[NFS]

Just got back from the GP at Silverstone.

Not the most watchable race this year. Very uneventful with hardly any overtaking. Main thoughts are:

1. The cars look very poor in the flesh. The Mclaren from last year looked stunning and it immediately feels like a step back.

2. The vertical fin behind the driver on the Toyotas looks like something knocked up in a shed or bolted on for a joke.

3. We still have a situation where some teams have far superior cars, all thats happened is that the teams with good cars now have crap ones and vice versa. I don't see how that's an improvement.

4. If anything the gap in car quality has grown. The battles lower in the field (including Hamiltons) show that. There were two pairs of cars where the slower driver in front just blocked the better driver behind and the reality was that there just wasn't the pace for the overtake. Frustrating for the drivers and frustrating to watch.

I just don't get it. GP seems like a poor imitation of it's former self. The idea was to level the playing field and stop races looking like a 'procession'. Unfortunately this has simply made it worse.

Well done to Vettel though. A deserved win. However you have to again question the differential on the cars. He had pulled away by half a lap against the majority of cars within 10 laps.

[jjbirch]

i must say i watched it tv and the bbc did everything to spice it up even talked to a lot of big names when the race was over,something you never got with ITV, one thing Mclaren did say was they spent to much time on there old car in 08 when other teams where doing the rule changes ages ago, but it hasnt worked with bmw,
and when button gained soo much at the end but couldnt pass i think its has made it worse to overtake, but it must be said hats off the BBC for showing all angles of F1 racing

[lolololol]

I have lost my passion for F1 one this year, I also cannot recal a current champion being so far off the pace as Hamilton is this year.

F1 has turned into a circus really, the capping was a good idea to level the playing field and also to address the spiraling costs associated with the big teams. Although that approach has thrown the toys out everywhere.

[M3-FAST]

I think the capping of costs is a great idea, but cannot be implemented in just a season. The teams (especially the big spenders) will need to wind down the spending.

To simply drop from £160m to £40m in one year is prob impossible.

When you also bear in mind that just ONE footballer was sold last week for £80m, and they now expect two whole F1 outfits to operate for a season on that amount is pretty optimistic.

EVERY spend would need to be reduced, drivers wages, travel costs, development facilities, hospitality, etc and then would it be as attractive to the big 'blue chip' sponsors such as Vodafone, Santander, etc who want to be associated with the pinnacle of motorsport.

I agree with NFS, the cars have not looked this bad in years

Come on F1, sort it all out FFS

[Dr Dave]

I, for one, would never actually go to a circuit now and watch F1. Boring.

TV - watch the start, do something near the TV during the race (in case something interesting happens) and then maybe watch the finish.
That's about my viewing habits these days.

Agreed - the cars look shite compared to last year etc.

F1 has had it's day in it's present guise with Bernie & Max - time for big big changes if the sport is to survive.

[Carrera RSR]

Budget cap in F1 = A1 GP, GP2 etc.

Budget cap the top 8 teams = job losses in teams as well as associated companies who supply engineering, materials, corporate entertainment, travel

Budget cap so F1 isn't the pinnacle of motorsport it currently is = excuse for top sponsors who need to reduce sponsorship/marketing spend to pull out

I agree that costs have spiraled out of control and need reigning in but to do this in one swoop is suicide

I wonder how much money has been spent/wasted on KERS and now teams are backing out fast including BMW who were one team who heavily pushed forward on this technology.

[spandeli]

F1 Cars never looked that bad. They are so ugly like never before.

F1 races are becoming boring, new race winners though than the ones we were used to in the last 10 years, Ferraris and Maccas have always been the front runners up to this year.

Hamilton has proven who he really is, and not the phenomenon one that all the media has been talking about for two years. He has always been a lucly guy in the best and fastest car, and had all the support by his team. Now that his car is not as fast, he achieved nothing than battling with Force India

In my point of view a drivers before getting in the top team he has to prove himself in a midfield team.. Have a look at Vettel. He as done so much with Red Bull in the last two years, well done, and this year yeah, Andrians car is so fast and with Brawns will nominate this years championship.

Expecting Vettel to get some more wins at leat to spice up the championship a bit...

[Dr.Crap]

I was at the GP as well

There were loads of people there even on Friday. Excellent atmosphere but everything else fell short. Something just feels wrong this year, its a sanitised experience. You know something's wrong when the battle between 15th and 16th is more interesting than the front. Congrats to Vettel - masterful race considering his age.

I think the main problem is the whole ferrari vs mclaren thing over the last 2 years was so intense that this season seems a bit crap. Does'nt really matter whose side you're on ferrari and mclaren battling it out is great fun.

[PhilL]

I noticed throughout the coverage quite a few comments from people about how great Silverstone is, but not one mention about Donington Park; perhaps quite telling..

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Dr.Crap

Something just feels wrong this year, its a sanitised experience.

I totally agree. In the past we knew that things were uneven and that certain manufacturers had a big advantage. But we could kid ourselves that it was still a proper competition and that the cars were the pinnacle of engineering.

Now, we have a situation where the cars are engineered to be slightly rubbish. How can that define the very highest form of motorsport?

By the way, this is the aero Toyota were running today, complete with a big sticky out metal flag behind the driver. It's not shown in the general PR photo's of the car. Not suprising - as it looks pretty unpleasant.