Unpopular Motorsport Opinions

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Toto Wolff seems to disagree. I'm sure I've read stuff this week about him saying that scrapping track limits will make F1 better.
 
Liquid
Toto Wolff seems to disagree. I'm sure I've read stuff this week about him saying that scrapping track limits will make F1 better.
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His argument is that if drivers don't have to worry about the white lines, they will race closer to the limit. They will occasionally get it wrong, but will always be able to give 100%.

It's rubbish, of course. Vettel only goes through the corners because he has to. Under Wolff's logic, the sport might as well race on a 305km drag strip.
 
So next round we can expect to see everyone running high ride heights and soft suspension to deal with the bumps as the straightline Les Combes?

Maybe the same again for the second chicane at Monza, or even a special "bulldozer" front wing to push aside the barriers in the runoff of the first chicane?

lol
 
What really surprises me in all of this is that the teams are so out of step with the fans. They usually like to adopt a similar position to the fans (the cynic in me knows that it's because they like to play the victim suffering under the FIA's villainy and getting popular support gives them more power), but here they're about as far apart as possible - the teams don't want track limits policed, but the fans do.
 
prisonermonkeys
His argument is that if drivers don't have to worry about the white lines, they will race closer to the limit. They will occasionally get it wrong, but will always be able to give 100%.

It's rubbish, of course. Vettel only goes through the corners because he has to. Under Wolff's logic, the sport might as well race on a 305km drag strip.
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The drivers will go faster by straightlining corners, that's true. But they won't go closer to the limit because of fuel management, engine/gearbox management and because of chewing gum Pirellis.

As for unpopular opinions:
I enjoyed watching F1 at Magny Cours (especially before they ruined the end of the lap)
Late 90's/00's grooved tyres were better than the current slicks
Engines and hybrid systems in F1 and LMP1 should be completely de-restricted. It should be up to the teams to work out the best way to use a tank of fuel.
F1 teams should be allowed to have a third car specifically for young drivers. They can earn drivers championship points but not constructors
 
F1 should also allow independent drivers.

I feel there should be a racing series where the driver gets out of the car and has to change the tyres etc. themselves.
 
Toto Wolff is speaking out of his *ahem*

A white line in all sports means "you're out". The UK has adopted a super strict track limits rule set for the last three seasons, and it has had an amazing effect. Track limits abuse has dropped dramatically, and because it is the same for all disciplines and reported on competently, it works.

F1 needs to look at the MSA rulebook and copy it word for word, get the marshals at every circuit to report people going wide and they'll stop. The drivers can certainly keep off the kerbs when it rains, so therefore they have the skill to do so with more grip.
 
epic_apri_39
F1 should also allow independent drivers.

I feel there should be a racing series where the driver gets out of the car and has to change the tyres etc. themselves.
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Yes!!! Privateer triumphs are my favorite thing in motorsport, and sadly they don't happen much anymore.
 
F1 only needs two dry weather compounds: a soft/option tyre and a hard/prime tyre. The 7 choices currently look like a bunch of skittles colors, 4 is plenty.
 
I think that the modern Indycar’s are some of the best open wheel car's ever. For me, it's very unique and different from the F1 style open wheelers.
 
Vert4848
I think that the modern Indycar’s are some of the best open wheel car's ever. For me, it's very unique and different from the F1 style open wheelers.
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I think that's quite a popular opinion. The DW12 looked a bit strange and clumpy before the aero kits were introduced.
 
Most F1 fans and basically the entirety of F1 medias always say that Fernando Alonso has always been in the wrong team at the wrong time, and that is the only reason why he's won "only" 2 World Championships. A couple of reasons on why I disagree on that:
-He hasn't been able to really make the difference in qualifying as much as some others did, especially after the regulation changes at the end of the V10 era (the same can be said for Raikkonen). Nobody expected him to be consistently on the first row in his Ferrari years for example, but he seemed to lack that bit of extra ability to shave that tenth or two. That also emphasized Alonso's "proverbial fighting spirit" on race day when he was constantly forced to recover from 3rd or 4th row. Ferrari struggles on flying laps but
-His ego is as massive as his driving talent. F1 isn't about sentiments or good manners but his arrogance, in my opinion, has probably played a part in precluding him some opportunities in a better team (RedBull and Mercedes in recent years). PR stuff is too important nowadays and blaming this or that on every single occasion doesn't help. Every F1 fan wants a less diplomatic, more straight forward behavior from drivers but Alonso sometimes crosses the ideal line which separates the plain truth about things from the disrespect towards the people who pay him, work for him, write or speak about him and so on. Complaining about something is part of any driver's DNA, but he's just from a different level sometimes. At least he's improved from his Renault days, the peak of his arrogance.
 
Bottas is overated. He never was impressive, IMO. The only time he impressed me is when he had the pace at the British GP last year. Heck, I think Massa almost equal to him. Massa has been behind Bottas most of the time, but never really that far off. The only four times I remember Massa being significantly slower than Bottas was at the last British GP, and at this year's Canadian, Hungarian, and German GP's.
 
Bo
I think that's quite a popular opinion. The DW12 looked a bit strange and clumpy before the aero kits were introduced.
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I personally loved the look of the DW12 pre-aero kit.
 
Vert4848
Bottas is overated. He never was impressive, IMO. The only time he impressed me is when he had the pace at the British GP last year. Heck, I think Massa almost equal to him. Massa has been behind Bottas most of the time, but never really that far off. The only four times I remember Massa being significantly slower than Bottas was at the last British GP, and at this year's Canadian, Hungarian, and German GP's.
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What about Australia 2014? He was absolutely flying during that race, if it wasn't for the puncture he could've been challenging for a win.

I think his back injury has dented him quite significantly, as has being stuck in a car that seems to be getting gradually slower whilst everyone else gets faster. Until he really clicks with a competitive car, I don't think he'll really be able to rediscover his form.
 
J_Starscream
My first post here:

Daniel Ricciardo is better than Max Verstappen. Much better.

P.S. I am a Max fan and a Daniel fan.
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I'll counter you with my first post here:

Verstappen will be Red Bull's #1 driver

P.S. To the OP, @Liquid this thread was a good idea 👍
 
Shane Van Gisbergan is a great driver.
 
Here's one for you:
I'm certain Sainz Jr. would've managed to score more points in the RBR than Verstappen.
 
Vinylshark
Here's one for you:
I'm certain Sainz Jr. would've managed to score more points in the RBR than Verstappen.
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What makes you so certain?
 
Liquid
What makes you so certain?
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They both had kind of the same pace with the Toro Rosso, but Sainz Jr. always did a better job at keeping his nerves when things wouldn't go his way. Max is a hothead which caused him to make one or two mistakes in the past. First example that comes to my mind would be Melbourne when Max nearly took both out, because Sainz Jr. wouldn't let him just pass.
 
Gold Coast shouldn't have been an Endurance race to begin with, especially with the current layout, way too short.

While I do think the Bathurst 1000 is the best Australian Motorsport Event there are far better tracks in Australia than Mt. Panaroma.

GT500 has gotten extremely boring since the 2014 regulations, mostly because Nissan are the only manufacturer that seem to be bothered to be competitive, Honda especially should really just drop out.

Asian Le Mans Series > WEC, European Le Mans Series & United SportsCar Championship

GT3 Le Mans Cup is a massive waste of time for everyone involved and only shows how GT3 is overly exposed especially since BES still exist.
 
GC600 I can take it or leave it, probably because I'd prefer longer races anyway. I attended the event last year for the first time and as a spectator, it had it's moments but I won't be going back anytime soon.

Interesting comment regarding GT500. The first Super GT race I watched was in 2013 and I've been following every race since the start of the 2014 season and I think GT500 has been great fun to watch. Will have to go back and check out the earlier years someday.
 
(Not sure if this would be unpopular or not...)

Lewis won't win the title this year.
 
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