I've had this on my chest for a while, and, in response to this article, I feel like something needs to be said. Now, I'm fully aware that DC has already written about it, but I'd like to add a quick two cents.
Yes, I watched the much-anticipated Bahrain Grand Prix. I also subsequently watched both Melbourne and Sepang. Melbourne and Sepang were arguably more interesting races. There was more overtaking, more shunts, and generally more excitement. There was also more gossip (and I learned the word "hooning", which I think is a lovely word). Once the track dried out in Melbourne, there were still people overtaking. Malaysia (granted, quali had suffered a spectacular deluge of monsoon-like rain) provided a great amount of 'entertainment' in the way of overtaking. Thing is these things would've happened even if there wasn't rain. The drivers are all very keen to move up the rankings, thus they will overtake. If you think of The Bahrain Procession as the drivers' parade lap of the season, it really doesn't seem that bad. Everyone was giving their car its first racing shake-down (in the case of Chandhok and Senna, the very first shake-down, period. I still think Chandhok did fantastically to bring his car home in quali) on a track that makes overtaking difficult. It was bound to be a less-than-thrilling race.
This brings us to the accusations of being boring. Sure, if all you're thinking about is the potential for crashes and overtake moves, most races are going to be boring! Mika Hakkinen put it quite succinctly (does Hakkinen ever have a moment of verbosity?) that if you understand what's going on, rather than simply 'watching the show', it's a lot more interesting. According to Kaj Lindstrom, Kimi Raikkonen fell asleep in the Melbourne Grand Prix (sorry, I couldn't find the link. It was a tweet from someone after the GP, and I can't remember who tweeted it), so it wasn't that interesting to everyone (it also suggests that Kimi has found his happy place, and it's not in F1; in addition, he's started smiling, which indicates enjoyment of his new day job).
So please, can we stop voting about whether we think it will rain at a race? Can we please stop speculating about how boring a race is going to be? It's a sports event. I've watched soccer matches that put me to sleep (okay, most of them do, but that's besides the point. Even the people who like soccer thought it was boring) and nobody tweets/blogs/writes 'news' articles criticising the Football Association (I think that's what it's called) of ruining 'the show'. So, F1 fans, watch for the enjoyment of seeing your boys try their durndest to get to the front!
Yes, I watched the much-anticipated Bahrain Grand Prix. I also subsequently watched both Melbourne and Sepang. Melbourne and Sepang were arguably more interesting races. There was more overtaking, more shunts, and generally more excitement. There was also more gossip (and I learned the word "hooning", which I think is a lovely word). Once the track dried out in Melbourne, there were still people overtaking. Malaysia (granted, quali had suffered a spectacular deluge of monsoon-like rain) provided a great amount of 'entertainment' in the way of overtaking. Thing is these things would've happened even if there wasn't rain. The drivers are all very keen to move up the rankings, thus they will overtake. If you think of The Bahrain Procession as the drivers' parade lap of the season, it really doesn't seem that bad. Everyone was giving their car its first racing shake-down (in the case of Chandhok and Senna, the very first shake-down, period. I still think Chandhok did fantastically to bring his car home in quali) on a track that makes overtaking difficult. It was bound to be a less-than-thrilling race.
This brings us to the accusations of being boring. Sure, if all you're thinking about is the potential for crashes and overtake moves, most races are going to be boring! Mika Hakkinen put it quite succinctly (does Hakkinen ever have a moment of verbosity?) that if you understand what's going on, rather than simply 'watching the show', it's a lot more interesting. According to Kaj Lindstrom, Kimi Raikkonen fell asleep in the Melbourne Grand Prix (sorry, I couldn't find the link. It was a tweet from someone after the GP, and I can't remember who tweeted it), so it wasn't that interesting to everyone (it also suggests that Kimi has found his happy place, and it's not in F1; in addition, he's started smiling, which indicates enjoyment of his new day job).
So please, can we stop voting about whether we think it will rain at a race? Can we please stop speculating about how boring a race is going to be? It's a sports event. I've watched soccer matches that put me to sleep (okay, most of them do, but that's besides the point. Even the people who like soccer thought it was boring) and nobody tweets/blogs/writes 'news' articles criticising the Football Association (I think that's what it's called) of ruining 'the show'. So, F1 fans, watch for the enjoyment of seeing your boys try their durndest to get to the front!
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