It was a weird but strangely enjoyable season

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John
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It was a weird but strangely enjoyable season

#1

Post by John »

This season really was an outlier, in terms of uncertainty regarding the races, especially as to where they were going to be run, and if they were going to be run at all. And the races themselves provided a healthy dose of madness as well. Add to that the musicals chairs of suber-sub drivers which saw Hulkenback for three, well, two I guess, races, Fittipaldi and Aitken get last minute call ups, and Georgie finally getting his well deserved shot in a proper car.

I ogled through the race ratings thread to see if it was a creature of my own imagination, or if this season really was that entertaining. Here's what we voted for (the most popular rating is the listed one, couldn't be arsed to do an average):

Austria: 8
Styrian GP: 6
Hungary: 5
Silverstone 1: 6
Silverstone 2: 7
sPAIN: 2 and 4 got give votes each.
Belgium: 4
Monza: 8
Mugello: 7
Sochi: 3
Eifel GP: 5 and 4 splitting the vote
Algarve: 7 and 5 splitting the vote
Imola: 4
Turkey: 8
Bahrain: 5
Sakhir: 8
Abu Dhabi: 2

And the races I missed/didn't watch because I was probably playing golf instead, this year was, conveniently, Hungary, Spain, Belgium Sochi, and Abu Dhabi. Meaning that I pretty much managed to dodge all the garbage races this year. Which might go some way in explaining why I've seen so much good racing this year.

But we had two brilliant, fun wins by Gasly and Checo. We've had some transfer market shenanigans, and a bunch of good circuits returning or hosting it's first race. It's been so much fresh air in the sport this year, even though it's was the usual Mercedes walk over.

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#2

Post by MonteCristo »

I'm not so fussed about driver swaps, since it wasn't totally out of nowhere subs. But with the super licence rules the way they are, that's not really possible anymore; so it's internal swapping and recent drivers (and I'm a meh on the Hulk).

But it was interesting to see a few different tracks that we might not see again.

Low lights: Mercedes, the usual shit tracks, and doubled-up tracks (A1 Ring, Silverstone - props to Bahrain for mixing things up with layouts).

Finally: a shout out to the Thai GP!
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#3

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

I suppose somewhere along the line we should give a shout out to Liberty, who came up with 17 races to at least give us the calendar it looked for a while might not have happened at all. Yes it was for obvious reasons a tad Euro-centric..... maybe totally European if the middle east classes as Europe in some eyes.

I was not totally in favour of multiple races at the same track, but against the alternative I can put up with that for a one off year.

At the end of the day what we got was better than watching replays of last year every couple of weeks! And we learnt new words and phrases never used in F1 terms before... words like F1 Bubbles and Biospheres, double headers, 2 day meetings with little practice, and even coming to terms with F1 no longer being a spectator sport. The upside of that last point being we did not have to put up with Lewis crowd surfing and thanking the minions for turning up. It even kept the VIP's and poseurs away from poncing about on the grid. :biggrin:

Thankful for small mercies.....

Plus a big thanks to the teams / personnel who were subjected to living in bubbles and biospheres for weeks on end, sacrificing their family life to keep us entertained. :bow: We only had to remember to turn the telly on, and get the nibbles and beers out as we put our feet up at home. :drunk:

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#4

Post by Circuitmaster »

It did seem like there were many memorable moments for a year in which there wasn't really much on the line.

Hamilton winning on 3.5 wheels at Silverstone
The Mugello restart madness
The Turkish ice-rink, turning inters into slicks
Perez winning from last
Gasly getting a win
Russell getting robbed
The halo legit saving a life
Covid-19 mixing up the track and driver lineup

However.. I dunno if I can take another year of Hamilton winning. Please Mercedes. If you want people to watch your next and hopefully last championship for a while, put someone else in that second Merc and let them race!
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#5

Post by White six »

Overall?

It was crap

Possibly the least amount of intrigue in a world title 'battle' ever
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#6

Post by John »

White six wrote: 3 years ago Overall?

It was crap

Possibly the least amount of intrigue in a world title 'battle' ever
There is more to F1 than the title battle.

I know, I used to support Jean Alesi when he was around.
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#7

Post by White six »

John wrote: 3 years ago
White six wrote: 3 years ago Overall?

It was crap

Possibly the least amount of intrigue in a world title 'battle' ever
There is more to F1 than the title battle.

I know, I used to support Jean Alesi when he was around.

Still crap. I enjoyed the Gasly win and seeing Imola again. Watched 1980 in the first lockdown. Genuinely exciting seeing 4 cars in a line with about an inch between each, and overtaking that is planned or opportunistic without the need for the abysmal drs

Edit, I think the 4 car battle is Belgium 81
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#8

Post by strad »

I have talked to a few people who thought this was a great season.
I don't think so. I think it was one of the most boring seasons ever. In fact I think the last few seasons have been a snorefest.
I have had races where a few hours after watching I could think of anything significant that had happened.
The races for a while now have flat put me to sleep.
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#9

Post by White six »

strad wrote: 3 years ago I have talked to a few people who thought this was a great season.
I don't think so. I think it was one of the most boring seasons ever. In fact I think the last few seasons have been a snorefest.
I have had races where a few hours after watching I could think of anything significant that had happened.
The races for a while now have flat put me to sleep.
Were you visiting a mental institution?
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#10

Post by Ruslan »

"It was a weird but strangely enjoyable season" I think is a nice summary. I found it more interesting and enjoyable than I expected. There actually was a lot of good racing, even though it was not for the top three places. The different venues and a few surprises also improved the show.
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#11

Post by Antonov »

I realise it's a controversial statement, but it's the truth: Nicolas Latifi was rookie of the season.
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#12

Post by White six »

Antonov wrote: 3 years ago I realise it's a controversial statement, but it's the truth: Nicolas Latifi was rookie of the season.
Reminds me of Boris Johnson winning the general election against Jeremy Corbyn
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#13

Post by XcraigX »

I enjoyed this season more than most others in the modern era. The title battle has been poor for more than 20 years. We know who was going to win each one (with 2010 being the only exception).
But the variation, surprises and general unpredictability of this year was great. Loved every minute of it!
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#14

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

strad wrote: 3 years ago I have talked to a few people who thought this was a great season.
I don't think so. I think it was one of the most boring seasons ever. In fact I think the last few seasons have been a snorefest.
I have had races where a few hours after watching I could think of anything significant that had happened.
The races for a while now have flat put me to sleep.
Got to agree it was a boring season. from a results point of view.... dominance is never fun (unless your name is. Wolff or Hamilton)
It did have a few good races though and I look on it as positive over what we might (not have) had.

I must confess to also falling asleep in races which I never used to.... Abu Dhabi being the worst, as I was asleep by the first Safety car only a few laps in. I aslo agree with @strad that there were races I could not remember details of a few hours later..... I thought that was me getting old! Having said that I still remember in detail racing from the long past. I cant see anything that happened this year doing that.

It is rather a sad reflection, not being one who revels in the crash side of Motor Racing, to realise that the one thing I will remember from this year is RoGro's crash in Bahrain. Happy I will remember it for the right reasons, but not happy I will be remembering a season for a crash more than say a 2007 or 2008 type title fight.. :sorrow:

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#15

Post by John »

How often do title battles go down to the wire, though? I mean, even Rosbergs title in 2016 was a foregone conclusion as all he had to do was follow Lewis home.

That's like half a title decider.
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