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I'm done with DRS - it might add another 1 to your overtaking figures but it's completely cold and functional and you can see any moves coming a mile off, even if they actually matter. It was never about the overtaking itself - it was about the tension of whether or not the move could be completed. We've gone from one extreme where it was impossible to pass to another where it's too easy, and there's no tension there at all

The other major problem is F1 is obsessed with its past. It has seemingly lost interest in trying to create new history - it just wants to recreate the good times. That's not helping to progress the sport. And it also wants to do this an entirely superficial manner. There's no depth to F1 any more. Once you see beyond the shiny artifice, there's just a cold, dark void. Watching F1 is totally unsatisfying at the moment. And I'm not sure people within F1 understand this, which is why they're messing around with daft proposals which will just leave people feel even more disconnected

Criticise Hindhaugh all you want but he's on the right track - I can imagine endurance racing feeling a lot more satisfying and authentic than F1, because the number of Things Happening doesn't determine how good a race is. If that's the basis people in F1 are working on, trying to cram as much shit onto the screen in one go like Michael Bay or George Lucas, they'll end up creating something that only 8-year-olds with ADHD will enjoy watching. The more F1 pisses about with megaphones for engines and active suspension to create sparks, the less authentic it becomes

Because of all those terrible series of sidewinding snap rolls that happen every time anyone races there.

To be fair, there have been a few big accidents there and at least one was a flip caused by the gravel - Ralf's in 2003. Button also had a big one in 2006, though I don't think it was a flip

Not sure if serious....

I think this is kind of the point here

I was reluctant to get involved in this because I switched the last race off after a few laps, and only switched it back on with a few to go. I just didn't feel like there was any need. But that's still more than I saw of China - I just didn't bother at all, and haven't even watched the highlights. And yet this comes after Bahrain, theoretically one of the most exciting races I can remember. I was excited at the start of the season too. But I'm already back to feeling the same way I have for the last couple of years

I've been left wondering "why should I bother watching?" There's nothing. I'm not going to blame Mercedes here, and the lack of diversity of winners - the problem runs deeper than that. There's nothing captivating about F1 any more. Where's the drama? I'm done with DRS - it might add another 1 to your overtaking figures but it's completely cold and functional and you can see any moves coming a mile off, even if they actually matter. It was never about the overtaking itself - it was about the tension of whether or not the move could be completed. We've gone from one extreme where it was impossible to pass to another where it's too easy, and there's no tension there at all

What else? Strategy is pretty much dead, and even in the vaguely interesting strategic races, it's all down to tyres that have been made deliberately mediocre. The return of unreliability never appeared - the cars are just as reliable as they were last year - and there's no way anyone's going to crash any more in the vast majority of circuits. We're left with occasional pit stop cock-ups as our only legitimate excitement

The other major problem is F1 is obsessed with its past. It has seemingly lost interest in trying to create new history - it just wants to recreate the good times. That's not helping to progress the sport. And it also wants to do this an entirely superficial manner. There's no depth to F1 any more. Once you see beyond the shiny artifice, there's just a cold, dark void. Watching F1 is totally unsatisfying at the moment. And I'm not sure people within F1 understand this, which is why they're messing around with daft proposals which will just leave people feel even more disconnected

Criticise Hindhaugh all you want but he's on the right track - I can imagine endurance racing feeling a lot more satisfying and authentic than F1, because the number of Things Happening doesn't determine how good a race is. If that's the basis people in F1 are working on, trying to cram as much shit onto the screen in one go like Michael Bay or George Lucas, they'll end up creating something that only 8-year-olds with ADHD will enjoy watching. The more F1 pisses about with megaphones for engines and active suspension to create sparks, the less authentic it becomes

It's the equivalent of asking yourself "why do I watch F1?" A while back I realised that the only reason I was watching was because I always do. Not watching made me realise that I wasn't missing out

So I guess you guys are pretty stoked about the tumors, then

To be fair, there have been a few big accidents there and at least one was a flip caused by the gravel - Ralf's in 2003. Button also had a big one in 2006, though I don't think it was a flip

Don't let Scotty see that post

Catch fencing worked really well, but it had the unfortunate side effect of taking a long time to replace, and on the odd occasion felt it necessary to decapitate a patron while doing it's job.

Criticise Hindhaugh all you want

I would have thought it's massive con would have been a few times the catch fencing would get stuck over a driver making hit hard for him to get out of a car quickly if it burst into flames.

Only serious accident at Parabolica that I know of is Derek Warwick. And he jumped out of his car and ran up the pit lane to get in a car 24 years more dangerous than what we have now. Literally no reason why the gravel should be removed.