[Gordon Steadman]

I'm not sure that it was the fact that he lost but the way it was done by the race director with sure knowledge that Max would win in the circumstances by breaking the rules of the game.

They know very well that racing can throw nasties. Lewis had already beaten Max on the track. He didn't need to be racing the RD as well.

I'm sure he will be back but I wouldn't blame him if he decided he has been at it long enough now. He's proved he still has what it takes.

[Bazzer]

Alan

Very wise words.

B.

[Kevan]

I'm not sure that it was the fact that he lost but the way it was done by the race director with sure knowledge that Max would win in the circumstances by breaking the rules of the game.

They know very well that racing can throw nasties. Lewis had already beaten Max on the track. He didn't need to be racing the RD as well.

I'm sure he will be back but I wouldn't blame him if he decided he has been at it long enough now. He's proved he still has what it takes.

Laughably, Lewis Hamilton may be punished for not attending the awards ceremony, says new FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem, because:

...rules are rules

Obviously they choose to abide by them when it suits.

[CMOTD]

Well - five years on and we now have the latest F1 incarnation. The "pinnacle of motorsport" - really? You are having a laugh! 

What we have now is a glorified computer game complete with "push to pass". 

In Q3 when the cars are at their optimum configuration and the drivers are supposed to be flat out in maximum attack mode they have to lift and coast on the straight to recharge their batteries.  

Wow - loads of overtaking - dependent on a flat battery slowing down the car in front. This is not motor racing by any definition of the word.

As for the engine sounds I have heard noisier slot cars.

[Gpa113]

Have just watched a very informative video on racing365.com.
It explained all of the changes for F1 this year. 
To be honest I don't follow F1, as I am totally disinterested in the rules, lack of "proper" overtaking etc. 

I had no idea these changes had taken place, or how much had changed for last year's championship. 

The big positive is obviously even greater safety for the drivers. The big oh dear.... 
Push to pass, more use of hybrid, battery issues determining race results, and so on! 

I fully agree, this is not the pinnacle of motor racing surely.  

If you like it, great. And if the racing is actually better, that's a big positive. 
But its definitely not for me.......

[Kevan]

What is the pinnacle of motorsport if it isn't F1?

When Bernie ran the gaff, he bought the TV rights for most of the big motorsports that could potentially compete for viewing figures with F1, then restricted how much airtime they got, thereby killing them off (for a while).

I'm afraid it is what it is now.

[JasonB]

Obviously F1 is still the pinnacle of motorsport, simply because, as Kevan has said, there is nothing else that can even come close to challenging it at the moment.

The new regulations are supposedly the biggest change ever in F1, so I would expect various things to be altered, perhaps this season, certainly next.

However, F1 had two main aims with the new rules. To attract major manufacturers, and to have more overtaking. They have achieved both, so although the older purists might scoff, F1 will simply point to Ford, Audi and Cadillac, along with a younger generation of fans who are reportedly enjoying the racing.

Personally, I expect to see some elements of the rules tweaked in the near future, namely the things that can be changed through software modifications rather than engine redesigns. That would presumably include most of the electrical harvesting and deployment, and will no doubt be aimed at fixing the nonsensical situation of cars driving more slowly around the corners and such like.

The things that I do think are positive are the smaller, more nimble cars, and the move away from ground effect cars.

The rest I'll reserve judgement on, it's certainly too early to call, after just two races.

[Graham]

It occurred to me that part of the problem of overtaking ability was due to having overly wide cars anyway. And I would have thought more narrow cars would also cause less air disturbance to the cars following. Just seems common sense to me. I don’t think you need all this gadgetry nonsense, just make the cars the same size as in the 70’s & 80’s, and at least they were able to overtake around Monaco without pushing the power button. Since then some races have just become processional.

[Kevan]

The irony there Graham is F1's were at their widest in the 70's and 80's, 6 inches wider than they are now.

[OXO cube]

over the past couple yrs i have kinda got back into F1 
dunno why , maybe im getting very old 
i never watch the full race only the highlights of practice / qually and race 
this new battery power thing seems to create more overtakes early on but pit stops and pitstop strategies are still the real overtakes imo
still early days with these new regs , lets see how it pans out 
hopefully its not a one car , one make season 

Kev