Unpopular Motorsport Opinions

[Strittan]

No problem at all, some will agree with you on some points and some will disagree with you on some points.

So why are you suggesting I should provide “convincing arguments as to why” when they’re just my opinions? Why not just disagree?

I haven’t claimed any of my opinions to be facts, have I? If I did, I didn’t mean to, and if so I’m sorry.

I don’t get it to be honest. I post an unpopular opinion in a thread dedicated to unpopular opinions. Of course I knew that people would disagree, but why do I have to explain myself?

 

[Scaff]

So why are you suggesting I should provide “convincing arguments as to why” when they’re just my opinions? Why not just disagred

I haven’t claimed any of my opinions to be facts, have I? If I did, I didn’t mean to, and if so I’m sorry.

I don’t get it to be honest. I post an unpopular opinion in a thread dedicated to unpopular opinions. Of course I knew that people would disagree, but why do I have to explain myself?

I'm not saying you have to, but when people disagreed you replied and argued for your position, and that's how a discussion goes.

 

[Strittan]

I'm not saying you have to, but when people disagreed you replied and argued for your position, and that's how a discussion goes.

Yep, I guess you’re right. My mistake.

 

[Scaff]

Slightly linked unpopular opinion: the British Grand Prix should never leave Silverstone, not because it's a good track for F1 or for historical reasons (although both are true) but because it has become an F1 containment zone. Silverstone has had so many changes over the years that it doesn't matter if it continues to do so, and therefore tracks like Donington, Brands Hatch and Oulton Park don't get torn up to accommodate F1. Or not again in Donington's case.

I'm not going to argue about that at all, as it's resulted in (maybe an unpopular view) Silverstone becoming a fairly boring track. It's not Paul Ricard boring, but it's not somewhere I enjoy racing in sims at all.

 

[Tornado]

I wouldn't even have thought that F1 cars being humongous pigs nowadays is even that unpopular of an opinion.

 

[Jimlaad43]

I'm not going to argue about that at all, as it's resulted in (maybe an unpopular view) Silverstone becoming a fairly boring track. It's not Paul Ricard boring, but it's not somewhere I enjoy racing in sims at all.

I feel the same a bit about Spa. I've raced on it so many times in so many games that I'm actually bored of it now.

I'll never get bored of Silverstone because it's my home circuit and it just suits my sim racing style.

 

[Scaff]

I feel the same a bit about Spa. I've raced on it so many times in so many games that I'm actually bored of it now.

I'll never get bored of Silverstone because it's my home circuit and it just suits my sim racing style.

It's one of three for me, I'm pretty much in the middle of Silverstone, Thruxton, and Castle Combe. I'd rather drive either of the other two and the pick of the three as a spectator would actually be Combe.

 

[TheCracker]

Silverstone is by far the worst circuit for spectators i've been to, home or abroad. There isn't anywhere you can watch from where you get a sense of speed and a majority of the views are spoiled by tall wire catch fencing.

 

[PeterJB]

Silverstone is by far the worst circuit for spectators i've been to, home or abroad. There isn't anywhere you can watch from where you get a sense of speed and a majority of the views are spoiled by tall wire catch fencing.

I always thought it was one of the best, especially compared to somewhere like Spa. In the Becketts grandstand you can see all the way from Copse to down most of the Hangar Straight, as well as Arena and the Wellington Straight.

Interlagos is brilliant for this. From opposite the pit lane entrance you can see basically the entire circuit except Curva Grande.

 

[Scaff]

Silverstone is by far the worst circuit for spectators i've been to, home or abroad. There isn't anywhere you can watch from where you get a sense of speed and a majority of the views are spoiled by tall wire catch fencing.

Thruxton would have to be the most disappointing for me, as while it's a great circuit to drive and to watch on TV, the limited spectator areas just ruin it in so many ways. At least at Silverstone you can get to view most of the circuit, which is just not an option at all at Thruxton (and Brands isn't that great in that regard either).

 

[MatskiMonk]

Silverstone is by far the worst circuit for spectators i've been to, home or abroad

Yup, this.

That's not to say other circuits don't suffer similar issues however. I think you'd be hard pressed to make a case for somewhere like Thruxton being a spectator experience given an equivalent event (say BTCC for example), however I'd still much rather go to Thuxton which is two hours away, than Silverstone which is 20 minutes away, for Touring Cars.

 

[Jimlaad43]

If you're failing to get a sense of speed at Silverstone, you're standing in the wrong places or going to the wrong events.

It's designed for two days a year - the F1 and MotoGP Sundays. Therefore, because of the wide runoffs the circuit requires, it is best watched from Grandstands, which often give you a big, aerial view of a corner or a complex. Somewhere like Copse, you will only see Copse, while others like Stowe or Becketts have views of much more of the circuit, if you know where to look.
Of course, for club events, this isn't much of an option as a lot of Grandstands are closed, leaving just the General admission places to walk around. Copse entry, behind the flag point, is a good close spot. On the wall at the turn-in point for Maggotts is one of the best places in the world to watch race cars. The Hangar Straight is fast and close. The unknown gem though is the Silverstone Six grandstand on the inside of the circuit between Maggotts and Aintree. Sit on the top row there and you can see 60% of the circuit.

The lack of a sense of speed for slower cars is definitely real. With wide track and long straights, it definitely does magnify how slow and small some cars can be, but that's the issue with a circuit designed for faster cars.

I agree that walking distances and access to cross the circuit may suck, especially in club events, but the complaints above sound more like you've not looked in the right places than genuine criticisms.

 

[Liquid]

Cascades or Knickerbrook at Oulton Park offer great views.

 

[TheCracker]

I always thought it was one of the best, especially compared to somewhere like Spa. In the Becketts grandstand you can see all the way from Copse to down most of the Hangar Straight, as well as Arena and the Wellington Straight.

I have to say, i've not watched anything from the Becketts grandstand, but like has been said, most stands are closed for anything other than the big events, spectators watching from embankments are not getting good views of Silverstone action.

Thruxton would have to be the most disappointing for me, as while it's a great circuit to drive and to watch on TV, the limited spectator areas just ruin it in so many ways. At least at Silverstone you can get to view most of the circuit, which is just not an option at all at Thruxton (and Brands isn't that great in that regard either).

I've only been to Thruxton as a participant, i can imagine its not great for spectators there either though, but that's airfield circuits for you! - although Croft and Castle Combe seem to manage it.

If you're failing to get a sense of speed at Silverstone, you're standing in the wrong places or going to the wrong events.

I've watched F1 there from the infield, in 2008, walking down from Copse all the way around (clockwise) to Vale, purely from the embankments, not sitting in any of the stands, and i just don't think from that elevation, you get any sense of speed. Even 4/5ths of the way down the Hanger, when they must be touching 200mph the F1s looked pedestrian. I watched it there more recently from the stands at Woodcote and although from that point you see from half way down Wellington, through Brooklands/Lufield and then back down some of the old pit straight, but the stand is so far back from the action. Event atmosphere aside, you might as well watch it on TV.

Cascades or Knickerbrook at Oulton Park offer great views.

Watch any racing at Oulton from the pit wall or down start/finish straight from the outside or the outside of Old Hall and you get a proper sense of speed there.

 

[ScottPuss20]

Silverstone is by far the worst circuit for spectators i've been to, home or abroad. There isn't anywhere you can watch from where you get a sense of speed and a majority of the views are spoiled by tall wire catch fencing.

You would hate Albert Park then.

 

[WiisardNic]

You would hate Albert Park then.

This just reminded me of my trip to Albert Park the first time.
My brother and I went for a walk around the track on Friday practice, and got to the straight along the outside on the run down to (then) Turn 13, facing the big DHL banners.
That's when he gave me the SLR camera to try and take some photos. Once I finally found a good spot to get the lens through the fencing, I took a picture and completely misjudged the timing, and the whole frame was just a big DHL ad, with a little bit of Toro Rosso rear wing endplate at the edge of the frame

 

[MaxAttack]

Thrux is banging for a spectator, I don't know what you lot are talking about.

Anyway, here's one based on current events and rhetoric I'm seeing out there;

Dropping the Ukrainian invasion at Nikita Mazepin's feet and thrusting a mic in his face just so he can make an arse of himself is disingenuous, crappy, pulpy reporting and shouldn't have been given the time of day let alone been leapt over by F1 fans like it was yesterday.

Is Nikita a classless bore? Yes. Would I rather watch an armless toddler drive the car? Certainly. Do I think it's fair to try and make him answer to a complex geopolitical situation when he is a racing driver with a pretty poor command of English? No. I think it's pretty pathetic, and I don't think we would have done it to Kvyat.

As Nikita himself tried to say in his awful, awful grammar, don't we prefer sports without politics? With Haas actively stripping the UralKali and russian flag off everything in sight in the background, is it really fair to corner a driver to comment on the actions of his insane government?

Now look, I know who Dmitry is, and how close he may truly be to the situation, but, guys, sins of the father and that, let's ask racing drivers racing related questions, and if they want to use their platform to speak out on issues, give them the time to do that. But I feel some people think every driver should be a political commentator with their finger right on the button like a Sebastian Vettel, and I just don't think that's realistic or a good thing to reach for in the slightest.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Now they've fixed the layout to make it work for racing, I don't hate having the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on the calendar. In terms of Middle Eastern Grands Prix, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi are fine to stay IMO, but we don't need Saudi or Qatar.

 

[TheElbows]

Sebring should be dug up and brand new tarmac laid down on the circuit. The final corner also needs a LOT of runoff added to it.

It's a brilliant layout, but the bumps are way too big and the crashes we've seen at the final corner are just waiting for something more serious to happen there. New tarmac and get IndyCar to race there. If F1 wanted to race in Florida, a relaid Sebring would have been much more epic than the new Miami circuit.

A bit of a late response...but...holy crap no.

Firstly, F1 would never go to Sebring. Almost no U.S. race tracks rate for F1 and that's a great thing. F1 tracks are inherently boring as hell. When a race track is designed "for" F1...it ruins it for pretty much any genuinely exciting racing. I'm absolutely chuffed we have little to no F1 quality tracks in the United States. Even repaved, Sebring wouldn't meet the other silly criteria for an F1 track (thank god).

Secondly, the crashes at Sebring while looking big...have been car-destroying but relatively safe. You don't end up in the (numerous) tire walls without making a stupid move or having a vehicle failure. We've seen no actual driver injuries that I can think of for years (excluding perhaps some minor series I'm unaware of racing there). The F1 approach of "add 100 yards of extra run-off" is the death of motorsport. Also, consider the fact you're seeing a couple of crashes over the course of a 12 hour race - it's no more dangerous/crash heavy than most other tracks.

Ask, even the drivers, and they overwhelming LOVE racing in the United States because the tracks are old school. The drivers actually like that. Very rarely, if ever, do drivers express concerns about safety. Drivers in IMSA, etc. rave about the older tracks with grass run-offs and bumpy pavement. European drivers are often giddy when interviewed the first time they drive at Sebring, Road America, Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, Mosport, etc...BECAUSE these are not clinical, sterile, boring F1 modern tracks.

There is a reason that re-paving these great old tracks is widely considered an unforunate necessity when a track portion breaks up. The character is in the track, including its flaws. It is part of the challenge, and the identity of the track. It's also part of the technical challenge. It's why the engineers in IMSA work so damn hard to figure out each track they visit. In F1 you have different "types" of asphalt but it's considered a crime if it isn't perfectly flat/straight/manicured, etc. In America you have a huge variety of track surfaces from good to rough, to insane...and that's where the engineers earn their money.

I can't think of a more heinous motorsport crime than to pave Sebring to make it more "F1" like. That would be similar to when they paved Pikes Peak and irreparably changed the heart and soul of that event.

 

[ScottPuss20]

NASCAR is more fun to watch than V8 Supercars. At least since I started watching it again in 2020.

 

[PeterJB]

Official lap records need to be taken from any session. Kevin Magnussen's lap record at Singapore is five seconds slower than Hamilton's pole lap from the day before.

 

[24HuresdeLoL]

I've never liked the post-2013 GT500 cars in Super GT. Both Super GT And DTM used Class 1 regs for a possible crossover series, but since DTM reverted to GT3 cars, I think Super GT should go back to the original JAf regs.

Cause this:

is not comparable tho this:

 

[UnkaD]

I've never liked the post-2013 GT500 cars in Super GT. Both Super GT And DTM used Class 1 regs for a possible crossover series, but since DTM reverted to GT3 cars, I think Super GT should go back to the original JAf regs.

Cause this:
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is not comparable tho this:

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Oh, I could just imagine how good a new NSX would look with the JAF styling, super low slung with really wide and tall wheel arches. No compromise on the proportions in relation to the road car. Seeing the current GT500 sitting next to the GT3 car shows just how much the front is squeezed and contorted to fit in the Class1 shape.

 

[TheElbows]

That seems to be a trend though...all around motorsport. While stuff like world-wide formulas for cars is good for manufacturers and business, the excitement/sex appeal drops pretty hard on some things.

I used to really enjoy the Aussie V8 supercars in their...last(?) iteration. Back when they were still cut up and shortened street cars with mad camber and they leaned a lot more. The newer versions, while obviously probably better/safer/faster, etc...just don't get my blood pumping like the early 2000's stuff. I'm a Yank, so not some afficianado of the series...but it went from fun to more sterile pretty quickly.

 

[sillybilly]

Unpopular opinion:

The "2020" F1 regulations they have finally started using should have been moved to 2019 instead of delayed, once it was clear that the 2017 regulation adjustment was a mistake that made extremely fast non-passing race cars.

The new F1 cars look great and the gist of the regulations has been in the works for along time and many years "waiting for new cars in 2020".

Tin-foil hat version of the opinion:
Liberty media wanted to stick to the same to get Hamilton to at least equal the 7-time to perpetuate the GOAT discussions... Then they wanted Verstappen to win last year to set strong foundation of beating Hamilton for the next series of new-GOAT making seasons.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Unpopular opinion:

The "2020" F1 regulations they have finally started using should have been moved to 2019 instead of delayed, once it was clear that the 2017 regulation adjustment was a mistake that made extremely fast non-passing race cars.

The new F1 cars look great and the gist of the regulations has been in the works for along time and many years "waiting for new cars in 2020".

Tin-foil hat version of the opinion:
Liberty media wanted to stick to the same to get Hamilton to at least equal the 7-time to perpetuate the GOAT discussions... Then they wanted Verstappen to win last year to set strong foundation of beating Hamilton for the next series of new-GOAT making seasons.

This is the third time you've stated that Liberty have rigged the titles in that way. Stop wasting our time with something as ludicrous as that.

 

[sillybilly]

This is the third time you've stated that Liberty have rigged the titles in that way. Stop wasting our time with something as ludicrous as that.

Sheesh humour free zone.

I didn't realise it was that unpopular an opinion. The opinion is that we could have had better cars for the last three seasons... Theses seasons were only good because a strange amount of races were affected by random factors, pitstop problems, weather etc.

Liberty manipulating this is not an opinion, they do it and it is ok and it is their prerogative because they own show. I preferred watching driving rather than drama so I don't think I like the new direction.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Liberty manipulating this is not an opinion,

Correct, it's an unfounded lie

 

[mwoodski]

Sheesh humour free zone.

I didn't realise it was that unpopular an opinion. The opinion is that we could have had better cars for the last three seasons... Theses seasons were only good because a strange amount of races were affected by random factors, pitstop problems, weather etc.

Liberty manipulating this is not an opinion, they do it and it is ok and it is their prerogative because they own show. I preferred watching driving rather than drama so I don't think I like the new direction.

You cannot call them better cars if they haven't even run a single race session in anger...

 

[sillybilly]

You cannot call them better cars if they haven't even run a single race session in anger...

This is true to some extent, however, my counter points are :

1. The bar is very low : the last two season have been amazingly entertaining because of a weather, pit stop mistakes, driver errors, safety cars, red flagged races. None of that is by design, well perhaps the change of regulations for the wheel guns was manipulating regulation to try to introduce a bit more variety.

2. Aesthetics : they look way better; some might not care but it is subjective and if a model of one of these cars goes into a model cabinet it helps if someone things they look better.

3. Design variation : The cars use different solutions to the technical challenges - this adds to the anticipation as we might see some cars better in some parts of a tracks and other better in other parts that can lead to variety in the race. This point is massive and for me relates to Formula 1's raison d'etre (reason for existence) in that it has a huge aspect that is a design challenge in contrast to one make or spec series where the cars are all the same or of only a few different types makes.

My opinion is that they are much better cars, this might be an unpopular opinion but I have my reasons.