Formula 1 2015: General Discussion Thread

zombieHanalei

I'm surprised that people are attaching any prestige or any real credibility to an award that is put to a public vote.

cadaliac

Joeseph Balls wrote: »

I wonder would McIlroy got more votes if he hadn't declared himself for Team Ireland.

Of course he would have.
Anyway, regardless of who won the British SPOTY - Lewis beat all around him. All of them.
He is the reigning World Champion.



As much as it pains me to say that.

I can't stand his carry on. Like yesterday showing up at the awards with a dog. ffs.

Gillespy

HighLine wrote: »

Didn't consider that you would ever take your Lewis blinkers off for this after seeing most of your posts throughout the season. Again... when you have watched every F1 race of the season along with every PGA Tour event, come back to me when you're in a good position to judge. Lewis beating one other driver in an all dominating car doesn't compare with Rory's year.

One glance at your history tells its own story. You're in three thread with this. Your dislike of Hamilton is evident and is fueling this more as much anything.

I'm not a massive golf fan but I watch the Majors and I always root for McIlroy. His natural talent is clear for all to see and he is Irish. As I said, I fully expected him to win and if he did or anyone else for that matter, you wouldn't find me in any thread undermining them or their sport. Trying to compare sports and achievements is pointless anyway.

The only reason I brought it here is because it's good for F1. Who knows the BBC could start showing all the races again when they see something like this.

Brendan Flowers

LIGHTNING wrote: »

He was robbed, he should have won by a long way. Sure Lewis did well but a one armed blind clown could have won the WDC in that car.

This is the kind of rubbish I'd expect someone like Joey Barton to come out with. I thought you (from what I know of you posting on Boards) would be someone who is be aware of the huge skill and risk involved in racing a car.

I thought Rory was a cert to win but Hamilton is just as worthy of the award. He drove brilliantly for the most part this season. He became a double world champion. He became the first British double world champion in almost 50 years. He set a new record for most Grand Prix victories by a British driver in the history of Formula 1. He won 11 races and was on the podium in ever GP he finished. Only 2 other drivers have ever won more races in a single season than Lewis did this year. He won 5 races in a row, again something that has only ever been bested by 3 other drivers.

I do feel bad for Rory after the great year he had. But people need to get a grip. He was beaten by a top champion.

youreadthat

There are still a lot of misconceptions about F1. Drivers don't just fluke their way into good cars, nor can you put any driver in a fast car and get the same results, nor are drivers going around on auto-pilot. People also don't just judge drivers on a single year. Alonso had won nothing in ages and yet his star hasn't diminished, Vettel has had one bad year after four great ones yet his has, it goes to show the variables that go into judging a driver.

As such in a popular vote, there will always be elements of other factors into sporting achievement. Lewis won in the best car, but he also won against a very good team mate, he won his second title, he's considered to be one of the most exciting drivers. He has had many years of not winning but getting everything and more out of the car, he's won races without having the fastest car before, he's won two WC's with two different teams in two different eras of regulations, he impressed massively as a rookie, broken British records, he's won a WC without having the CC winning car.

Yes, many of these things are not 2014 specific but when judging racing drivers the public will always have other factors such as these in mind.

Infoanon

ScumLord wrote: »

Fast cars and pit girls will always trump pink golf jumpers and a bag of balls.

The award is for Sports Personality of the year not sports person of the year.

Thus characters like Bradley Wiggins win while eg Mo Farrah doesn't make the too 3 despite being a double Olympic champion.

No criticism of Bradley Wiggins achievements is intended.

Ghost Train

Sure it's a public vote thing, a popularity contest, not strictly about personality, or sporting achievement. Been a while since an F1 driver won it, so it's good that there's a following there. Lewis has been runner up twice before so who's to say it's not his year.

Rory did have the split from his fiancee earlier in the year which maybe didn't help his following with a few people

Pity Jenson didn't win it back in 2009, personality wise think he has Lewis, Damon, Mansell beat

greedygoblin

I've been a long time critic of Hamilton over the years, but I have to say that towards the end of this season I've softened my stance somewhat. He seems to have matured a lot over the course of the season. On his winning of the championship, it has to be admitted that the better driver won. Lewis deserved it.

Hamilton beating McIlroy, to me at least, was not a huge surprise (I thought Rory looked a bit shell-shocked accepting the runner-up award ). No doubt it will boost the appeal of the sport in the UK to some degree. It's just the shot in the arm that the sport needs there given that viewership figures were in decline the last few years with the television rights migration from free-to-air to Sky.

I don't think however, that it will be enough to persuade the BBC to reverse their decision to only broadcast half the races live. They are actively cutting their budget left, right and center. Decent F1 coverage unfortunately costs a lot to produce and it's not helped by the fees requested by CVC/Bernie.

I agree GT on the Jenson point. He would have been a hugely popular winner had he got it back then. Personality-wise, there's no competition there from those you mentioned. The thing is though, Lewis is hugely popular over there. He's very careful about the image he portrays on camera. Clearly, he's got some very savvy people advising him. The dog thing I suppose is representative of the Hollywood lifestyle (think Paris Hilton :P); it's all part of the image.

guyfo

Im on the Hamilton side here, but if Rory had won id be on his.
It was a public vote, Hamilton won by a landslide, its as simple as that. Anybody that says "oh he should have won" or "they should have won" is just bitter, nobody was cheated out of anything nor was it wrongly won, it was a fair competition.


Also, I'm really surprised by the amount of times I've seen statements referring to this today, Sports Personality of the Year does not relate to the person's personality they are by definition a "sports personality".

I know were Irish but English is our primary language, might help if people learnt it!!

The 2 most common meanings of the word personality:

1: The combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character

2: A celebrity or famous person

Rant over

ScumLord

Infoanon wrote: »

The award is for Sports Personality of the year not sports person of the year.

What's the difference?

eviltimeban

Jesus lads get off this point and back to talking about F1!

Mitch Connor

OSI wrote: »

The widespread understanding of their definition.

and the widespread misunderstanding of its meaning with regards the award given.

It is BBC Sports Celebrity/Famous Person of the Year. Not BBC Sports Charismatic Person of the Year.

boardsuser1

This has become the bbc spoty thread not the f1 thread ffs

greedygoblin

So some of Red Bulls stolen trophies have been recovered (linky).

Sparks43

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Yup people are right no more talk of the 2015 award

Technically its the 2014 award:cool:

Frank Bullitt

Pat Fry to leave Ferrari also.

boardsuser1

Another south American sauber reject joins ferrari as a test driver,sounds familiar

Ghost Train

Will be interesting to see with what Ferrari come up with next year, has lots of potential... to surprise or shock, might be a long season for them next year

Frankie Lee

KC161 wrote: »

Another south American sauber reject joins ferrari as a test driver,sounds familiar

Doesn't ring a bell with me.

Frankie Lee

Ghost Train wrote: »

Will be interesting to see with what Ferrari come up with next year, has lots of potential... to surprise or shock, might be a long season next year

Unless they can somehow get Mercedes engines they have no hope.

Jordan 199

Gintonious wrote: »

Pat Fry to leave Ferrari also.

Can't say I'm surprised by Fry's and Tombazis departure.

Frankie Lee wrote: »

Doesn't ring a bell with me.

He's referring to Esteban Gutierrez.

Frankie Lee

Jordan 191 wrote: »

He's referring to Esteban Gutierrez.

I'm aware of that much but am struggling to think of another South American former Sauber driver becoming a test driver for Ferrari.

kksaints

Frankie Lee wrote: »

I'm aware of that much but am struggling to think of another South American former Sauber driver becoming a test driver for Ferrari.

Massa.

Cookie_Monster

kksaints wrote: »

Massa.

He was a main driver and a pretty successful one at that

kksaints

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

He was a main driver and a pretty successful one at that

He drove for Sauber in 2002 and 2004-2005 but was Ferrari test driver for 2003.

Edit: I see the word reject in the original post which is very harsh to say about Massa.

boardsuser1

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

He was a main driver and a pretty successful one at that

He was a test driver for ferrari in 2003 after being ousted at sauber by frentzen

PukkaStukka

Autosport reporting that Ferrari have fired Pat Fry and Nicholas Tombazis. Surely there's nobody left at this stage

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117169

boardsuser1

PukkaStukka wrote: »

Autosport reporting that Ferrari have fired Pat Fry and Nicholas Tombazis. Surely there's nobody left at this stage

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117169

Not high profile anyway

Frank Bullitt

This really is like the early 90's all over again for them.

Its all well and good firing these people, but has there been any replacements mentioned? And I mean realistic ones at that, time and time again Newy's name has been thrown about, but he will never be in red.

It could well be a long few years ahead for them.

Going Strong

Yup. They can certainly wave goodbye to any title challenge for next season and the one after it. And that assumes that promoting from within actually pays off. They already tried this policy after Brawn & Co left and look where it got them.