Hamilton holds off Verstappen to win tense F1 season-opener

BennyBeaver

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/auto-racing/hamilton-holds-off-verstappen-to-win-f1-season-opener/

Great race portends a more competitive season.

1to392831weretaken

Was there any passing that happened outside of pit row? Need to decide if I want to watch or not.

Meanwhile, MotoGP season opener in Qatar was pretty good. Night race, so glowing carbon brake discs and exhaust flames. Lots of passing, lead changes, last second heartbreak. Not a classic (has to be at least 20 passes in the last three laps to come close to that status), but pretty good. Looks like a decent season inbound. Ducati's holeshot device is ridiculous.

BleachedAnusDawg

F1 has always been the least compelling of all motorsports to watch. Zero passing and very non-competitive among the manufacturers. Hopefully some of the rules changes fix those issues. Still won't watch it because it's a bunch of Eurofags.

BennyBeaver

1to392831weretaken said:

Was there any passing that happened outside of pit row? Need to decide if I want to watch or not.

Meanwhile, MotoGP season opener in Qatar was pretty good. Night race, so glowing carbon brake discs and exhaust flames. Lots of passing, lead changes, last second heartbreak. Not a classic (has to be at least 20 passes in the last three laps to come close to that status), but pretty good. Looks like a decent season inbound. Ducati's holeshot device is ridiculous.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1376990613808107520?s=20

1to392831weretaken

Finally got around to watching the Romain Grosjean crash in Bahrain. HOLY FUCK! I'm thinking there's a pretty good chance he's a Terminator, so somebody might want to look into that.

BennyBeaver

Imola this week. Will anyone unseat the Mercs?

DerekJohnson

@PurpleJ
@coronabruin

BennyBeaver

@PurpleBaze
@RuffaloSoldier

PurpleBaze

NOC

RaceBannon

Tense

BennyBeaver

Max with the big 25 points. Incredible start going 3rd to 1st in by the 3rd turn.

dflea

Max and Lewis are going to be at each other's throats all season long. The racing this year has been good, I think.

The comments about the only passing being in the pits was valid a few years ago. There's a decent amount of passing these days with the DRS system in place, but I'll give you that the Mercedes team has been making the racing a bit boring the past few seasons.

The Drive to Survive series on Netflix is good if you want a peek inside an F1 team for the weekend.

dflea

BleachedAnusDawg said:

F1 has always been the least compelling of all motorsports to watch. Zero passing and very non-competitive among the manufacturers. Hopefully some of the rules changes fix those issues. Still won't watch it because it's a bunch of Eurofags.

Less compelling than oval racing of any kind? No.

BennyBeaver

dflea said:

Max and Lewis are going to be at each other's throats all season long. The racing this year has been good, I think.

The comments about the only passing being in the pits was valid a few years ago. There's a decent amount of passing these days with the DRS system in place, but I'll give you that the Mercedes team has been making the racing a bit boring the past few seasons.

The Drive to Survive series on Netflix is good if you want a peek inside an F1 team for the weekend.

Agree on all counts. Drive to Survive even made Mrs. Beaver a fan of F1.

BleachedAnusDawg

dflea said:

BleachedAnusDawg said:

F1 has always been the least compelling of all motorsports to watch. Zero passing and very non-competitive among the manufacturers. Hopefully some of the rules changes fix those issues. Still won't watch it because it's a bunch of Eurofags.

Less compelling than oval racing of any kind? No.

Yes, because they pass on ovals and can swap paint without making the cars disintegrate.

1to392831weretaken

BleachedAnusDawg said:

dflea said:

BleachedAnusDawg said:

F1 has always been the least compelling of all motorsports to watch. Zero passing and very non-competitive among the manufacturers. Hopefully some of the rules changes fix those issues. Still won't watch it because it's a bunch of Eurofags.

Less compelling than oval racing of any kind? No.

Yes, because they pass on ovals and can swap paint without making the cars disintegrate.

I used to shit all over dirt oval sprints until I actually went and watched, then I found out it's pretty fun. It's white twash as fuck, don't get me wrong, but it's fun. Covering your beer when they go by to avoid flying dirt clots, loud engines, the occasional car tumbling end over end. Good Tims. I'd die of boredom watching it on TV, though, just as I do when somebody has NASCAR on. Turn both ways or GTFO.

RaceBannon

1to392831weretaken said:

BleachedAnusDawg said:

dflea said:

BleachedAnusDawg said:

F1 has always been the least compelling of all motorsports to watch. Zero passing and very non-competitive among the manufacturers. Hopefully some of the rules changes fix those issues. Still won't watch it because it's a bunch of Eurofags.

Less compelling than oval racing of any kind? No.

Yes, because they pass on ovals and can swap paint without making the cars disintegrate.

I used to shit all over dirt oval sprints until I actually went and watched, then I found out it's pretty fun. It's white twash as fuck, don't get me wrong, but it's fun. Covering your beer when they go by to avoid flying dirt clots, loud engines, the occasional car tumbling end over end. Good Tims. I'd die of boredom watching it on TV, though, just as I do when somebody has NASCAR on. Turn both ways or GTFO.

One of my floor crews raced dirt track in Tenino. He wore Earnhardt gear and even visited Mecca or Daytona for a 500. Wore the black hat and everything and talked like a hick

We got to talking one day and he grew up in Connecticut as a child of wealth. CSB

BennyBeaver

BleachedAnusDawg said:

dflea said:

BleachedAnusDawg said:

F1 has always been the least compelling of all motorsports to watch. Zero passing and very non-competitive among the manufacturers. Hopefully some of the rules changes fix those issues. Still won't watch it because it's a bunch of Eurofags.

Less compelling than oval racing of any kind? No.

Yes, because they pass on ovals and can swap paint without making the cars disintegrate.

sure.gif

Most F1 car damage is fixed by swapping out nose pieces. Are they as tuff as NASCAR? Like we say, no.

And as my esteemed colleague noted above, there is plenty of passing. Sometimes not always at the front due to Mercs dominance in the past couple of years, but now they are being pushed by Red Bull at the front and the middle of the pack teams are very tightly matched.

The cars are technological wonders which is one the reason I like it.

dflea

BennyBeaver said:

dflea said:

Max and Lewis are going to be at each other's throats all season long. The racing this year has been good, I think.

The comments about the only passing being in the pits was valid a few years ago. There's a decent amount of passing these days with the DRS system in place, but I'll give you that the Mercedes team has been making the racing a bit boring the past few seasons.

The Drive to Survive series on Netflix is good if you want a peek inside an F1 team for the weekend.

Agree on all counts. Drive to Survive even made Mrs. Beaver a fan of F1.

Same here. My wife hates the sound of the cars, but she started watching DTS and couldn't stop. So much awesome footage.

BleachedAnusDawg said:

dflea said:

BleachedAnusDawg said:

F1 has always been the least compelling of all motorsports to watch. Zero passing and very non-competitive among the manufacturers. Hopefully some of the rules changes fix those issues. Still won't watch it because it's a bunch of Eurofags.

Less compelling than oval racing of any kind? No.

Yes, because they pass on ovals and can swap paint without making the cars disintegrate.

They pass in F1, too, and you shouldn't hit other shit with your car. Have you not watched a Grand Prix in a few years? The racing today is very good, and it was always the case in F1 that a couple teams dominate the series.

I'd rather watch F1 than any other car racing. Bike racing is great, too, dirt or track. Oval racing, unless it's on dirt, just doesn't do it for me.

dflea

Verstappen takes the win at Monaco and now leads the WDC.

dflea

Charles LeClerc puts the Ferrari on pole for the Azerbaijan GP tomorrow, starting alongside Hamilton in the Merc.

Verstappen starts from 3rd.