Are there any other F1 motor racing fans here

[AlanHo]

Future rule changes agreed

I am not sure that the changes agreed will make F1 racing more watchable - or exciting. With the cars all moving towards a basic standard and with a limit on engine revs and power I guess driver skills will become more apparent - but they might just as well give them all standard Ford Fiestas to race.

[catgate]

I think F1 had become very boring. I have been a motor racing fan for many, many years. Since long before there was an F1. So boring in fact has it become, that about half way through 2008 I just stopped watching. It had become, like all TV, 20% content and 80% presentation with the whole thing spread out for hours and hours just to provide air time for advertising.

When he was a "Team Owner" that wee Bernie Ecclescake chap did little for the benefit of Racing, and regretably,since selling his team he has done even less and less for Racing, and more and more for himself. He reminds me of Barnum (or maybe Bailey) with a travelling circus. He is a showman, pure and not so simple, and seems to trade on the egos of those who are rich enough to pay him squillions of currency in order that they might have their own Grand Prix.

On the other hand Mosely, who seems to see himself as some sort of Obergruppen Fuhrer of the FIA, has tried to control things in the FIA as he wants them, through threat and blackmail. I feel the teams, and racing, would have been better served by going ahead with their proposed breakaway move. They would have come out of it much better than than they have done by staying in. There is no show without Punch.

Just how much goes on between these two is anybody's guess, but between them they have made a lot of money, spoiled Grand Prix motor racing and provided vast amounts of advertising opportunities for sponsors and TV.

I know from my days of Kart racing in the 60s that the RAC controlled virtually all racing in this country, in a very undemocratic way, but I thought those days had disappeared.

I also know that from a competitor's point of view (well from the view of most of the people I knew) more than half the "fun" was in the experimentation and development of the equipment. In fact I reckon that the best motor car racing I have seen has been in the Formula Libre events, where the limits on development were virtually nil.

[CurlyWhirly]

I think F1 had become very boring.

I found it much more boring when Michael Schumacher was winning nearly every race!

This year and in 2007 I have found F1 much more exciting with the championship going to the final race.

[CurlyWhirly]

Future rule changes agreed

I am not sure that the changes agreed will make F1 racing more watchable - or exciting. With the cars all moving towards a basic standard and with a limit on engine revs and power I guess driver skills will become more apparent - but they might just as well give them all standard Ford Fiestas to race.

I think that these cost saving measures are needed if we are to avoid more teams ditching F1 although I'm not sure if the proposed ban on refuelling is a good move

[AlanHo]

Looking at the full press release it states that no refuelling will be allowed for the week-end. Does this mean they fill her up on the Saturday - then do the qualifying laps and race on what is left in the tank...?

In a way I hope so because it makes qualifying a bit more representative of the speed of each car in racing trim.

[Belatucadrus]

Cost cuts or not I still think we'll lose another couple of teams. Renault shares are doing really badly and their head man Mr Ghosn is a notable hatchet man with no real love for their F1 team. Toyota as Honda don't have much to show for their investment and at the moment don't have any sports cars in their lineup, the Celica, Supra and MR2 have all bitten the dust with no replacement and what sporting success would give them is not at all obvious.

[Belatucadrus]

Not just F1 feeling the pinch, World Rally Championship also getting pruned with Subaru and Suzuki pulling out with immediate effect.