. I Love the Pope
      29th October 2012, 3:33

      I like Vettel and appreciate greatness. Sue me.

  72. Quite possibly worse than Korea. This is the only race so far this year that I didn’t even bother finishing. I was done watching this snoozefest by lap 30.

  73. Started watching it, changed the channel after 20 laps. Looks like we have a mini schumi on our hands. 1/10

    1. I Love the Pope
      29th October 2012, 3:34

      I hope we do!

  74. 5 because it’s F1, but boring procession. And because the Australian broadcaster inserts ad breaks in 6-lap intervals EVERY round. This time we got to miss HAM’s 5-wheel pit stop and ALO’s pass on WEB.

    Increasing to 6 thanks to the consummate Martin Brundle as podium MC. Terrific and best so far of this format. Format is all well and good, just wish the post-race unilateral was still televised.

  75. Kiambu SubChief
    29th October 2012, 5:30

    Well it was not as interesting but the first lap was superb, … not a McLaren fan but LH’s pitstop and steering wheel change was brilliant! I am a Massa fan and it was I guess a tad thrilling to watch him try and keep Kimi at bay the entire race. But all in all, maybe next time they drench the track and we might see some exciting race.

  76. 6 outta 10!
    P.S. First seven races won by seven difeerent drivers and the last seven by only one driver given the fact how strong were the RB’s in AD and Interlagos. In Texas, it might be a bit different. I personally, do enjoy any race where Alonso gets defeated (since 2005).

  77. greatest thing about this race was when all the fans where going nuts for Alonso

  78. I gave it a 5. The race was over in the first 5 corners when Alonso and the McLaren’s ruined any chance of catching the Red Bull’s properly. Good to see Alonso catch Webber on pace but then Webber did have a KERS problem.

    There just wasn’t any action and the extending of the DRS zone was just stupid in my opinion. Surely DRS should enable the drivers to get close enough to make a move, a good overtaking move rather than look silly sat there with no chance of defending. It was far too easy.

    I saw someone on twitter, I think WTF1 saying that the F1 calendar needs a rethink to the calendar as we are left with some boring Tilkedromes at the end of the season. I can see this could be the case but I can’t realistically see how the calendar could be shifted unless the season starts in February or maybe even January. I think the main problem with these latter races is that the cars are pretty set in terms of development and Red Bull clearly have the dominant car, twinned together with tracks that aren’t the greatest makes for fairly boring races.

  79. a 5 at best. actually spent most of the grand prix playing on the ipad. thought it was going to get exciting for the last 10 laps with tyres going off etc, but that didn’t happen either. i think the only highlight was jenson taking fastest lap at the very end.
    good to see hamilton giving an interview on the grid. seemed remarkably chilled.

  80. I gave it a 7.

    Like others mentioned I feel asleep before lap 7—race was on at 5am in the US—but unlike others when I woke up around lap 25, I felt like I had been missing out.

    The race did get boring after a while, but just as it started to get boring it got interesting again with Alonso and Webber. Add in how amazingly jazzed the crowd seemed to be and I found myself enjoying the race, despite Vettel winning.

  81. 6/10 from me. Not particular exciting but Webber/Alonso and Raikkonen/Massa at least provided a bit of ‘will he, won’t he’.

    Also, the openin lap battle between Button, Hamilton and Alonso was pretty spectacular.

  82. I am completely astonished that anyone voted over a 5.

    I’d say it’s in the top 3 most boring races I’ve ever witnessed, including horse racing, high school track meets and Hot Wheels on a sidewalk.

  83. I thought it was another dull race so I only gave it a 5.

    After Alonso’s battle with the McLarens on the first lap, for me the other highlight of the race was Hamilton’s steering wheel change during his pitstop, I just couldn’t believe how quickly they managed to do.

  84. I was visiting @BasCB over the weekend, but had to leave on Sunday and only got to see the BBC “high-lights” show today – I would say that allowed me to see all the good moments of the race, and quite a few other bits of it too, and I am not so sure I’d been happier had I seen the race live (though would have been glad not to have spotted “Vettel won” in Monday paper, when did they start reporting on F1!).

    That is to say, it was a bit like Korea: Vettel won. The only one of the top 7 who managed to move up was Alonso, thanks mainly to his start (can’t blame Grosjean too much for trying to make things happen at start earlier this year then?).

    Would have preferred BUT to not pass HAM, then perhaps HAM would have been able to have a real race instead first having to get by him. The McLaren pace on softs/full-fuel was bad, esp. for BUT so they weren’t in it for real so it probably only would have delayed Alonso for an even less interesting race.

    I’ll give it a 6, VET can’t help that he’s the only one that manages to get his team to get him a consistently fast experience at the moment I suppose (but the “yip yip bla” from his engineer at the end, and his reaction, sorry I had to fast-forward, please don’t). Lotus/Kimi need to try and do something different, how many times has he been stuck not getting past people in races this year? Massa drove well though, good job. And Hulkenberg, again doing a good job. Perez needs to calm down again, he has his chance next year in the McLaren. Senna well done to get that last point of of poor Rosberg. Wonder if Rosberg is still so positive about the team as he was to Hamilton …

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