End of Season thoughts....

[devilmaster]

- final races are never going to be particularly exciting if the championships are solved. But yesterday's race had some interesting storylines.

- happy and sad for Kubica, we got to see him back after the crash almost killed him, but in a horrible 2nd car.

- I'm not feeling the love for Hulkenberg as some. I get that he has talent and therefore has lasted this long, but maybe its just time to move on.

- Looking forward to Leclerc, McLaren and their drivers, Max challenging for championships, and honestly, the big season long discussion of the new car and 2021 regs.

- I'm fully a Lando fan. Dare I say that his personality reminds me of Greg Moore?

- When Senna drove there were detractors. Same with Schumacher. I'm not a huge fan of him now, but when years have passed, Lewis will be talked about as one of the greats.

[TravelGal]

- final races are never going to be particularly exciting if the championships are solved. But yesterday's race had some interesting storylines.

- When Senna drove there were detractors. Same with Schumacher. I'm not a huge fan of him now, but when years have passed, Lewis will be talked about as one of the greats.

I particularly agree with this one. The only reason I can even bear to listen to him is that I met someone related to the team last May in Monaco and was told how he had changed from his earliest arrogant days into a very nice person. He's always been fast but it didn't mean I had to like him until then.

[datachicane]

Agreed on all points.

I don't get the current Lewis-hate at all- he's been pretty gracious and professional for the last several seasons, and wasn't exactly pushing the curve for jerkitude (if that's the word I want) even when he was at his worst. All that aside, the guy can flat drive, and he's a joy to watch on track. It's going to be big fun watching his career wind down as LeClerc, Verstappen, Norris et al hit their prime.

Oh, yeah, and Schumacher was a dirty chopping bastard with a designated #2 running interference for him, thereby artificially running up his stats.

[WickerBill]

My thoughts:

- I never expected McLaren to beat Renault - and everyone else in the "everyone else" category. But looking back, Renault in this iteration has never beaten their customers.

- Pole positions were really hard to call this year, which made watching qualifying much more enjoyable. If you would have told any one of us that Lewis would go eight races without a pole even while leading the championship, we would have laughed at you.

- I spent the year trying to like Max. But I can't. And I do realize some of the joy of auto racing is having heroes and villains, and every fan has a different set. So, I'm going to keep cheering against Verstappen (and by proxy, Helmut Marko).

- Although I hate contrived racing, I think I hate processions worse... and so I'm nearly there in my mind hoping we can get to two mandatory pit stops. F1 has tried to make two stops common by having horrible tires, but all that does is make the drivers tiptoe around the track all race. That's not the answer - I hate that too.

- I still have no idea if Verstappen is incredible - and so was Ricciardo - or if Verstappen is merely very good, and RIC was very good, and everyone else as Max's teammate is poor. I seem to recall Sainz being close to Max's equal at Toro Rosso. So i'm confused re: Gasly being awful and Albon being several spots behind Max at all times. I kind of want to blame Marko.

- Bring on 2020. I wish Hamilton had a better teammate. I wish Max had a better teammate. I wish every team was as fun to try to figure out as Ferrari driver vs driver and McLaren driver vs driver.

[TravelGal]

Oh, yeah, and Schumacher was a dirty chopping bastard with a designated #2 running interference for him,

No matter how sad it is now about Schumacher, I must say I've missed the dirty chopping bastard comments. :laugh::laugh:

[Hard Driver]

Agreed on all points.

I don't get the current Lewis-hate at all- he's been pretty gracious and professional for the last several seasons, and wasn't exactly pushing the curve for jerkitude (if that's the word I want) even when he was at his worst. All that aside, the guy can flat drive, and he's a joy to watch on track. It's going to be big fun watching his career wind down as LeClerc, Verstappen, Norris et al hit their prime.

Oh, yeah, and Schumacher was a dirty chopping bastard with a designated #2 running interference for him, thereby artificially running up his stats.

Just have to thumbs up that comment!

[SteveH]

Season recap video (https://vimeo.com/376783320)

[gjc2]

- Pole positions were really hard to call this year, which made watching qualifying much more enjoyable. If you would have told any one of us that Lewis would go eight races without a pole even while leading the championship, we would have laughed at you.


I enjoyed qualifying more than the races.

I've really liked the world feed coverage these past seasons.

[cameraman]

Nice thing is that you can torrent the Sky coverage and get the pre-race and post-race coverage that ESPN doesn't broadcast. I like that I can watch the races live and not have to worry about internet spoilers, as instagram/twitter post of results instantly, but within an hour or two I can get the full post race set of interviews & Ted's pit lane walk.

[SteveH]

ESPN Sees Double-Digit Viewership Growth, Numerous Records in 2019 Formula 1 Season (https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2019/12/espn-sees-double-digit-viewership-growth-numerous-records-in-2019-formula-1-season/)


Over the 21-event season, live race telecasts averaged 671,000 viewers, an increase of 21 percent over the average of 554,000 on ESPN networks last year and up 25 percent from the 538,000 average on NBC networks in 2017.

Seventeen of the 21 races saw year-over-year viewership increases and seven races earned U.S. viewership records. In addition, the young adult demographic (persons ages 18-34) was up 75 percent over 2018 and 89 percent over 2017.

:thumbup:

[WickerBill]

Nice thing is that you can torrent the Sky coverage and get the pre-race and post-race coverage that ESPN doesn't broadcast. I like that I can watch the races live and not have to worry about internet spoilers, as instagram/twitter post of results instantly, but within an hour or two I can get the full post race set of interviews & Ted's pit lane walk.

Is Ted always there? There seemed to be a lot of Karun instead of Ted this year.... always missed Ted.

[gjc2]

Nice thing is that you can torrent the Sky coverage


Do you dislike it that much?

[cameraman]

Is Ted always there? There seemed to be a lot of Karun instead of Ted this year.... always missed Ted.

He was gone at the start of the year and people went nuts, they rehired him and most races have had his walk through, not all but most.

[cameraman]

Do you dislike it that much?

?? The ESPN coverage is the Sky coverage. Or at least part of it. The full Sky coverage is a 90 minute pre-race show and a roughly 90 minute post race show depending on how long the actual race ran. I get the torrent to see all the stuff ESPN doesn't show.

[devilmaster]

?? The ESPN coverage is the Sky coverage. Or at least part of it. The full Sky coverage is a 90 minute pre-race show and a roughly 90 minute post race show depending on how long the actual race ran. I get the torrent to see all the stuff ESPN doesn't show.

Yeah, TSN in Canada shows it all, thankfully. The stuff you get to see on the pre and post race shows are amazing and honestly its the kind of stuff we would have killed for when we all followed CART.

[TedN]

Agreed, plus we also see both GP2 races courtesy of Sky.

[WickerBill]

I would love to have the pre and post stuff on ESPN, but I will not disparage them because what they've given us compared to the NBC commercial-and-Matchett-fest is an absolute joy.