F1 Season 2013!

[sperry]

I'm beating Nick to the punch this season and I'm starting the F1 thread myself!

Season starts in just 2 weeks. Not sure where the off-season went, feels like it was just last weekend that they were running in Sao Paulo.

The Fantasy F1 site is up at http://ff1.seccs.org/ for those that want to play along.

[Nick Koan]

Damnit

[Double_Rs]

Can't wait to see what Hamilton can do for Mercedes. I've been a fan of his for the past two seasons. Most hate him because of his attitude I guess, but it's like being a fan of Kobe (which I am as well lol). They're talented but have their own flaws. BBC coverage ftw!!

[sperry]

I think Hamilton made a terrible, terrible mistake leaving McLaren.

The upside is that I'm super excited to see what Perez can do with a top-caliber car under him. I think Mexico might have a championship contender to root for, which in a way makes him also the closest thing to a US driver, as Austin will be his "home" track.

Of course, if the Ferrari this season doesn't suck like it did at the start of last season, I think Alonso will run away with the driver's championship this year. And though I've been a long time Alonso hater... I'm actually kinda rooting for him this season. He's clearly the most talented driver in the field... it would be just sorta "right" for the best driver driving a Ferrari to win again.

Anything's better than a Vettel 4-peat. I love Vettel, and we're not quite down the road of domination that the Schumacher era went down... but I'm ready for a new world champ.

[Double_Rs]

Originally Posted by sperry

I think Hamilton made a terrible, terrible mistake leaving McLaren.

The upside is that I'm super excited to see what Perez can do with a top-caliber car under him. I think Mexico might have a championship contender to root for, which in a way makes him also the closest thing to a US driver, as Austin will be his "home" track.

Of course, if the Ferrari this season doesn't suck like it did at the start of last season, I think Alonso will run away with the driver's championship this year. And though I've been a long time Alonso hater... I'm actually kinda rooting for him this season. He's clearly the most talented driver in the field... it would be just sorta "right" for the best driver driving a Ferrari to win again.

Anything's better than a Vettel 4-peat. I love Vettel, and we're not quite down the road of domination that the Schumacher era went down... but I'm ready for a new world champ.

I agree, Alonso was very successful last season, despite the cons of his car. I think he will be a major contendor for Vettel. If you watch BBC's TOP GEAR, season 19 episode 4 I think, Hamilton went on the show again, and during the interview he explained the switch to Mercedes. He pretty much wants to bring his experience and talent to a team that can use it more than McLaren. I honestly think he was just fed up with all of the mistakes the team made during last season, which arguably is the one reason he lost important points in some races.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Double_Rs

I agree, Alonso was very successful last season, despite the cons of his car. I think he will be a major contendor for Vettel. If you watch BBC's TOP GEAR, season 19 episode 4 I think, Hamilton went on the show again, and during the interview he explained the switch to Mercedes. He pretty much wants to bring his experience and talent to a team that can use it more than McLaren. I honestly think he was just fed up with all of the mistakes the team made during last season, which arguably is the one reason he lost important points in some races.

I've heard Hamilton's reasons for leaving. I might even agree with him a bit on the idea of wanting a new challenge. But he does come off as a bit disingenuous about the whole thing... if he had just won 3 driver's championships in a row, I might believe the whole "new challenge" thing a bit more. The reality is that he seems like he's not happy with the team, and instead of working at improving the relationship there like a pro, he's just jumping ship.

My bet is that once he's in an uncompetitive car, and realizes that the reason Mercedes isn't improving isn't for a lack of a driver developing the chassis (they had fucking Schumacher for christsake!), it's because the engineering talent and budget at Mercedes doesn't match Red Bull, McLaren, or Ferrari, Hamilton is going to be kicking himself. If he thinks he's frustrated now with McLaren over personnel issues, just wait until his car is slower than everyone else and no amount of bad-ass driving is going to drop his lap times. I think that Hamilton's biggest weakness is his ability to communicate with the team when he's frustrated, and that's basically *the only thing* that a driver who's developing a chassis is required to do.

I fully expect to see Hamilton have a meltdown at some point in the season due to frustration over lack of pace in the car. Like throwing it off the track at trying to get into Q3 and then getting out and spiking the steering wheel on the tarmac before wandering off to go hang out with Kimi on Kimi's boat.

[Double_Rs]

Originally Posted by sperry

I've heard Hamilton's reasons for leaving. I might even agree with him a bit on the idea of wanting a new challenge. But he does come off as a bit disingenuous about the whole thing... if he had just won 3 driver's championships in a row, I might believe the whole "new challenge" thing a bit more. The reality is that he seems like he's not happy with the team, and instead of working at improving the relationship there like a pro, he's just jumping ship.

My bet is that once he's in an uncompetitive car, and realizes that the reason Mercedes isn't improving isn't for a lack of a driver developing the chassis (they had fucking Schumacher for christsake!), it's because the engineering talent and budget at Mercedes doesn't match Red Bull, McLaren, or Ferrari, Hamilton is going to be kicking himself. If he thinks he's frustrated now with McLaren over personnel issues, just wait until his car is slower than everyone else and no amount of bad-ass driving is going to drop his lap times. I think that Hamilton's biggest weakness is his ability to communicate with the team when he's frustrated, and that's basically *the only thing* that a driver who's developing a chassis is required to do.

I fully expect to see Hamilton have a meltdown at some point in the season due to frustration over lack of pace in the car. Like throwing it off the track at trying to get into Q3 and then getting out and spiking the steering wheel on the tarmac before wandering off to go hang out with Kimi on Kimi's boat.

I guess we'll have to wait and see lol
11 days till lights out!!

[Bob Danger]

I don't think I have NBC Sports. I'm screwed.

[van]

Originally Posted by Bob Danger

I don't think I have NBC Sports. I'm screwed.

Me too. Apparently it's only included with the highest priced package Comcast offers. I'm going to check out Dish and Direct tv in bit. I was wanting to cut the cord but it's not looking good for me at the moment.

[sperry]

I'm switching to DirecTV as soon as the new version of the Genie DVR is released. Fuck Charter. They just raised my rate by like $30/mo by refusing to give us any package discount like they've been giving us for the last 6 years. Coupled with the worst customer service I've ever had, ever, anywhere, for anything, multiple times... it's high time to jump ship and move to somewhere just a tiny bit less shitty.

[MattR]

Originally Posted by sperry

I'm switching to DirecTV as soon as the new version of the Genie DVR is released. Fuck Charter.

Will you let me know when that is too? same boat

[van]

Charter has the best internet in Reno, better than the cable I get out here. Their customer service is shit though. I was really surprised that they actually sent me a refund check after I returned their equipment when I left, although it's 2 months later

[sperry]

Originally Posted by van

Charter has the best internet in Reno, better than the cable I get out here. Their customer service is shit though. I was really surprised that they actually sent me a refund check after I returned their equipment when I left, although it's 2 months later

I'm keeping cable internet. The internet service is actually pretty good. It's the fact they want to charge me like $90/mo for the most basic package with a shitty DVR that's unacceptable.

I can get a 5-tuner, 4-room DVR with 6 times the capacity and twice as many channels with DirecTV for that same price.

[sperry]

The season is less than a week away!

Sign up soon if you plan to play this year.

http://ff1.seccs.org

[MattR]

I caught a pre-season preview show on NBC Sports, I'm feeling pretty good about the coverage. Also, it sounds like they wil be adding a 30 minute post-race show to wrap up all the loose ends right after the race...So that will be cool.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by MattR

I caught a pre-season preview show on NBC Sports, I'm feeling pretty good about the coverage. Also, it sounds like they wil be adding a 30 minute post-race show to wrap up all the loose ends right after the race...So that will be cool.

I wonder how clever I'm going to have to get with my DVR so it picks up the new coverage. I finally refined my searches so it got all of the F1 coverage on Speed last season (still had to manually record the Fox broadcasts).

Hopefully NBC will be easier. I guess I should check the schedule since it's less than a week out now.

[MattR]

Hmmm..I need to do the same, had it pretty dialed in before. Talk about "1st-world problems"

[Bob Danger]

I'm getting my cable upgraded on saturday. I'll miss practice and qualifying, but catch the race. Stupid Fox, I wish Torgo's Executive Powder was real.

[van]

Direct TV guy will be out Thursday to install my Genie box. Suck it Xfinity.

[Bob Danger]

Some damn good qualifying. I love those last minute shoot outs. I think Vettle, and Button will be in great shape after the first stop.

I just can't believe the soft tires are falling off after three laps.

[Bob Danger]

Damn good race.

[A1337STI]

I switched to DTV also, charter was too pricey , i also ditched them for Internet. trying out AT&T U-verse. its a little annoying (to me) that you have to use their router, and can't change your SID or password. but the speeds are really good, really low latency and even where i only get 4 bars of wifi i'm still easily downloading at 14 meg/sec (don't think i ever saw that with my 30 meg charter plan) upload is 1.5

last race (which was my first one watching) was alright. other than Vettel running away with the lead , it was a good one to watch, the racing in the 2-8 positions was really good.

[sperry]

Yeah, everyone sorta writes off Bahrain as a "boring" race. But this year's was pretty awesome. Vettel had to fight to get that lead, even though he ran away... but getting by Rosberg and being challenged by Alonso at the start was exciting.

Then the Ferrari's were a rollercoaster ride to follow with their problems. But the best part of the race was di Resta and Grosjean fighting for 3rd, and all the side-by-side action through the esses further back in the pack between Hamilton/Perez/Webber/Button.

[Bob Danger]

It's official Honda / McLaren.

[Nick Koan]

Not until 2015, right? Or is it going to be next year?