Unpopular Motorsport Opinions

[sumbrownkid]

Bernie Ecclestone actually knows what he is doing.

Pfft, just joking.

 

[Barra333]

Bernie Ecclestone actually knows what he is doing.

Pfft, just joking.

Depends on his goal. If it was to make himself stinking rich and have people talking about F1, he has done pretty well. The means to the end however...

 

[Samus]

He knows exactly what he is doing, making as much money as possible for CVC.

 

[Nato_777]

20 - 25 years ago I loved watching F1, these days I'd rather watch paint dry.

 

[Liquid]

He knows exactly what he is doing, making as much money as possible for CVC.

All too true.

 

[Liquid]

Best F1 driver to have never had a podium:

Pierluigi Martini

Better than Sutil.
Better than Hülkenberg.

 

[Clark]

@Liquid Bianchi?

 

[Liquid]

@Liquid Bianchi?

Two seasons and one points finish isn't enough of a career to be able to say that.

 

[Clark]

Are there many drivers who've only ever got a win or wins but never finished on the podium other than that? Was Maldonado's win his only finish in the top 3?

 

[homeforsummer]

Was Maldonado's win his only finish?

FTFY.

 

[Roo]

Are there many drivers who've only ever got a win or wins but never finished on the podium other than that? Was Maldonado's win his only finish in the top 3?

His next best finish was a 5th, then a few 7ths. Peter Gethin's F1WC career points finishes were a win and a pair of 6th places. I'm sure there's another but I can't remember who off the top of my head. As an aside, Jean-Pierre Jabouille had 2 wins, but his only other points finish in F1 was a 4th.

 

[JC_Dude]

Giancarlo Baghetti had a win, 4th and 5th.

 

[Liquid]

Giancarlo Baghetti had a win, 4th and 5th.

Although it's worth pointing out that Baghetti won his first three Formula One races in a row but the first two were non-championship at Syracuse and Napoli.

 

[RazorSharkz]

To be fair, Maldonado deserved the hell out of that win. I'm not sure where he was for the rest of his career but he was on the money that weekend.

Are there many drivers who've only ever got a win or wins but never finished on the podium other than that? Was Maldonado's win his only finish in the top 3?

Jean Pierre Jabouille only recorded 3 points scoring finishes. A 4th at the 78 United States Grand Prix, and 2 victories, one at the 79 French Grand Prix(in a French car as a French Driver) and the 80 Austrian Grand Prix.

Other people to achieve a win without another podium are...
Bill Vukovich(2 wins)
Vittorio Brambilla
Peter Gethin
Ludivico Scarfiotti
Giancarlo Baghetti
Joakim Bonnier
Pat Flaherty
Bob Sweikert
Troy Ruttman
Lee Wallard
Johnnie Parsons

Edit: I got tree'd quite a bit while searching stuff for this post.

 

[Liquid]

What happened, happened but Indy drivers skew some F1 stats.

 

[RazorSharkz]

What happened, happened but Indy drivers skew some F1 stats.

That opinion isn't very unpopular

 

[prisonermonkeys]

To be fair, Maldonado deserved the hell out of that win. I'm not sure where he was for the rest of his career but he was on the money that weekend.

Apparently he was blindingly quick, but he had a really narrow window in which he was capable of delivering those results. The car had to be absolutely perfect and Maldonado had to be in the right frame of mind and everything had to go smoothly for the entire weekend.

Anyway, I always thought that he got a bad rap. He was erratic and inconsistent, but I don't think he deserved the criticism that he got for the qualifying incident in Spa. It was completely unjustified, but the stewards clearly felt that he wasn't solely responsible - overhead shots showed Hamilton forcing him wide and onto the wet tarmac at the end of the lap as he tried to beat the clock. It clearly compromised Maldonado's lap, and so the collision was something of a knee-jerk reaction.

 

[legatoblues]

Apparently he was blindingly quick, but he had a really narrow window in which he was capable of delivering those results. The car had to be absolutely perfect and Maldonado had to be in the right frame of mind and everything had to go smoothly for the entire weekend.

Anyway, I always thought that he got a bad rap. He was erratic and inconsistent, but I don't think he deserved the criticism that he got for the qualifying incident in Spa. It was completely unjustified, but the stewards clearly felt that he wasn't solely responsible - overhead shots showed Hamilton forcing him wide and onto the wet tarmac at the end of the lap as he tried to beat the clock. It clearly compromised Maldonado's lap, and so the collision was something of a knee-jerk reaction.

I'd agree with all of that.

Not saying he was undeserving of criticism at all, but he did show some genuine speed potential. Just not the consistency or safety to properly harness it.

 

[Pupik]

As an aside, Jean-Pierre Jabouille had 2 wins, but his only other points finish in F1 was a 4th.

Renault from 1978-80: fast but ultimately fragile.

Best F1 driver to have never had a podium:

Pierluigi Martini

Better than Sutil.
Better than Hülkenberg.

Yes, then...maybe. Sutil started to throw away chances, excluding the first two seasons where his car was lousy. Suddenly, he's too experienced for that to keep happening. I feel Hulkenburg is starting to get like that; Perez is outperforming him this year, and I would have rated them similarly.

After that, it's tough to add names; either they had lots of chances in average-to-terrible cars (Martini, Alliot, de Adamich, et al), never had a chance in anything decent (Tarquini, Badoer), or there's not enough data to go by (Bianchi, Brise, Bristow, 10-20 others).

Then there's a few who stepped up to the occasion: Moreno, Salo, de Cesaris, Maldonado, Gethin...they made their mark elsewhere but were rewarded in F1 on their day of days. But it's hard to rate these guys in the company of Nannini, Alesi, Amon, Bonnier, Brambilla, who were usually let down by machinery and misfortune rather than mistakes.

 

[Andy GT]

V8 > V10.

Probably not THAT unpopular, but I see way too much praise for the old V10 engines. They sound good, but they're nothing compared to the screaming V8s of the mid to late 2000's. Best sounding F1 engines of all time.

 

[epic_apri_39]

LMP1-L is better than LMP1-H.

 

[FoRiZon]

NASCAR is exciting to race on. But not to watch on.

Probably why the sponsors are really flashy to grab attention.

 

[Ryk]

I believe...

1. An engine from the early 1950's has the best sound of all time.
2. The best sounding F1 engine is not an inline 4, a V6, a V8, a V10, or V12 even a flat-12.
3. The best sounding F1 engine has a displacement of just 1487cc.

I believe all three of the above statements to be true.

Or maybe by hearings was so badly damaged after hearing it, that I can no longer hear the subtle notes of other, lesser engines... (The old Matra V12 is nice)

 

[Jimlaad43]

I heard some of the 50s and 60s engines, plus the Cosworth DFV and a few Judd and Hart ones from the 80s and 90s last weekend at the Silverstone Classic. But the best engine noise was a 2001 McLaren being driven nearly flat out, so I could hear the V10 noise without the deafening squeal of it at full revs.

 

[FoRiZon]

V8 sounds are often consistent on all cars. Others weren't so for some reason.

 

[fortbo]

More courses need paved runoffs and other Tilke safety features.

 

[legatoblues]

More courses need paved runoff sand other Tilke safety features.

Part of me does agree to some extent.

I'll very soon be racing in a club level touring car series. The series runs on two circuits. One is fast, exciting, tricky and is pretty much exactly the same as it was when Jim Clark and Graham Hill won races there. The other has the reputation of being one of the worst tracks in the world (+1 internet to anyone who correctly guesses the two tracks).

I've driven both plenty of times and the first track is far, far more satisfying and rewarding in every way possible, but it has nearly no runoff at all. If you get it wrong, you're done. Worse than that, if someone else gets it wrong and you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time...

If you have a tangle at the other track, you end up stuck in the sand with a bruised ego and maybe some light panel damage, but you'll live to drive another day.

On an international scale, I think the big problem is lack of enforcement. Runoffs are great for safety, but using them as part of the racing surface without consequence is a joke.

Take the GTLM battle at COTA. Or much, much worse than that, NASCAR at Mid-Ohio.

Sanctioning bodies saying that it's "too hard" to enforce track limits is a joke.

Here, If any part of your car leaves the track during an overtake, you must give the position back, or face exclusion and / or a rear of grid for the next race. And that's amateur club racing!

 

[fortbo]

Part of me does agree to some extent.

I'll very soon be racing in a club level touring car series. The series runs on two circuits. One is fast, exciting, tricky and is pretty much exactly the same as it was when Jim Clark and Graham Hill won races there. The other has the reputation of being one of the worst tracks in the world (+1 internet to anyone who correctly guesses the two tracks).

I've driven both plenty of times and the first track is far, far more satisfying and rewarding in every way possible, but it has nearly no runoff at all. If you get it wrong, you're done. Worse than that, if someone else gets it wrong and you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time...

If you have a tangle at the other track, you end up stuck in the sand with a bruised ego and maybe some light panel damage, but you'll live to drive another day.

On an international scale, I think the big problem is lack of enforcement. Runoffs are great for safety, but using them as part of the racing surface without consequence is a joke.

Take the GTLM battle at COTA. Or much, much worse than that, NASCAR at Mid-Ohio.

Sanctioning bodies saying that it's "too hard" to enforce track limits is a joke.

Here, If any part of your car leaves the track during an overtake, you must give the position back, or face exclusion and / or a rear of grid for the next race. And that's amateur club racing!

I do autocross and I'm about to do my first actual track day in two weeks. Although the track I'm running at has a good amount of area between the track and the wall, it is all grass. I would feel much better on something like COTA because if I have a screw up, my day won't even over.

 

[Roger the Horse]

(+1 internet to anyone who correctly guesses the two tracks).

Can't tell where you live from your posts? Maybe a country or continent to guess from would be good. I'm going to put in outside guesses of Mont-Tremblant and ICAR.

Anyway, I think enforcement is the major issue. If drivers go off onto tarmac runoff areas and it's their fault their should be some penalisation, even if they didn't gain any time. Otherwise it just means there are barely any consequences for poor driving.

 

[legatoblues]

Can't tell where you live from your posts? Maybe a country or continent to guess from would be good. I'm going to put in outside guesses of Mont-Tremblant and ICAR.

Anyway, I think enforcement is the major issue. If drivers go off onto tarmac runoff areas and it's their fault their should be some penalisation, even if they didn't gain any time. Otherwise it just means there are barely any consequences for poor driving.

That's a fair question - Australia.

And agree 100%. There shouldn't be any excuses or reasons for a sanctioning body not to firmly enforce track limits with black and white consistency. It's not a matter of opinion or interpretation - it is what it is.