For Esau was an hairy man:Rush

[Slutty Rimmer]

Originally Posted by ex nihilo

You don't need to worry too much about the viewing stats. We have a paradigm shift regarding viewing nowadays. The consolidated stats for the first episode was actually 8 million when you included the iPlayer views.

The i-player paradigm shift is nothing new and has quietly been inflating the viewing stats of many a programme for many a year. One can't just recalibrate the standard measuring tool so it now reads higher. Comparing like-with-like and week-on-week the gradient is looking as negative as my opinion of the host.

Originally Posted by ex nihilo

My recommendation would be to overcome the prejudice and give it a whirl…

Speaking of tools. I will indeed give it a whirl as soon as the current host is sacked for the inexcusable crime of being a Chris Evans.

[ex nihilo]

Great win by Lewis in Montreal. He did all the right stuff but needs to nail more starts when he is on pole...

[ex nihilo]

Great final lap and victory in Austria from Lewis Hamilton.

He is a real wheel to wheel racer in the mould of Ayrton Senna who knows how to impose on a race situation very, very hard.

Hamilton v Rosberg is getting very much like Senna v Prost. The wheel to wheel racer or who dares wins…

[ex nihilo]

Great series of wins for Lewis, putting him in a strong position to become a four times world champion, after the summer break.

He also looks on course to become the finest Formula 1 driver that Britain has produced. Only the ghost of Jim Clark stands in his way, at present.

And as for the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time? It's another ghost who stands in his way. The late great Ayrton Senna...

[Slutty Rimmer]

Originally Posted by ex nihilo

He also looks on course to become the finest Formula 1 driver that Britain has produced. Only the ghost of Jim Clark stands in his way, at present.

...and the achievements of the incomparable Jackie Stewart*, the achievements and underachievements of Stirling Moss, the panache of James Hunt, the dignity of Damon Hill, the honest work ethic of Graham Hill, the humility of John Surtees, the grit of Nigel Mansell**, and the English dash of Mike Hawthorne.

The egotism and whinging of Lewis is not worthy to be included in the list.

We will never see better than gentleman Jim.

F1 (or 'Formula One' as it used to be called in the old days of vowels and syllables prior to the degradation of Twttr and Txt) is now a tedious boring bust flush. Toys such as DRS, are just confected artifices made to merge the real with the unreal world of the playstation games. Are we ever likely to see another Nigel Mansell pushing his car across the line like we saw at Dallas in 1984. Will we ever see another 'Big big slide' from a Piquet passing Senna on the outside at Hungary in 1986 ? Or a James Hunt going side-by-side with a Niki Lauda at Brands Hatch just as the cars disappear out of camera view behind the trees only to then emerge a few seconds later in the lead ?

Will we ever see cars pass one another again outside of the pit stops ?

No, the 'sport' of F1 is now just a stage managed piece of concocted virtual-real sh*te.

I wish it were different, but it isn't.

Kind Regards,
Rimmer.

* Interesting to think that Jackie Stewart got himself badly disliked when he took on the long battle to make the sport safer for competitors. He was at the vanguard of motor sport and public motoring safety, believing that the drivers were not just gladiators for the killing. Compare this with Hamilton's objection to the 'halo' purely on cosmetic grounds ? Is there a non-self imaging brain cell in there, anywhere ?

** Ye gods. I diligently recorded every Grand Prix (narrated by Murray and James) from about 1984 to 1994. I have a couple of huge boxes of VHS tapes that are taking up garage space. What is to be done with such an archive ? Keep for posterity or skip for practicality ?

[Des]

Originally Posted by Slutty Rimmer

...and the achievements of the incomparable Jackie Stewart, the achievements and underachievements of Stirling Moss, the panache of James Hunt, the dignity of Damon Hill, the honest work ethic of Graham Hill, the humility of John Surtees, the grit of Nigel Mansell*, and the English dash of Mike Hawthorne.

The egotism and whinging of Lewis is not worthy to be included in the list.

We will never see better than gentleman Jim.

Slutty old boy.

I joined this forum years ago to get some cheap thrills about my particular fetish. I didn't expect to find so many reasoned and well argued topics such as those that appear here.

Always enjoy your views.

For those who remember watching Grand Prix from the fifties onward, Clark's skill was incomparable. Today's crowd are so insipid, the drivers and the promotion. Over-the-top nauseating so much of the time.

[ex nihilo]

Originally Posted by Slutty Rimmer

F1 (or 'Formula One' as it used to be called in the old days of vowels and syllables prior to the degradation of Twttr and Txt) is now a tedious boring bust flush. Toys such as DRS, are just confected artifices made to merge the real with the unreal world of the playstation games. Are we ever likely to see another Nigel Mansell pushing his car across the line like we saw at Dallas in 1984. Will we ever see another 'Big big slide' from a Piquet passing Senna on the outside at Hungary in 1986 ? Or a James Hunt going side-by-side with a Niki Lauda at Brands Hatch just as the cars disappear out of camera view behind the trees to then emerge a few seconds later in the lead ?

Will we ever see cars pass one another again outside of the pit stops ?

No, the 'sport' of F1 is now just a stage managed piece of concocted virtual-real sh*te.

I wish it were different, but it isn't.

Kind Regards,
Rimmer.

It is different.

8mm - VHS - iPad. Every dog has its day.

Every era of F1 is different, and every era has performance elements that differentiate it from those that came before and those yet to come.

Emotionally we will pick our best driver, perhaps argue against the stats as to our choice. But at the end of the day you have to win Championships, races, pole positions and leave a bend or curve (the Senna curves) in the fabric of space-time.

Surgeons are no better or worse today than they were in the past even though they are less hands on. In future planned procedures the scalpel will play a minor role compared to the Da Vinci robot doing clever stuff inside the trocar tubes. Similarly the modern airline pilot will spend much of his time managing the FMS which is hooked up to the autopilot. Not quite as romantic as the seat of the pants stuff but is more effective, efficient and safer in our city in the sky.

Technology changes every year and the objective is to make all performance elements more manageable and therefore faster.

In the earlier eras there was more emphasis on physicality that might have delayed some of our present younger drivers access until they were stronger. The modern F1 car is easier to drive than the older ones but the increased limits makes them more difficult to keep on the track.

Driving the car and managing the car go side by side in the modern game so mental acuity and technical knowledge are now part of the driver package. I expect the Mercedes F1 driver handbook would have much in common with a 747 Pilot Operating Handbook. The person driving/flying needs to know all the detail.

Rimmer seems to allude to an erosion of romanticism in the modern era. The cars may appear a bit tool like (no pun intended) but believe me the modern driver does not have time to day dream and wonder what is on the menu for dinner. No time to tweet or upload a pic of yourself in the car mirrors. Technology has made the cars super effective, highly efficient, loveable even but maybe without that connection and emotional ties of the older F1 cars. Over the coming years the cars will get more effective, efficient and faster. They might get easier to drive but they will also be harder to keep on the driving surface. The laws of physics while braking into high speed bends do not alter with new technology. At the end of the day its four wheels with rubber the size of a large book on the surface at any point in time.

Hamilton seems to have a superb driver/physical/mental/technical skill set in this generation.

[Slutty Rimmer]

Originally Posted by ex nihilo

It is different.

8mm - VHS - iPad. Every dog has its day.

Every era of F1 is different, and every era has performance elements that differentiate it from those that came before and those yet to come.

Emotionally we will pick our best driver, perhaps argue against the stats as to our choice. But at the end of the day you have to win Championships, races, pole positions and leave a bend or curve (the Senna curves) in the fabric of space-time.

Surgeons are no better or worse today than they were in the past even though they are less hands on. In future planned procedures the scalpel will play a minor role compared to the Da Vinci robot doing clever stuff inside the trocar tubes. Similarly the modern airline pilot will spend much of his time managing the FMS which is hooked up to the autopilot. Not quite as romantic as the seat of the pants stuff but is more effective, efficient and safer in our city in the sky.

Technology changes every year and the objective is to make all performance elements more manageable and therefore faster.

Quite so, but you misdirect the argument. Surgery and Passenger Flight are not spectator sports intended to thrill, excite, and inspire our own achievements with hours of unscripted drama performed by admirable competitors. Formula One is meant to be all of that. It once was but is no longer now.

Originally Posted by ex nihilo

In the earlier eras there was more emphasis on physicality that might have delayed some of our present younger drivers access until they were stronger. The modern F1 car is easier to drive than the older ones but the increased limits makes them more difficult to keep on the track.

Driving the car and managing the car go side by side in the modern game so mental acuity and technical knowledge are now part of the driver package. I expect the Mercedes F1 driver handbook would have much in common with a 747 Pilot Operating Handbook. The person driving/flying needs to know all the detail.

Rimmer seems to allude to an erosion of romanticism in the modern era. The cars may appear a bit tool like (no pun intended) but believe me the modern driver does not have time to day dream and wonder what is on the menu for dinner. No time to tweet or upload a pic of yourself in the car mirrors. Technology has made the cars super effective, highly efficient, loveable even but maybe without that connection and emotional ties of the older F1 cars. Over the coming years the cars will get more effective, efficient and faster. They might get easier to drive but they will also be harder to keep on the driving surface. The laws of physics while braking into high speed bends do not alter with new technology. At the end of the day its four wheels with rubber the size of a large book on the surface at any point in time.

Hamilton seems to have a superb driver/physical/mental/technical skill set in this generation.

Indeed sir, my point exactly for who wants to spend hard earned time and money watching a fast efficient machine go round and round without drama ? We all have washing machines that do similar and I can watch mine for free. Why don't the drivers just take the next leap and all hook up in a virtual reality race track prior to simply announcing the result on the F1 Twitter account ?

Nobody cares how difficult it is underneath to keep it all moving if we see nothing more than it moving. We want to watch Motor Racing, not 'F1'.

The modern era is seeing Bernie and his boys rinsing the spectators in the tedious cyclical procession of uneventful perfection. I have a cheaper rinse cycle to entertain me similarly...and it has the additional advantage of resulting in a clean pair of undies at the end of it.

Kind Regards,
Rimmer.

[ex nihilo]

Originally Posted by Slutty Rimmer

Ye gods. I diligently recorded every Grand Prix (narrated by Murray and James) from about 1984 to 1994. I have a couple of huge boxes of VHS tapes that are taking up garage space. What is to be done with such an archive ? Keep for posterity or skip for practicality?

You need to keep at least one of those tapes.

The first lap of The F1 European Grand Prix at Donington Park in 1993. The best lap in GP history! Murray and James were totally gobsmacked. I know you'll agree...

[Slutty Rimmer]

Originally Posted by ex nihilo

You need to keep at least one of those tapes.

The first lap of The F1 European Grand Prix at Donington Park in 1993. The best lap in GP history! Murray and James were totally gobsmacked. I know you'll agree...

I suppose it could be considered a perfectly serviceable lap by racing standards, but nothing I couldn't have done myself*.

Errrr...

Seriously though, I am not disagreeing in any way. That lap was impossible and showed just what a single minded and talented obsessive individual could achieve. It was a lesson well learnt at my end, and when faced with despair I do often take inspiration from these types of heroics. Keep pushing and you just might find that people are really not up for the fight, and the win is yours for the taking. It is this sort of inspiration that is lacking from much of the modern World, and Formula One.

As mentioned before, I really disliked Senna but I do not deny he was good, very good...but was that lap really the the best ever ?

A meaningless question I know, but for a start I would put forward every single lap raced by Jackie Stewart during the rain sodden and fog blighted 1968 Grand Prix at the Nurbergring. A race which he won by a monumental 4 minutes !!

That is four whole minutes ahead of the field.

Kind Regards,
Rimmer.

* Yeah, well if I had is upbringing, his financial backing and his determination, his unwavering conviction and confidence, his training and experience, steely self obsessed focus, good fortune, and good old fashioned plain natural talent then...why not ?

But for everything there goes I.

This reminds me of another Wodehouse quote "The only thing that stands between us and success...is complete abject failure. All we have to do is hurdle that and we have it made !".