Formula 1

same as you Eric iused to be an big fan of it, my dad took me to Borne airfield to watch the BRM practising, it threw the stones way up in the air when it went of the runway on a bend, and so loud
Be better when Hamilton has gone, as no one can touch him, great driver but makes it boring

The cream always rises to the top Tony, Schumacker was just as dominant in his day. Yes, watching the cars go round and round is boring if you're not into the sport, any sport is boring if you don't know the rules and strategy calls.

Yesterday I watched a documentary called "Hitler's super cars".
With one eye on propaganda the German State in 1932 made a huge donation split 2:1 between Mercedes Benz and new comer Auto Union with the clear directive to build the best/fastest Grand Prix cars in the world.
Auto Union used a rear engine supercharged V16 (designed by Ferdinand Porsche!) and Mercedes an even more highly supercharged straight 8 in a conventional layout. Both cars benefited from wind tunnel tested aerodynamics.
Once the initial reliability issues has be resolved the cars absolutely dominated the Grand Prix circuits and from 1936 won every race they entered.
At the 1937 British Grand Prix at Donnington Park the German cars between them took the first 7 places and all were 2 laps ahead of the next car, an ERA driven by top UK driver Raymond Mays.
And people wonder why Mercedes is currently so dominant in F1.
In addition one founders of the Auto Union used a Latin translation of his family name to give "Audi" and the 4 linked rings represented the merger of the 4 companies.

I watched that Simon, fascinating programe, makes me want to build a tether car (another itch I need to scratch!)

formula E has no passion

F1 has the first lap the last two and nothing in between

THE BLACKBIRD wrote: F1 has the first lap the last two and nothing in between

Has a lot of followers though![badass]

For the sceptics, Formula E - and to keep i sort of relevant, there's an aeroplane to see, too -

Keep ya F1,
IoM TT ,British Super Bikes and motoGP is where it's at.

If I watched all the racing that's available and that I wanted to watch, I wouldn't have time for anything else![badass]

As a racer from way back (I used to race at Castle Combe in the 60's) I watch everything I can about F1. Since I sometimes am only able to watch the race some time later I do ask that a 'spoiler alert' be given if you're going to mention the result.
I find the reference to Netflix interesting, I am well aware that Netflix modify their content dependent on your location but the only F1 related stuff I've seen on Netflix is the 'Drive to survive' series (excellent by the way). We don't get Sky here but I do subscribe to F1 TV which gives me everything I need to watch.
Unless Mercedes shoot themselves in the foot again my money is on Lewis for this weekend, Red Bull have gone the wrong way on their setups but they'll bounce back, sadly I think this is Verstappens year. Mercedes underestimated the RB challenge and have poured all their resources into the 2022 car.
The Honda unit is seriously powerful and I suspect doesn't quite tick all the boxes in terms of legality.

doesn't quite tick all the boxes in terms of legality

The rules are now so complex I suspect working out how to avoid the consequences of ticking all the boxes is what success in F1 is all about.

Were those 2015 to 2019 Mercedes engines really that much better than everybody else's and still be exactly within the rules? Their cars went round corners as well as anybody and were faster on the straight. Hmmm!

There were some benefits when the basic design parameters were the engine had to be no more than 1500 cc and the car could not have body work over the wheels.

Simon, think I've mentioned it before but those mercs you've mentioned had a split turbo, impeller at the rear of the engine, compressor at the front ( driven by a shaft) hence they delivered much cooler and denser air to the engine....took other teams a while to cotton on as there customer engines never featured it.

There you have it, a debate that will always rage, the fact remains that F1 is the source of many new innovations that make cars and trucks more efficient and safer. This latest hybrid era has seen engines become much more fuel efficient, now over 50%, a number thought impossible 20 years ago.
Spoiler alert, it looks as though Lewis is about to emulate his Soccer counterparts and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory![badass]

For any who have not seen the Silverstone GP it was very much a cliff hanger but not between Lewis and Max. :woohoo: