What are your predictions for the future of F1? Will it still be popular in the future? Will the engineering change? Which drivers will move teams? Who will be future champions?

 I apologise in advance for the feckin’ essay that I seem to have written for this, the readmore function doesn’t work for me :| Just scroll past it;

Okay serious post time for just a minute, bear with me

I did write this question, and had a pretty good idea how to answer it, before the Sky deal happened. As I’m sure you’re all aware (or at least, UK people are, I think?) that Sky will have the rights to half the races next season, so of course they will not be shown free to air. Instead they will be shown on Sky Sports, which not everyone can afford.

So unfortunately I think part of my answer for this is a little more pessimistic than I would like :/

There was so so so much discussion in the weeks following the sudden announcement of the Sky deal, and I didn’t see one person who was happy with it- and right too. I believe that one of the principals of F1 is that it should be FREE to watch. The whole sport is tied too much with money for my liking, even though I know money is what allows it to happen in the way it does- but the airing of the races and qualifying and practices have always seemed to be one of the areas that was blissfully NOT about making money. The BBC F1 team are, in my opinion, absolutely fantastic people and do an absolutely perfect job every single race weekend. I couldn’t ask for anything better. The films they make are just brilliant. Most, if not all, the drivers know Jake and DC and Eddie, and are always willing to chat to them- they are as much regulars at every weekend as the drivers, and I think they’re seen as part of the teams.

I know half the races will still be on the BBC next year, but I think people will agree that it won’t be quite the same. I am very grateful they still have half the rights, but unfortunately I’m not optimistic about them keeping them for much longer.

But anyway this isn’t a RAGE POST so I’ll get to the point.

For the last few years the viewing figures for races have gone up, quite steadily. Once the BBC found their footing with the broadcasting of F1, nothing has been able to stop them. I am sure this has got more people into F1; me included, and has continued to do so this year. More fans eventually equals more sponsorship and more money for the teams- this means more complex engineering, more talent, more jobs and ultimately, better racing.

I suspect (although my predictions are infamously always wrong so there is hope) that the viewing figures, while they may not entirely go down next year, they certainly won’t go up. The violent reaction from around 600 people on the BBC’s blog entry and thousands more on tumblr, twitter and other blogging sites gives evidence to support this. I suspect (and hope) that a lot of people, including me, won’t buy Sky Sports, either because they can’t afford it or just because they think it’s wrong for Sky to have half the deal.

So yeah, perhaps fewer viewing figures, much fewer happy fans and less sponsorship for the teams. F1 may, like it did a while back, go off the radar for a bit. Or it certainly won’t grow in popularity very much. (Idk there is something fundamentally human about hating something that Sky has rights to?)

Although that’s my guess for next year, we’ll have to see. Probably being quite pessimistic about this but ehh, again, this isn’t a rage post.

Anyway, that’s the financial/broadcasting/general future done with, now for the more fun part :D

Engineering wise, I literally have no idea. I don’t think they’ll bring back refuelling, as much as most of the drivers probably want it, it’s far too dangerous, or at least with current technology. Guessing the cars will get faster/lighter every year, probably, more dangerous but at the same time, safety will improve every season. DRS looks like it’s here to stay for a while, even though I’ve seen a few people complaining that it’s made it too easy to overtake, idk.

TEAMS.

Well not going to bother predicting, I’m shit at predicting, so here’s the plan:

Mark, swap with Jenson. Jenson and Seb can be wonderful team mates and get married properly and have glorious podiums together.

(on a srs note, I can actually imagine Jenson and Seb being perfect team mates, they could learn so much from each other)

Lewis and Mark would get on okay I think, Lewis can teach him how to do race starts properly, and Mark can buy him some good sunglasses and teach him about tennis.

Alonso can just generally go away, and Kimi can come back to Ferrari with Felipe (then I can love Ferrari again).

Maybe Alonso can be Schumi’s team mate and they’d fight and Schumi would kick his ass or something, idk, that would be fun

Bruno and Vitaly can stay together forever. Dream team, don’t ever change <3

Nico needs to get a proooperly good car, so maybe he and Lewis could swap every season or something (this could totally work).

Jaime needs to get up into a big team, he has such talent- my god he should be with Ferrari. I’d collapse or something.

Paul needs to be team mates with Jenson, somehow.

RBR should just take on three drivers and be awesome and shit.

Future champions. We-ll I think Seb has quite a few left in him :D Hoping he can keep it up for a while, but I’d like the next one to be a bit more closely contested.

I think Jenson could do it again, actually, he’s a better driver than he was back in 2009, I think if McLaren work on the car and he gets better qualifying positions, things could go his way again. Although he always does stunningly with bad qualis, sooo…

Jaime. Not even kidding, I think he’ll get one one day. He’s only 21, my god. It took Jenson aaages to start winning shit, so Jaime can take his time if he wants.

Bruno, aksjdkjer I think I’d actually just break down if he even gets on the podium, so I think it’s best for my mental health that I don’t predict that.

If they stick with Vitaly and keep improving the car I don’t see why he can’t be right up in the top 5 either, eventually.

Nico, you too.

And if Kimi comes back… I think Seb may have a good fight on his hands ;p

I apologise for this awful essay. To summarise I always think F1 will be around, it’s impossible to see a future without it. And the racing, drivers and teams will always be amazing, no matter who broadcasts it.

(and this has been so fun, will miss it! Tempted to do another one but with less serious questions)

Why do you enjoy F1?

I thought about this question for a while. Well, I suppose I’ve thought about it ever since I got into F1, which has been a while. And I have come to the conclusion that I can’t fit the answer into one post, but I can have a good try ;p

(Also I take this question not to be the same as why I love and adore F1, that would take even longer)

Excitement has to be the main reason, hasn’t it :D To me, it’s the most exciting thing in the world. When those lights go out… Pure racing. I still can’t quite understand how something can be so exhilarating, exciting and adrenalin inducing when it’s happening half way around the world and I’m just watching it through a little BBC stream.

(Srsly when I finally go to a GP I think I might just collapse)

I do love cars, and there is something just lovely watching the best of engineering come together and produce results. Good results. And magnificent, beautiful things made from carbon fibre.

The best of engineering- and some of the best drivers in the world. Together. That’s special. Most of the drivers seem to be utterly lovely human beings, as well as having stunning skills behind the wheel. It is a collection of people who have huge passion, determination, mental strength, bravery and intelligence. It’s not often in the world that that happens.

It’s wonderful to support drivers. This is part of the reason I love tennis as well. This is another thing that I’m not sure how it’s possible- being so utterly proud of someone you’ve never met or seen, and they have no idea you exist. But it happens every other Sunday <3

It’s an escape, I suppose. When things in life don’t go quite right, F1 is always there ;p It’s a world so utterly different to our own that it’s easy to escape into it- and somewhat hard to get out of, but I’ve never tried, and don’t think I ever will.

Back to the drivers- it’s so fun supporting them :D (structured answer this is not) They all have their little quirks and starkly different personalities- Seb and his humour, Jenson and his chattiness, Jaime and his honesty, Bruno and his smile enthusiasm. Countless other examples.

And the FANS. My god, nearly all of them are absolutely amazing people. (well the ones I’ve met anyway) There are a few idiots but generally they are ignored and don’t make any difference. No matter how long you’ve been into F1, or how much you know about the sport or the drivers, it’s always fantastic to talk to anyone who likes F1.

I should mention the engineering again- it’s so brilliant and rare to see a team of hundreds of dedicated, hard working amazing people pull the best minds together to produce something. It’s like my love for NASA, I think it’s one of the best examples of human ingenuity and brilliance.

YES, GO THE HUMAN RACE, VAMOS

Anyway this was, again, shorter than I expected.

Might add to this if I can think of anything else, I’m sure I’ve missed stuff.

ANYWAY last day of this tomorrow! Will miss it.

If anything, what do you admire most about F1 drivers and/or their teams?

Prepare for a long post

First off, the teams. What can I say? From what I’ve seen, heard and read, they must be one of the hardest working groups of people on the planet. The amount of work they put into the whole season, and even while it’s not going on, into testing, admin, promotion and everything else is just astonishing. I think what must be difficult to handle sometimes is that EVERY single person working for an F1 team somehow contributes to keeping the drivers safe, which is a big challenge for a human to have. If one guy gets a bolt wrong in the factory, or even back in the design suite, that could kill someone in a race. They are excellent holders of responsibility.

The pit crews are also astonishing. They know that one pitstop can make a win.

Also, they have to deal with the press a lot, and especially when you’re trying to keep engineering secrets or whatever from other teams, it must be really difficult. And if they’ve had a bad race, if the drivers and mechanics and general team are feeling really shit, they have to make some happy press release about how they’ve ‘learnt things’ and stuff.

Drivers. Bravery is probably the thing I admire most about them, but it’s hard to pick. Most of them have such good qualities, not just as drivers, but as people.

But yeah, bravery. I mean seriously, the speeds they go are scary just as numbers, let alone actually going that fast around sharp corners. And knowing that every time they step into the car could be their last is scary and probably difficult to deal with. I know that safety has gotten a huge amount better than it used to be, but accidents still happen.

Seems like a good time to mention Mark’s overtake at Spa in Eau Rouge. my god.

They have to deal with the press as well, and I think it could affect them more than the team staff. A bad comment on their driving or anything else about them could so easily badly affect them, and I think it’s fantastic how they manage to deal with it. They have to mind what they say (Lewis isn’t very good at this, but he’s been better lately) and they know that millions of people are keeping an ear on every word.

Stamina. Especially in really hot places like Bahrain and Valencia sometimes. Physical strength and fitness.

Just with tennis, I think mental stability plays a massive part in winning or losing. Drivers who can pick themselves up after losing or having a bad drive, I admire massively.

Seems also like a good point to mention Jenson- I think he has the best mental stability on the grid. I mean come on, if you were stuck at the back, you would never think you had the possibility of even reaching near a podium, let alone WINNING it. <3 awh he’s so stunning.

I could type more but I have to go and want this posted.

That wasn’t as long as I was expecting but there you are!

Post some of your favourite photos, past or present

I don’t think I could fit them all into one post and it would take too long to find them all. SO I shall spam you all with them this evening/tomorrow.

I’ll queue some though so I don’t overload you all.

If you could have been at any F1 race in history, which one would you chose and why?

I’m really tired at the moment and watching a lot of tennis, so this is a quick one today! But I’m very sure of the answer so this makes it easier.

24^th March 1991, Brazilian GP

I could write a long long page on why I love this race but just going to say that Ayrton was absolutely stunning. It was so clear how much it meant to him, both before he even started the race and certainly afterwards. He was so so so brave that day, with the racing, coupled with his ‘injury’ (idk could you call it an injury?) and pain and everything. That’s the one thing I love best about this sport, when you can see that it means something really important to them, and I would give anything to have been there that day.

<33

What is the prettiest car on the grid?

Hah this is super easy for me to answer, for once

I mean just look at it

I’m a sucker for black though. Not so much gold but it looks pretty on it anyway.

If LRGP ever change their colour scheme…

And it always helps if pretty people are driving it and Vitaly and Bruno (ohmygosh) are hardly exceptions.

Although the Ferrari is of course very pretty, almost all Ferraris are.

Do you think they made the right decision in removing the Bahrain GP from the calendar?

Quick one, yeah. They would have been utterly mad to stage it there this year. Morals should of course provide the first answer to this but I suspect they were more focusing on the safety of the drivers, teams and staff, which is sort of fair enough. I’m just glad they cancelled it.

What are your predictions for the next race?

Oh, well.

For once, I’m predicting Seb will def want to win this. Whether he does or not I have utterly no idea, because considering his recent results I think it’ll be pretty hard to beat Hamilton and possibly Alonso to the podium. It looks like it’ll rain on Saturday which should give at least Jenson a good qualifying time. Hopefully Seb will get pole though. Looks dry for the race which is good. If all goes to plan; Seb, Mark, Jenson. I have a feeling that Hamilton will do well though, urgh.

JK BRUNO WILL JUST BREEZE PAST EVERYONE

What is your prediction for the top 3 order for the championship this year?

Right, there could be a few outcomes here.
I think everyone seems pretty sure, even resigned, to the fact that Seb will win this year. I’d be stupid if I didn’t think he was going to win, but as I am with sports and people I support I’m always terrified something will go awfully wrong. Quite a lot would have to go wrong in the remaining races for Mark or Lewis or Jenson or Alonso to close and get rid of that gap in the points though, even I have to admit that.
However it could still go wrong. Seb could repeat his antics from a few weeks ago in Germany and not feel comfortable in KK and piss me off.
Mark could suddenly be scarily quick and not fuck up his good qualifying times.
Alonso could just go mad and somehow win every race left.
But… Well, I think the one driver at the moment that could even begin to threaten Seb’s championship is actually Lewis. He’s been mighty quick recently and he’s good sometimes at keeping regular good results.
But I still believe and hope that Seb will come top this year. If Hamilton keeps this up, him second and Mark third.
But ahahah some of you regulars will know that my F1 predictions are far from accurate and I usually get it pretty wrong, except first. Soooo there is hope.
JAIME KEEP GOING YOU WILL BE UP THERE AT SOME POINT
YOU TOO PAUL
And Felipe hurry the fuck up and get a podium, dying from the lack of Ferrari up there that isn’t Alonso.