A lot of effort went into changing the design of F1 cars this year in the hope it would make for more exciting racing.
But with half the season gone the signs are not good. The ‘rate the race’ polls on this site after every Grand Prix are getting worse results this year compared to last.
2008 average score: 6.651
2009 average score: 6.143
2008 average score (like-for-like rounds): 6.508
Here’s the results for the races so far, compared to last year:
The good sign is that the German Grand Prix last weekend was the best-rated so far. With Red Bull taking points off Brawn, the closing stages of the championship could be a lot more exciting than we expected only a few weeks ago.
But it will be quite a treat if we get a championship finale to rival last year’s cracker.
Read more
- Australian Grand Prix: Rate the race
- Malaysian Grand Prix: Rate the race
- Chinese Grand Prix: Rate the race
- Bahrain Grand Prix: Rate the race
- Spanish Grand Prix: Rate the race
- Monaco Grand Prix: Rate the race
- Turkish Grand Prix: Rate the race
- British Grand Prix: Rate the race
- German Grand Prix: Rate the race
alan
18th July 2009, 7:11
Short answer Yes
dsob
18th July 2009, 7:35
Thank you, alan, succinct and to the point. I wholeheartedly agree.
Very processional this year. Rather like a funeral, long line of cars driving…ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZZ ..oh, sorry, dozed off there for a second.
So much for wholesale rules changes creating better overtaking and more exciting racing. And what was wrong with last year? I thought the racing was fine, mostly real close stuff…well, except for when Hamilton lapped all but 3 at Silverstone, lol. But you know what I mean.
I sometimes wonder if the drastic body/wing/nose mods and KERS weren’t just Max’s spite, cause he knew 2009 was it, he be leaving and couldn’t screw with the teams anymore.
Kovy
18th July 2009, 11:15
Yes, also.
To improve passing, F1 should just cut as much aero as possible, while bumping up mechanical grip.
KERS and the huge tyre different are poor. KERS needs to be either thrown out or freely developed, and the tyres make racing artificial.
Clay
18th July 2009, 14:37
I agree. Wings work best in smooth airflow, whether they be F1 wings or airplane wings. Drop the reliance on aero grip and the ability to overtake will improve. Either that or allow ground effect again. Ground effect cars are less affected by following another car and will give the same if not more grip than the current cars.
But my preference would be to cut downforce by about 90% on current levels – MotoGP on 4 wheels!!!
Hallard
20th July 2009, 18:20
Im with you guys. I would love to see the grip balance shift drastically towards mechanical so we can get more passing. Bring back the wide cars, and BIG slicks, and limit aero significantly. I wouldnt mind if they dropped the front and rear wings even and only allowed underbody aero body work.
Andrew
18th July 2009, 18:22
I believe you are correct.
Stealthman
18th July 2009, 7:31
Sure, we’ve had only three different winners this year so far. But the races themselves have been on-the-edge and exciting. I have seen more passes and wheel-to-wheel racing than I saw last year. Either that or I wasn’t paying attention.
PrisonerMonkeys
18th July 2009, 11:10
I think there was more passing in Melbourne than there was in 2008 …
TommyB
18th July 2009, 13:32
Yes was brilliant. Then everyone got double decker diffusers which blew the great racing out of the window
Patrickl
18th July 2009, 18:49
The passing there was related to the tyres which were superfast for 10 laps and then became undriveable. Maybe KERS on half the cars helped too.
It had nothing to do with diffusers.
TommyB
18th July 2009, 21:49
Hmm the drivers have said its the diffusers
Kovy
19th July 2009, 9:30
It was all down the the tyres. It wasn’t even two cars fighting for a position, it was just a car with better tyres shooting past one with grained tyres, and then speed off into the distance.
FLIG
18th July 2009, 7:55
Well, I still prefer 2007, with all the Hamilton x Alonso rivalry and in the end Kimi snatching the title away. Now THAT was a good year to see F1 again. This year is boring, but we’ve had worst.
John
18th July 2009, 8:00
Bring back the old Front and Rear Wings and Scrap KERS!! P.S Bring Back Montreal and France!!!
Bookgrub
18th July 2009, 9:25
Absolutely! Let’s throw away all the development work that’s happened this year, and start the teams on another round of rule instability!
OR, perhaps we could persist with the rules largely as they are, with the changes already flagged, and allow teams to develop their cars to a more competitive level?
TommyB
18th July 2009, 12:39
Just get rid of aero bits and double decker diffusers to reduce downforce a lot. Then we don’t need to have the ugly wings
Gman
18th July 2009, 19:07
and the United States….
TommyB
18th July 2009, 21:43
Just generally good circuits. Look at all the lowest race ratings – Almost all new ones. Canada has an AMAZING race every single year and it’s been dropped.
Tom
20th July 2009, 4:29
the problem with canada is it was in such poor condition last year. they’d need to fix it first but i agree, it’s one of my favourite tracks.
Jonesracing82
18th July 2009, 8:03
i think yes, and for a couple of reasons!
1, we expected passing this year, and aside from Melb and Sepang, we then got the double diffusers and those stupid “flip ups” started to re-appear on front wongs and the passing has gone again………….
2, last year we had 3 teams that could win races, 5 by the end of the year, we started this year with 1 really, then 2 came (RBR & Toyota), and only red bull stayed, so hopefully RBR can make this season close at the end, but last year (seasonwise) was nail biting all the way through! we have seen some better racing this tear but also some dull ones, which we always will get, but some more passing would b good! they should take the aero reg’s at least 1 a step further next year! give them front wings like they have at the indy 500! in the 80’s they had them that small and there was racing, they also had bigger rear wings!
Steve K
18th July 2009, 8:27
Fix the diffuser issue for next year and keep everything else the same and next year will blow away this year. Changing the rules drastically messes things up a bit. By allowing the teams to build on what they have started this year will create lots of balance and depth to the series.
m0tion
18th July 2009, 8:32
I agree with Steve K, the diffuser issue and less KERS will likely see more processions in the back half of the season than in the first.
Achilles
18th July 2009, 8:33
This year had a promising start, different teams at the front, and on the surface of it, cars able to follow closely, and overtake! Now that the clever minds of F1 have made the aero work again we find the old status quo, where staying close to the car in front is becoming harder for the front runners, this makes it difficult for the fans as most broadcasting of the race, is of the leading few. Another difficulty is the half-minute leads that are becoming the norm, large gaps do not make for exciting racing. Engineers know they can reduce the turbulence using diffusers, and ground-effect, probably going back to steel brakes would also improve the races. To get a close championship like last year will require some unreliability, driver problems and yes, some wholesale interference by the stewards! I am glad that Red Bull stopped the Brawn rout, but I will be less impressed if they keep winning by 40 sconds…..
Patrickl
18th July 2009, 9:11
Last year we had a couple of great rain races. This year the races in the rain have been boring (or even cut in half)
Last year there were Lewis in a McLaren and Raikkonen and later Massa in a Ferrari battling for the championship. That’s 90% coverage of the drivers and teams the fans want to see win. This year people moan about Button, Brawn, Vettel and Red Bull winning. People are simply not fans of them.
Last year we had many different race winners. For some reason people start complaining when the same driver wins twice in a row already. Not sure how that makes things less interesting, but still.
For instance see the first race this year. Highest rating of the season and higher than 2008. Button won. That was new and cool back then. Now the next highest rating is set in the last race for a race where Webber won his first race (sigh of relief that it wasn’t just Button and Vettel dominating the season)
If you actually look at the ratings per race, there are only five races where there really is a different rating.
– Monaco and Silverstone where rated higher in 2008. Both won by a mile by Hamilton in the rain.
– Turkey rated higher in 2008. Battle between Massa and Hamilton in different fuel strategies (read “race lead changes”). Otherwise pretty unimpressive race in 2008 as well.
– China was rated higher in 2009. Rain race. I didn’t think it was that impressive, but rain always seems to add some to the rating. Also last year there was the debacle that Raikkonen had to wait for 20 seconds to let Massa pass. That must have cost 2008 some ratings.
– Bahrain was rated higher in 2009. Same thing as Turkey 2008. Fuel strategy differences made for race lead changes which equals to higher rating.
Maybe the question should be “Was the 2008 season less predictable than 2009?”.
I’d say indeed it was. This year realistically only Button was able to win the first few races. Then the tides changed and realistically only Vettel was able to win races. Last race Red Bull was 6 tenths faster than the rest.
Things are changing though. Obviously Webber is starting to get some momentum. Maybe his leg injury did hold him back. Barrichello seems to be going slightly faster too. Alonso looked to be pretty close to the Red Bulls actually. He seems to be fastest behind them. Only a few tenths. If he finally manages a good qualifying again he could seriously be in for the win. Even McLaren have improved a lot. Hamilton was faster than the Brawns in qualifying. Lastly, Brawn should be coming with an update. Hopefully that will allow them to come back.
We could be in for a 6 driver fight for the lead in the coming races.
Still the races would need to be seriously exciting to beat memorable races like Spa 2008 and Brazil 2008. Or even Monza 2008 where Vettel won in the rain and Hamilton almost won it fighting back from last place.
Greup
20th July 2009, 9:54
Spot on!
Hermann
26th July 2009, 16:06
I agree! The point is not that the races are boring in 2009, but that the main drivers are not taking part of them.
D Winn
18th July 2009, 9:47
Keith, isn’t Australia the highest rated on your chart – Germany being second ?
Karlos
18th July 2009, 10:57
Yes it is – I don’t know how he could have overlooked that!
D Winn
18th July 2009, 11:02
Keith probably has a touch of “F1-itis”
Katy
18th July 2009, 10:16
This years so dull compared to last year. Hopefully the last race was a sign of it picking up. Fingers crossed there’s a few good races still to come and the championship to get closer to redeem this year.
Getting rid of the double decker diffusers would be a good plan, once everyone started getting them there seemed to be even less passing. The mid field has been much more exciting this year.
Pink Peril
18th July 2009, 10:23
A week ago I would have said yes. Now, I find myself strangely invigorated for the rest of the season for some reason ;)
Williams 4ever
19th July 2009, 3:34
Something that has initials MW :D. His win was long overdue. I’d rather see him win WDC amongst all contenders, than Lego-Button
But this year has been boring. With so much disparity in the quality of cars first few races was like watching LEMANS or ALMS where cars of diff category share the track, only that LEMANS and ALMS are more exciting, here only point to watch was what new mysterious performance/strategy bungle will be used by brawn to get Brit ahead of Brazilian..
saab
18th July 2009, 10:31
First of all, polls asking people what they think about the GPs should be taken with a truck load of salt. There is a chance people’s judgements are affected by the results of “their” driver/team.
Other that that, the season looked promising. Some cars with KERS, some without. Some small teams with clearly competitive cars (read: diffuser), some top team with almost undriveable cars. So why is it still “boring”?
If close racing and overtaking is what we want, then someone (was it David Richards?) asked the right question years ago: Why do we then put the fastest car out front for the start of the race? Another question would be: Why are the stands empty even at the German GP? Because F1 is boring?
I think we have to look beyond the technical regulations.
Media: F1 is not that accessible to people all over the world. To many issues with pay-channels, lousy web content, etc. Move to free-for-all coverage on TV globally. Beef up the on-line presence to make it a natural partner to the broadcast.
Event: Is the whole F1 weekend interesting for the spectators on site? I know Porsche Super Cup is one of the support races. Why? What has that go to do with F1? Is GP2 “the” feeding series, or just yet another strange format together with F2, WSR, Formula Masters, etc.? I would like to see 2-3 classes running all race weekends, with a clear idea of them being a ladder to climb. That way, fans could really follow their driver through the series. That system alone have me watching MotoGP although I’m not at all interested in motorcycles.
Tracks: Maybe we have to lower the speed some to be able to yet again run on exciting and fun tracks that show driver skills. But something have to be done. Silverstone, Barcelona, Hungary, and Shanghai have to go. We can’t go to places because of some tradition or whatever, and then wish for rain so that the race is exciting. Just look at the F1 Fanatic live blog – always this “will it rain?”, “hope it rains”…
Races: Yes, I know F1 is F1, but there is a reason a 45 minute MotoGP race is usually action packed and a 80+ minutes F1 is not. I’m all for tradition, but maybe we just have to experiment with a two-race weekends of some sort? At least, that could get the stands filled. Because frankly, how does F1 feel for you as a viewer when they are racing in front of small crowd? No exactly the pinnacle of motorsport…
dsob
18th July 2009, 11:08
You make a good point in your “Event” paragraph. That sort of consistency works for Nascar. Their main series race is always a sell out, depending on the venue, sometimes years in advance. Wouldn’t mind seeing something like that in F1.
I wouldn’t mind seeing some tech regs to lower the speed of the cars, if that meant some of the older tracks could be used again. Frankly, watching them race, I can’t tell the difference between 190 and 160 with the naked eye–but I can sure see a line of cars as opposed to some wicked passing.
jayb
18th July 2009, 10:37
this season has been a bit like Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool sitting in mid table and Bolton and Wigan fighting for the premiership. Unless you are a fan, you only want to see the big guns fighting for the title.
its a waste to see lewis, kimi, alonso and kubica driving around in the mid field pack. roll on 2010!!!
Antifia
20th July 2009, 14:30
Kimi was already driving in the middle of the pack for most of the last season…
Alex20
18th July 2009, 10:51
TBH I think, as Katy rightly said, these race ratings are to some degree a load of baloney. I know for sure that if Webber hadn’t of won the german gp, then i would call it a so-so race hands down.
But what I find most intriguing about this season, and still was at the beginning, is the fact that we have new and invigoration front few rows of the grid, i absolutely love that!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Hamilton fan, and although I feel disheartened by the pace of the mclaren, and the fortunes hes had, I still think that these new changes have brought a new lease of life into F1, for new teams to challenge the big guns etc and for me, that is exciting in itself.
But give it a couple of seasons if not just this one to see the guys who didn’t developed the DDD first (Mclaren, Ferrari, BMW etc) to be right at the front of the grid next year, and if that is so, then we will indeed have a tight qualifying session bring an absolute blinder of a season. And with Max out of the way, what could be sweeter?
Tom
18th July 2009, 10:57
i don’t know what it is about this year but i am really enjoying the racing. it’s probably because of the huge reshuffle of form. also could be that my favourite driver is finally in a good car.
Karlos
18th July 2009, 11:02
Personally I think everyone should stop whinging! Opinions are like a***holes – everybody’s got one. ;o)
At the same time is essentially a situation where the grass is always greener on the other side of some imaginary kerbing.
Acceptance is the road to bliss. XD
sumedh
18th July 2009, 11:06
I think its unfair to compare 2009 with 2008. For that matter, any season should not be compared to 2008. 2008 was a true classic, with unpredictability over the race results / championship results very high. Spa and Interlagos 2008 races are by far the best ever.
We should compare 2009 with 2007, may be that will give a more realistic picture. Coz, 2009 is not as bad as it is made to look in this post.
Bartholomew
18th July 2009, 11:08
Bring back unsyncronised manual gear shifting, and mechanics in overalls and straw hat.
Ban : radio talk between driver and teams, and all use of computers on race weekend.
The most important change : steel brakes with narrower front wheels, so we have more overtaking in braking areas.
PrisonerMonkeys
18th July 2009, 11:09
I think the problem is that everyone expected the OWG to be the magic bullet that would unlock the secrets of overtaking. And while I do think they’ve succeeded – there’s been more passing this year than in 2008 – it’s nowhere near everyone’s expectations. Combined with the fact that no-one saw Brawn coming (and while the last two races saw Red Bull dominate, they’ve also been in conditions that were best for the RB5), it’s been a little disappointing.
I think the biggest offender is KERS. All the McLaren and Ferrari drivers have to do is press a button and no-one can catch them, even when by rights other drivers have a better car. You get the odd move like Button taking Hamilton in Bahrain, but for the most part KERS has been counter-productive to good racing because the only cars carrying it are the bad ones.
PrisonerMonkeys
18th July 2009, 11:12
Also, the way the championship has played out means that the second half is going to be very interesting. Rather than being a series of separate races, it beocmes one big race to see who can score more points before the other. Much more interesting that way.
Robert McKay
18th July 2009, 11:27
It’s definitely not as exciting as last season, although last season was an exceptional year overall and maybe race-for-race the best season I’ve seen over the last 13-14 years.
However that was largely down to some mega wet-races (particularly wet-dry races, like Monaco and Spa). Last year in the dry was no better than this year and probably a bit worse, so I’m not of the opinion that all was fine last year and the regs shouldn’t have been changed. The failure of KERS hasn’t helped this year but a couple of things have added to the mix – particularly the tyre thing (its a gimmick, but it does mean that cars do have a wider pace range during a race and that DOES help at least with overtaking and particularly strategy) and the lack of testing meaning that teams are throwing bits haphazardly on the cars and so each the pecking order each weekend is not necessarily consistent (look at Toyota, for example, who’ve yo-yoed around near pole, the very back, the top 10 and then the lower midfield).
However the real problem of 2009 has been that, although we’re now looking like getting a decent title fight, it’s either been Brawn absolutely dominant or Red Bull absolutely dominant. They don’t seem to have had a weekend where it was nip and tuck, especially between all four drivers. In 2008 the Mclaren-Ferrari fight felt a bit more consistent in terms of outright pace and BMW were always there to pick up the pieces and keep them honest.
I think this year needs Red Bull to be strong for a couple more races and close the gap and then Brawn to match their pace for the rest of the season, that will be best for the title, and to see a third team playing the BMW role from last year as well would be nice.
A couple of dry-wet races and non RB/Brawn winners would be good too.
Macca
18th July 2009, 12:03
what does like-for-like rounds mean.
Robert McKay
18th July 2009, 16:51
Well, all I really meant is over the course of the season how many races were truly excellent/memorable.
My experience has been that only one or two per year are truly great – but last year that was totally smashed (for me). Melbourne, Montreal, Monaco, Silverstone, Spa, Monza and Interlagos were all crackers, and there were a couple of fairly reasonable races in Hockenheim, Fuji and Singapore.
For me there haven’t really been many standout races so far. Melbourne and Shanghai were good and the rest unmemorable. I think the second half of the season owes a great race or two still.
David A
18th July 2009, 20:13
Like for like means for example:
China 2008 vs China 2009, not Round 3 2008 vs Round 3 2009.
Antifia
20th July 2009, 14:36
The like-for-like comparison takes the average rating of the races already run this year against the average of the same set of races last year – in other words, it excludes from last year’s average the ratings of the races that have not yet been run this year.
ed
18th July 2009, 12:35
A few things that shouldn’t be overlooked here…
For a start, the tracks. Many, especially the more recent tracks on the calender, are just not overtaking friendly. When I went to Silverstone this year, I made sure I had a view of Stowe, Vale and Club, as they are the only places on the whole circuit where you can make an overtake work. The rest of the track has a tight racing line. The last sector is almost entirely a processional single file of traffic and the first section is too fast, so no drivers are able to compromise their racing line to pull an overtaking move.
Stowe saw just about the only overtake of the race, while Vale had a couple of incidents. I love the Silverstone track, but its just the case with F1 – at those speeds the drivers just can’t compromise their racing lines to overtake.
Secondly, the field this year is incredibly evenly matched. Less the 2 seconds separate Brawn from Force India for example. With the cars so evenly matched overtaking is going to be more difficult. It’s only track conditions favouring different chassis and aero that create bigger performance differences, and in those cases, one or two teams pull away creating a processional race. If it wasn’t for Webbers penalty he’d have run away in Germany, just like Vettel ran away in GB.
It’s also quite clear that some cars follow better than others. I think its been pointed out a few times that the Brawn is able to follow closer than most of the competition. The RB5 on the other hand, although fast with its new upgrades, still struggles to follow closely. I’m sure some more aero development would allow teams to get these new rules working better in wheel to wheel situations.
TommyB
18th July 2009, 12:36
Much worse. The start of the races are better but thats it. Then they get into order and thats it for the race. The Brawn dominance in the first 6/7 races was really boring. Now it looks like its going to be Red Bull for the rest of the season… I’m a Red Bull fan but i want close racing. Last year 7 drivers won a race
Pete Walker
18th July 2009, 12:42
Button’s Schumacher-like domination hasn’t exactly helped, but yes I was expecting more from the new aero rules.
Answer: Ditch wings. Mechanical grip all the way. :)
SYM
18th July 2009, 13:08
Dahhh! This is the season F1 turned nasty!
:|
Striay
18th July 2009, 13:30
YES YES YES YES YES YES….. It’s the most boring season since the Shumi era. Bring on the 2010 season!!!
Maestro
18th July 2009, 13:48
this year f1 is boring, what was wrong last year, i think it was the most amazing season in f1 histroy, the title was decided at the last corner of the brazilian gp, the new rules have destroyed f1, who is a fan of brawn gp and red bull, people wants to see mclaren, ferrari, bmw, renault, those are the historic teams that everyone loved, look at the title its between redbull and brawn gp, thats really funny, neither ferrari nor mclaren is fighting for it, what a boring season it is ……..
TommyB
18th July 2009, 16:44
I am a fan of Red Bull but I agree. I don’t agree with the people that think this season is amazing just because Brawn are winning and Mclaren/Ferrari are doing rubbish – Making it sound like it’s exciting because of that
Robert McKay
18th July 2009, 16:54
It’s boring if Mclaren and Ferrari fight it out EVERY season. If they’ve a divine right to be the two championship challengers the rest should just go and race somewhere else.
The season isn’t as good as last season for several factors, but I think it’s surprisingly shortsighted for people to assume it’s only because the usual big teams aren’t at the top.
gabal
18th July 2009, 13:48
Well, last season was exceptional and for teams to have so equal performance rules can really do as much. Generally I believe that almost every time there has been a drastic rule change in F1 history one team would get it right and dominate the next season…
And to get 3 championships in a row where we shall get such a close finish was maybe too much to ask.
Big galah
18th July 2009, 13:49
I say no!
It is just different. The article you wrote after the 5th race this year Keith was proclaiming that race ratings were up on last year.
The passing should be better but it is not. Though it is certainly no worse than last year.
I think there are to many whinging ferarri and mclaren fans who vote down the race rating. I say wait till the season ends as we have some good racing ahead.
Patrickl
18th July 2009, 18:53
hear hear
Becken
18th July 2009, 14:08
Yes…
Bartholomew
18th July 2009, 14:16
There are more processions than in previous years, at the front end.
— why is it that the cars are so sensible to set-up ? they seem to have a smaller sweet spot
— the drivers are making way less mistakes than in 2008 : Hamilton, Massa, Kimi, …. would crash, have misfortunes in the pit, etc.
— 2007 was GREAT
Pingguest
18th July 2009, 15:46
Yes, I think the 2009 season is less exciting than the 2008 season. The races are still decided by pitstops, and if not by the qualifying results and see veryCars little overtaking.
In my opinion the main reasons are aerodynamics, the presence of pitstops and the standardization of the sport. Cars have become very equal and driving closely behind someone is very difficult. In the current conditions pitstops provide the best oppertunity for overtaking.
Hector
18th July 2009, 15:58
At the beginning look’s nice see a new team wining, but now is boring, the team doesn’t have the fans heart, so is just glad see them wining with a new team, plus, the car colors are horrible!!
Please ferrari and mclaren wake up!
Pingguest
18th July 2009, 16:47
I don’t think we should expect much from Ferrari and McLaren for the rest of the season. As mid-season testing is banned, it has become very difficult to improve during the season. The two teams could well decide to start the development for the 2010 car early.
KersNotMe
18th July 2009, 17:01
For sleeping, there’s nothing better that this year’s races… and I bet the big sponsors from Renault, BMW, McLaren, Ferrai, are truly happy to see their teams fighting to enter the points…
Maybe the first race or first races were fine because it was some surprise, new team, a winning driver that almost didn’t had a seat in Formula 1 this year… After the novelty… it suck more from race to race… and the so called Red Bull fight with Brown isn’t making any better – it’s was the same that Button winning all the races to the end… No matter at all..
SUCKS BIG TIME!
rfs
18th July 2009, 17:17
A question about overtaking:
Was overtaking easier back in the 80s and 70s? Or was it somewhat similar to modern F1 where the majority of “races” were just parades?
And here’s an interesting article about the difficulty of overtaking written all the way back in 1995: http://www.grandprix.com/ft/ft00196.html
Pingguest
18th July 2009, 18:15
I’ve all races from the 1980s on DVD and yes, there was more close racing.
Patrickl
18th July 2009, 19:23
After engine development was banned, the teams didn’t decided to spend less money. They decided to spend much of the 150 to 200 million on aero development. This meant that aero development went at an incredible pace and the cars reliance on a stable airflow made overtaking impossible. Or at least (as the Overtaking Workgroup determined) when there was less than 3 seconds difference in laptimes overtaking was virtually impossible. Obviously a 3 second difference is a pretty rare occurence.
The OWG set out to allow overtaking if the lap time difference was around a second (or more). I’d say they pretty much succeeded there. It shouldn’t be less because then overtaking would be too easy.
Trouble is that not all teams made full use of the regulations and regarding moveable front wings and not all teams have KERS. This partially defeats the efforts of the OWG. On the other hand KERS also creates some overtaking.
Of course the basic problem is that the current qualifying format means that all cars start in the order of who’s fastest and these days even “with race fuel on board”. That means that basically all the cars are already in the order of their lap times they can perform and how can you overtake if the cars are already sorted to race lap times? In some races KERS has mixed things up a bit, but still.
Of course before (when cars qualified light) you had this problem too. That’s where the term “Trulli Train” comes from (quick qualifier on low fuel, but a slower driver in race trim).
I was watching the Toronto IndyCars race and I noticed that cars there seemed to be much more able to overtake. Even on a road course with walls around. I saw Tracy pull a few moves where he simply braked later with smoking tyres and took the corner. He was a lot faster than the people he overtook though so maybe it was simply the speed difference that made it so easy.
Hakka
18th July 2009, 17:18
Oh god yes! 2007 & 2008 were simply incredible for me personally. But I understand that having that sort of that thing every season will take away some of the fun, so I’m not complaining about this season.
Harinarayanan
18th July 2009, 18:28
Absolutely yes!
Thomas
18th July 2009, 19:18
Did the writer of that article really say the cars are 5 meters long? I might be from the states where we use an archaic system, but 5 meters seems a bit unrealistic lol.
Anyway, as to the topic, I find the season boring simply because of the promise it held. The cars were redesigned in a horrible manner, mechanical grip was back, all with the specific purpose of bringing on track battles. So far this has by and large not been the case. Instead we have more court drama than anything else and I find it somewhat irritating that everyone roots for the underdog Brawns thinking they are accomplishing everything on a shoe string budget…
Brawn+Ferrari
18th July 2009, 20:33
If everyone hates this years racing so much… dont watch.
Pingguest
18th July 2009, 21:14
The problem is that we’re all infected by the “motorsport virus”. ;-)
Tiomkin
19th July 2009, 12:26
Good logic, but how would you know you don’t like it if you don’t watch?
eg. I hate Marmite, but I’ve never tasted it.
Sounds ill thought out?
manatcna
20th July 2009, 22:54
How do you know you don’t like Marmite if you’ve never tasted it?
MN
18th July 2009, 21:01
I think Malaysia and China were good races and were under-rated. First 3 races were good the rest were okay. I think Quali is more exicting the moment.
Robert McKay
18th July 2009, 22:59
Good point, quali is definitely excellent.
Owen G
18th July 2009, 23:36
Last year had a lot more driver and team mistakes. Mistakes = crashes = unpredictability = higher ratings.
I thought 2008 was actually a poor season. The standards were quite low. Granted it was close and the last race was absolutely unbelievable, but overall it wasn’t a good season.
2007 however, was brilliant. 3 drivers on top form and close racing.
And I’m saying this as more of a McLaren/Hamilton fan than Ferrari!
wasiF1
19th July 2009, 1:56
I believe like me everybody expected a bit more overtaking.As far as races are concerned it is good 7 out of 10 from me.I believe 2009 is more exciting than 2008 because almost every race weekend we had trouble.I don’t believe F1 had so many off track action in 60 years as it had this season.
The car does look ugly,but they are winning against lap times compare to last year.
1.Medal system
2.Double diffuser
3.FOTA VS FIA
The sri lankan
19th July 2009, 3:22
it’s less exciting because cars are so FUGLY.even GP2 cars look better than modern f1 cars. they need to atleast ditch the big front wing by 2010. KERS needs to go unless they come up with a one size fits all soltion. overtaking isnt really an issue as in some races its impoissible to overtake than others but as i said they need to splve the looks i the cars for sure
Tom
20th July 2009, 4:28
i’ve wondered since the start of the season whether the aero regulations would revert back to 08 if overtaking didn’t improve as expected. i don’t mind the look of the cars so much now as i did at the start of the season but i still prefer last year’s.
Thomas
19th July 2009, 3:40
Don’t watch is the solution? Really? You must be from the American South ;)
Anyway, the season simply hasn’t shaped up in the way most of us expected. The season started off with so much promise only to lead to the Brawns essentially walking away with the championship to this point. I’m sure many of us thought that there’d be some great close racing, possibly some fights for the lead and none of this happened.
Then there’s the fact that off track disputes have overshadowed the season by a large margin…
W-K
19th July 2009, 5:25
Few comments have come up that do not really make sense.
Get rid of double diffuser. If a diffuser is a diffuser, and smooths out the air flow, then the double diffuser should help not hinder following car. Therefore look somewhere else to find out what is causing the problem, like the rear wing.
Go back to steel brakes. Steel brakes under the loads required for F1 have been known to shatter. Not a good thing. So Ceramic brakes will stay.
In MotoGP over the last few years they have decreased the size of the fuel tank. So with next years regulation of no re-fueling why not introduce fixed amount of fuel. If the car cannot get to the finish it cannot win and the most efficient cars will.
HounslowBusGarage
19th July 2009, 10:12
Sorry W_K, but I don’t think your last comment makes sense either.
Back in the turbo-era of the 80’s, there was a limit on the amount of fuel available to the cars(1984 – 5). This had the result of some cars being able to race each other until a certain point in the race whereupon they would have to turn the turbo boost down and go into economy mode just to make it to the finish. Worse, quite a few cars just ran out of fuel.
The result was not just boring, but unimaginably annoying for everyone involved.
Next season there will be no refuelling, but tyre stops will still be required. So cars will have to start with full race fuel and because of their weight, will have to start on the harder tyre. Maybe the middle stint (still with a much heavier car than this season) will have to be on the harder option as well. For the third stint, cars will have to switch to the softer option to comply with the rules.
Stupid, eh?
Pingguest
19th July 2009, 11:44
I watched all the “fuel economy” races and drivers raced each other from start to finish quite often.
Patrickl
19th July 2009, 11:16
We had more overtaking (on track) this season in the Melbourne race alone than there was in the whole of the 2008 season.
jose
20th July 2009, 9:57
on tv, more or less the same. The problem was the initial advantage button had.
When you are at a race track, the problem is that the cars feel slow. Yes slow. Up the hill on stambul park, was a shame. This i think has more to do with the engines having to last more races, than the aereo package. What a diference today’s f1, with the turbo years in the early eighties. In those years f1 was what f1 should be.F1 is becoming a tv show.
Gusto
20th July 2009, 14:38
Must admit that I feel this season doesn`t seem to have that edge of previous years, after the Aus GP I thought we were looking at an action packed year, but it seems to of gone a bit flat. But after the tragic events at Brands Hatch yesterday we are reminded that any race that ends with all drivers crossing the line safely is a good race.
Hector
20th July 2009, 14:49
Well, I think all what fans need is more fight for winning, but you can be changing year over year the cars and the rules that much, it’s dumb, I believe the cars and rules should stay for three years or something like that…
Patrickl
20th July 2009, 21:46
The rules are hardly changed year over year. This year was one of the first major rule changes in years. The previous one was when they changed to grooved tyres. That must be like a decade ago already.
DMW
20th July 2009, 16:37
It seems we had much more rain last year, which of course spices things up. A big factor is the let down: After a championship decided on the last lap, among two arch-enemy teams, who would go to battle with a WDC driver apiece, we wanted Round 3 of this epic battle. And with Kubica, Alonso, and the Toytoas waiting in the wings to join battle with the promise they showed last year, it seemed perfect. But instead we have a race between a plain white car and the sugar-water car—no heritage or rivalry between them. And regular old processions to boot.
carlos
20th July 2009, 22:04
It has to do with a few names not well established in peoples minds. The winners this year are not the hot shots of past, so it is just a matter of getting used to it. Deep down we probably hope the big names would bounce back instead of the Brawns in their white and puke green colors. No one had been prepared to place Button,Barrichelo,Webber and Vetel on top of anything. Bring on 2010..2009 is a dud!
Matt
23rd July 2009, 12:38
The guys competing at the front just aren’t very interesting. When has Vettel ever overtaken anyone?
No Hamilton, Alonso and Ferrari at the front means things just aren’t that interesting to casual fans, it means things are going to be less interesting to hardcore fans that are biased towards those teams/drivers (arguably the majority of fans) and it’s going to be less interesting to neutrals who want to see the best drivers at the front, which right now is Hamilton, Alonso et al.
I’m sick of hearing people rip into the rules and regulations year after year. The truth is F1 has never had a lot of passing, it certainly hasn’t in the past 20 years, which is when a lot of fans have started watching. I said last season that the new rules would have no influence on how good the racing is. If a car is faster it either gets past or it doesn’t. More often than not, it’s actually more exciting when that car doesn’t get past, at least for a few laps anyway. There’s never going to be a race in F1 where two drivers constantly swap positions lap after lap, that’s just not what F1 is and it’s why that same old clip of Arnoux gets recycled over and over again. It’s because that was an anomaly; an exception, not the rule.
This season sucks because the popular teams and drivers aren’t winning, it’s that simple.
DASMAN
23rd July 2009, 13:22
Someone here said that they think the rules should stay the same for 3 years or so? I agree – traditional most of the best seasons for close racing have been at the end of a rules cycle, when the rules have been more or less stable for 3 years.
We have since 2000 not really had a year where the rules have been the same for 3 years running, most notably the tire rules have kept changing from year to year.
The lack of testing has to be robbing us of some of the “show” this year tho, it means that basically the status quo from the first race remins roughly the same over the course of the year.
I would like this rule above all removed and have testing allowed with a mileage restriction.
Prawn GP
26th July 2009, 15:25
its pretty much the same, its just the laws of physics that the wings on the car will not operate as well behind the tunnel of turbulent air created by the car in front making it very difficult to overtake, as Martin Brundle said if they take away the downforce it will be slower than the lower formula’s , i mean in Karting you may see 300 overtakes and re- overtakes because of the lack of aerodynamics on a kart, i can always remember how much more exciting it was to see the F1 drivers race each other at the karting charity events, you would suddenly see a Minardi driver up there mixing at the front, although it never stopped Schumacher winning every race.