[Official] Rate the race: Singapore Grand Prix 2014

[gdh]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Very, very dull indeed. A dull race on a dull circuit that even racing at night can't enliven. 3

I agree, not much to keep ones attention. 3

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

those Mclarens looked damn hot under the lights (and apparently hot inside too)!!!

given that i have been so vocal on the radio ban issue i certainly went into this race thinking that i was not going to like it......

....kind of thought this race was a bit amateurish . gave it a 5

Amateurish? Really? I chuckled at this.
All organisation is by FOM and the FIA. Charlie is the race director... Charlie is amateurish?

Well, if you say so..,
Personally I liked it, found lots to keep me interested and it came alive at the end. Safety car was too long though, and largely unnecessary, or they should have dealt with the issue more efficiently.

[smellysocks]

Such a long tedious and boring race.

The Mercedes dominance and a very poorly timed safety car which made the race a slow tire conservation effort to the end conspired to make this one of the dullest of the mainly dull races this season.

Bring on 2015.

3

[Oldtony]

Having followed F1 since the early 1950s I'm becoming convinced that there is now such a level of cynicism that the sport is being destroyed as much by it's supposed fans as by inept management.
Both are looking backwards, through rose coloured specs. at events of the past and are ignoring what is actually happening, and even worse what is going to happen. It is a sort of conspiracy to see what happened in the past as somehow better than what is happening now.
From firstly reading about F1, then occasionally seeing a bit of grainy black and white newsreel, through the early days of somewhat less than professional TV broadcasting, couple with usually one live experience per year, to todays more or less complete TV coverage my opinion is that the spectacle has only got better with time. I tend to think that many of those complaining about races, and the entertainment value of races like Singapore must have only seen edited highlights of the era they seem to think was so much better than now.
Perhaps the problem is we now have too much great racing and even the duels taking place further down the field get coverage. It seems that only a wheel to wheel duel for the lead now is the only entertainment that satisfies some. Well get real folks, that has always been rare. Certainly it has happened, once or twice a season on average, but the closeness of current racing through the field has never been matched.
Certainly F1 needs to keep in touch with a changing audience. In particular new means and platforms to deliver it to an audience equipped with the means to follow their sport in a more interactive way are urgently needed. But please stop bagging the racing as a product. Doing that will only discourage a new audience from coming aboard.
Here endeth the rant.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by Oldtony

Having followed F1 since the early 1950s I'm becoming convinced that there is now such a level of cynicism that the sport is being destroyed as much by it's supposed fans as by inept management.


I tend to think that many of those complaining about races, and the entertainment value of races like Singapore must have only seen edited highlights of the era they seem to think was so much better than now.

Perhaps the problem is we now have too much great racing and even the duels taking place further down the field get coverage. It seems that only a wheel to wheel duel for the lead now is the only entertainment that satisfies some. Well get real folks, that has always been rare.

Certainly it has happened, once or twice a season on average, but the closeness of current racing through the field has never been matched.
Certainly F1 needs to keep in touch with a changing audience. In particular new means and platforms to deliver it to an audience equipped with the means to follow their sport in a more interactive way are urgently needed. But please stop bagging the racing as a product. Doing that will only discourage a new audience from coming aboard.
Here endeth the rant.

I said somewhere else in another thread that familiarity breeds contempt, and I agree that some comments here aren't doing us any real good or providing benefit to the sport as a sport.

[Aysedasi]

I'm not here to provide benefit to the sport though, am I? I'm here to be entertained by it. I wasn't particularly entertained by Singapore. What do you want me to say 'Oh yes, it was F1, therefore it must have been wonderful'? What it was like 10, 20, 30 plus years ago is immaterial. The stakes are much higher nowadays. I don't have to watch F1 as its no longer the only thing available to watch, so it does have to provide entertainment.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by Teretonga

Amateurish? Really? I chuckled at this.

yeah well that just like, you're opinion man!

putting up the timer countdown timer was an issue for me.

i pay for the specialty sports channel F1 is on and for most others its also behind a paywall. there is no reason that a time limited tv race window should still exist. live sports sometimes runs longer then expected and if they expect me to pay for it then im going to consider it unprofessional when they attempt to cut it short. am i unique in wanting a race i pay for to go the full race distance?

anyways it wasnt a huge deal and i wasnt blaming Charlie. just lamenting the antiquated TV model.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

yeah well that just like, you're opinion man!

putting up the timer countdown timer was an issue for me.

i pay for the specialty sports channel F1 is on and for most others its also behind a paywall. there is no reason that a time limited tv race window should still exist. live sports sometimes runs longer then expected and if they expect me to pay for it then im going to consider it unprofessional when they attempt to cut it short. am i unique in wanting a race i pay for to go the full race distance?

anyways it wasnt a huge deal and i wasnt blaming Charlie. just lamenting the antiquated TV model.

So it wasn't about the race itself but about the way FOM TV coverage works with the length rules (which comes entirely from Bernie's concerns about scheduling and Max's way of resolving with the issue when he worked at the FIA....)
I had taken from the context that it was a comment about the competition but it was really about the TV presentation....

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I'm not here to provide benefit to the sport though, am I? I'm here to be entertained by it. I wasn't particularly entertained by Singapore. What do you want me to say 'Oh yes, it was F1, therefore it must have been wonderful'? What it was like 10, 20, 30 plus years ago is immaterial. The stakes are much higher nowadays. I don't have to watch F1 as its no longer the only thing available to watch, so it does have to provide entertainment.

If you really cared about or were concerned about the sport you would want it to succeed, because if its successful, you would be fully entertained and well entertained by it.
If your only interest is self interest, taking what you can get from it, you subtract from it and leave it depleted.

If you had nothing to contribute it would be better for you to leave it then remain a purely negative observer. I know you do care because of the contribution over the decades I have been a reader of this forum, but the idea that the F1 industry owes us something and that the only value is what we can get from it is false.

None of us is an island. What we do does affect others on the planet and our lives contribute to human activity and welfare, or they detract from it.
Nothing is neutral.

[Aysedasi]

I didn't suggest that at all. Just because I take up a particular position doesn't mean I have no interest in another or that I'm solely self-motivated or just a negative observer. Slavishly believing F1 is wonderful just because it's F1 and and is automatically therefore the pinnacle of motor sport is simply ignoring reality when a duff GP happens. I'm not posting to philosophise, rationalise or analyse, I'm just 'observing' that Singapore was a dull GP.