F1 Fanatic

Yeah, I agree, there was something 2010 had that 2012 did not. It was a genuinely good championship with all the top drivers not yet being polished as much as they are now – Vettel still being immature, Alonso starting a new chapter at Ferrari and Hamilton facing a new quick team mate in Button.

Above all, though, it did not have the artificiality of 2012. Some of the races were brilliant (Australia 2010 is still one of my favourite races ever). I also loved the f-duct story and how McLaren and Red Bull had an advantage over one another in different areas – Turkey being the prime example of straight line speed v. downforce.

2010 looks, in retrospect, like the origin of the current era, which I like. It was the season I most enjoyed following (and 2008), as it had something genuine about it. Don’t ask me what exactly (by that I don’t only mean the lack of KERS and DRS), but it just seemed right.

And oh my goodness, was the Renault livery amazing.

I have been watching Formula 1 since 2001. In the 12 F1 seasons I have watched, this is how I’d rate them from best to worst, taking into account both exciting racing and an exciting championship battle.

12.) 2002
11.) 2004
10.) 2011
9.) 2009
8.) 2001
7.) 2005
6.) 2007
5.) 2006
4.) 2008
3.) 2012
2.) 2010
1.) 2003

Just my humble opinion. 2010 and 2012 were both awesome seasons, and 2010 just about pips it for me. However, I believe 2003 (a very forgotten and underrated season) was a tad better than both. Nonetheless, it is extremely close between the top four seasons on my list.

I’d say 2012 would be the best season I’ve ever seen. 2010 and 2007 were both amazing championship battles but the racing was rather dull, (remember the 1 stop lap 18ish Bridgestone tyre races). 2011 had mostly incredible racing but obvioulsy the championship battle was non-existant. Hence 2012 had it all for me, lots of winners, a very close and intense championship and most of the races were very exciting (thankyou Pirelli, DRS, KERS and the drivers themselves), plus 6 world champions on the grid and a 20 race calender was nice

Im probably in the minority that doesn’t think 2012 was really that great.

For me there was something unsatisfying about all the Pirelli led crazyness early on & also all the DRS passes that were going on.
Watching drivers drop backwards like a stone because the tyres weren’t working or watching one driver totally helpless to do anything about a DRS pass to me is really boring & unexciting to watch & did nothing but hurt my enjoyment of the races.

The thing that got me hooked on MotorSport way back in 1989 & the thing that kept me hooked was the racing, I love watching 2 (or more) drivers pushing each other hard, One doing everything to try & pass while the car ahead does everything to try & keep them behind. I love that sort of close, hard fought racing & I love seeing exciting overtaking.
Overtaking moves where the car behind has to try something different to pull the overtake off is so much more exciting & satisfying to watch than drivers easily driving by because he’s got DRS or because his tyres are in better condition.

Im going into 2013 seriously wondering if I will continue watching every F1 session & every F1 race, Just 2-3 years ago that thought even entering my head seemed totally impossible.
I love F1, Have done since I 1st saw an F1 race (Imola 1989) but all this more artificial stuff coming in is really starting to put me off & really having a negative impact on my love for the series.

@Joey Zyla, if that were the case then there would be absolutely no point having it (except for the cars who can get it open a fraction earlier because they have better aero, which would just make the fastest cars even harder to beat).

@moshbeard
I often hear people say that when talking about DRS been available to everyone, everywhere to both attack & defend. That it woudl make DRS pointless & it would simply cancel itself out.
However look at other series which run things like ‘push to pass’ (Indycar, A1GP, Formula Nippon, World Series By Renault + more) you see that been able to use it everywhere to attack/defend enhances the racing far more than DRS does & brings in a real element of driver strategy regarding how you use it.

If DRS could be used everywhere to both attack & defend yet had a limit of say 20 uses or 90 seconds (Similar to how P2P works) then it would be a lot more interesting & I’d actually be a lot less against it.
You could see drivers using up there DRS use early in races to move forward or see drivers saving it for later on. Maybe the defending driver uses it on one straight while the attacking driver tries using it elsewhere. You would also see situations where the attacking driver uses DRS & forces the defending driver to then use it in defense which could actually see DRS provide some good racing into the corner.

There were/are better ways of using DRS, In fact there are better ways of improving the racing without having artificial & gimmickey rules (With gaps, activation points etc….). KERS could be used as a P2P system, Instead of 6.6secs a lap they could have 90 seconds for the race. They could have a rev-increase for 90 seconds a race.

We have turbo engine’s coming in for 2014 & that is a great opportunity to drop DRS by introducing a turbo boost increase for 90 seconds a race, Thats how Champcar & now Indycar runs P2P & it worked in CC & now again works brilliantly in Indycar.

I think we should have Option tyres that have more grip but last 25% of the race and Prime tyres that have less grip but last 50% of the entire race.