F1 SPA

[dombanks]

I remember button being a bit of an merchant banker in his early days

[SteveD]

hamiltons a twit and rosburger is a bigger twit , they deserve each other

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Hamilton seemed to be back at his whiney worst during the race, though much better afterwards.

 

Funny, the Germans seem to dislike Rosberg as much as anyone!

 

Very impressive season from Ricardo though, Vettel must be spitting bullets by now. Whilst I'm sure the 2014 Red Bull may be an evil thing to drive, the fact is, that while Vettel keeps making it kook a nightmare, Daniel keeps making it look "easy". - In that way that Schuey used to in the early days, when he'd seemingly coast a Grand Prix to first place and afterwards you'd find out he only had fourth gear and a leg had fallen off, part way round!   

[XTR2Turbo]

I stumbled across them both earlier this year at a meet the fans session in the Petronas Towers KL.

 

It was amazing to see the difference in personalities and levels of fan support.  Almost no-one was interested in speaking with Nico and he looked fairly down beat.

 

Nico comes across well normally in interviews and seems articulate and intelligent but definitely feels under the shadow of Lewis off the track if not on it also.

 

But at the end of the day he is leading the championship not Lewis.

[M444TTB]

The Germans aren't huge Rosberg fans and apparently weren't as in love with Vettel as they were Schumacher. The the case of the latter I read that it was the fact Schumacher was a working class boy done good and he came along at the right time for Germany. Why they aren't that excited about Rosberg isn't hard to work out though. Finnish father and he grew up in Monaco with rich parents. I suspect he's more popular this season though.

[XTR2Turbo]

I also doubt Mercedes are that troubled by it all.  They are going to win both championships easily anyway and this gives them added media coverage and adds another layer of interest to what could have become a boring second half of the season.

 

The team management won't be happy as it reflects badly on them though.

[John K]

Had a little think and I'm not really being fair on the current crop of champions, Alonzo, Hamilton, Vettle, Schumacher etc.

I think to win nowadays you need to be a bit of a grumpy, spoilt, diva type who believes 100% in their own greatness.

Unfortunately I don't like folk like that, seeing how I wake up knowing I'm a loser and go to bed still knowing it... So I dislike these guys on principle.

I have to admit they are good at what they are and do... Still not sure if I would want a pint with one of them...

[carbon-nv]

For me, a dislike of Rosberg was cemented after seeing him celebrate after claiming pole position at Monaco, when you'd have expected him to have felt more than a little sheepish following what had happened, whether deliberate or not

 

Still, it's this type of thing alongside the talented drivers with less than sporting personalities (including Hamilton) that have made the competition in F1 dramatic over the years. The likes of Ricciardo, Webber etc. are indeed the type of blokes you'd like to be around, but any sport needs it's share of villains to polarise opinion

 

In what, on paper, could have been a very boring and predictable season, this year's crop of players are helping to keep things interesting and I've no doubt that Bernie appreciates their contribution to 'the show'.

[pistonbroke]

What you are all forgetting is that the real purpose of modern day F1 is entertainment , it uses "racing"  as a front for commercial gain , it is purely show business ,  drivers are briefed to say what they are told to say , which can be anything but the truth . there is very little "real"  racing ,

 

The modern aids to overtaking DRS Kers Aero etc are completely misleading  and prove nothing about how good or bad a driver is . All designed to please the crowd and attract sponsers , all a bit phoney IMO  

 

Cant help thinking its gone the same way as the BTCC did years ago only on a much bigger scale , hopefully someday soon everyone will get bored with all the politics and b***hing , the sponsers will go away and F1 will return to the amature sport it once used to be (well I can dream cant I ) 

[John K]

well I can dream cant I 

You sweet, naive person you...

[iain m]

All sport now revolves around money, money , and yet more money, as pistonbroke says it's all about entertainment and getting into the unfortunate modern millionaire lifestyle, it was not long ago footballers were paid £20 a week and a win in motorsport won you a silver plated cup and a gallon of Redex. 

[Rory's Dad]

This would never have happened with Ross Brawn in charge - we now have Paddy Lowe, Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda all pitching in.

[Graham0127]

Mercedes must be laughing all the way to the bank.

How many times have they been mentioned or seen on TV. They likely worry no more about a broken front wing than they do about an upset driver.....It's racing and points make prizes and as I see it Merc have most of them.

Personally I wouldn't want to see all Button, Riccardo and Weber type drivers....like a good FORUM.....a good race needs a little controversy. It gets us talking and gets attention for the manufactures, sponsors and broadcasters.

You can please some of the people all the time and all of the people some of the time......we know the rest.

Race on boys.....we'll still be watching.

[Paul Gibney - Lancashire AO]

This would never have happened with Ross Brawn in charge - we now have Paddy Lowe, Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda all pitching in.

Absolutely .

[Rory's Dad]

Apparently the wonderful Ricciado now has a mathmatical chance of winning the championship!  Bernie will have his thumb on the detonate Mercedes button.