2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, April 28 - 30

[mendis]

A new track, people don't like it, a new weekend format, people don't like it. People didn't like the old regulations, people don't like the new regulations either. People didn't like the previous racing and people don't think racing has improved either! For so long as they keep the current qualifying format of Q1/Q2/Q3, I am all for anything new.

[mclaren111]

It's basically best of both worlds! How can you not like that?

Sprint races actually make me lose interest in the actual race on Sunday. The reason is that the sprint race already shows you the race pace of the cars and since you can’t change anything on the cars you already know exactly what’s going to happen on Sunday with the only difference being the length of the race.

Yip... Like everything else in the World (Men in Woman's Sport etc, etc), F1 is becoming a Shitshow...

[PlatinumZealot]

@mwendis The same people that will watch seven matches of a basketball final, and hundreds of the "same" football matches per year are complainijg about two race formats on a given weekend aren't they?

[mendis]

@mwndis The same people that will watch seven marches of a basketball final, and hundreds of the "same" football matches per year. They are a but mutch complainijg about two race formats on a given weekend arent they?

Despite all our complaints, we are addicted to F1. So we will anyway watch it from Friday to Sunday, every single race, whatever that content is.

[Wouter]

@mwndis The same people that will watch seven marches of a basketball final, and hundreds of the "same" football matches per year. They are a but mutch complainijg about two race formats on a given weekend arent they?

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Despite all our complaints, we are addicted to F1. So we will anyway watch it from Friday to Sunday, every single race, whatever that content is.

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I don't agree. I won't watch de Saturday qualification and sprintrace because it has nothing to do with the GP weekend!
I like the format of building up the excitement from FP1, FP2 and FP3 >>> qualification on Saturday afternoon.

[SiLo]

This would just make a big headache for spectators to know what the championship standings are.

Without Googling it, what are the drivers championship standings right now?

Almost everyone is just going to search online for the table, nobody is every going to calculate it themselves. Plus, any table can easily remove worst results too. It's very simple really.

[Wouter]

This would just make a big headache for spectators to know what the championship standings are.

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Without Googling it, what are the drivers championship standings right now?

Almost everyone is just going to search online for the table, nobody is every going to calculate it themselves. Plus, any table can easily remove worst results too. It's very simple really.

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You mean something like this?
It would be great if it was posted in de openingpost every race.



or ....
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[SiLo]

This would just make a big headache for spectators to know what the championship standings are.

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Without Googling it, what are the drivers championship standings right now?

Almost everyone is just going to search online for the table, nobody is every going to calculate it themselves. Plus, any table can easily remove worst results too. It's very simple really.

.
You mean something like this?
It would be great if it was posted in de openingpost every race.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FssgVgRXoAA ... name=small

or ....
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https://www.grandprix247.com/wp-content ... ound-3.jpg

Exactly, and yes! It would be good if it was posted in each new race thread.

[mendis]

@mwndis The same people that will watch seven marches of a basketball final, and hundreds of the "same" football matches per year. They are a but mutch complainijg about two race formats on a given weekend arent they?

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Despite all our complaints, we are addicted to F1. So we will anyway watch it from Friday to Sunday, every single race, whatever that content is.

.
I don't agree. I won't watch de Saturday qualification and sprintrace because it has nothing to do with the GP weekend!
I like the format of building up the excitement from FP1, FP2 and FP3 >>> qualification on Saturday afternoon.

I was only talking about people like me. I understand there are people with differing opinions and choices. Thanks.

[basti313]

@mwndis The same people that will watch seven marches of a basketball final, and hundreds of the "same" football matches per year. They are a but mutch complainijg about two race formats on a given weekend arent they?

.
Despite all our complaints, we are addicted to F1. So we will anyway watch it from Friday to Sunday, every single race, whatever that content is.

.
I don't agree. I won't watch de Saturday qualification and sprintrace because it has nothing to do with the GP weekend!
I like the format of building up the excitement from FP1, FP2 and FP3 >>> qualification on Saturday afternoon.

Well, different approaches and of course: No one forces you to watch the Sprint. Just feel free to do so.

I do not watch FPs anymore...

And by the way:

Most fans want to see a GP weekend with a build up to qualifying on Saturday and the GP on Sunday.

This is simply not true.
You have very little spectators on Fridays or Saturdays for the FP sessions. This even goes to "no one" if you look at races like Saudi and Baku is not far from this. Even the classics in Europe have many empty seats on Saturdays. Monza has on average half of the spectators on Sunday, half on Friday plus Saturday. This is a huge difference.
You also have practically no free TV coverage of FP sessions and even some pay TV stations do not cover FPs.

The opposite is true...most fans do not care about anything but the race. For them nothing changes, besides they can watch two races.

It's basically best of both worlds! How can you not like that?

Sprint races actually make me lose interest in the actual race on Sunday. The reason is that the sprint race already shows you the race pace of the cars and since you can’t change anything on the cars you already know exactly what’s going to happen on Sunday with the only difference being the length of the race.

So...for which sprint race so far was this true? If I see it correctly there is only one Race that was one by the Sprint winner? Imola last year with a wet Sunday...I would not call this "not interesting"....

[AR3-GP]

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Despite all our complaints, we are addicted to F1. So we will anyway watch it from Friday to Sunday, every single race, whatever that content is.

.
I don't agree. I won't watch de Saturday qualification and sprintrace because it has nothing to do with the GP weekend!
I like the format of building up the excitement from FP1, FP2 and FP3 >>> qualification on Saturday afternoon.

Well, different approaches and of course: No one forces you to watch the Sprint. Just feel free to do so.

I do not watch FPs anymore...

And by the way:

Most fans want to see a GP weekend with a build up to qualifying on Saturday and the GP on Sunday.

This is simply not true.
You have very little spectators on Fridays or Saturdays for the FP sessions. This even goes to "no one" if you look at races like Saudi and Baku is not far from this. Even the classics in Europe have many empty seats on Saturdays. Monza has on average half of the spectators on Sunday, half on Friday plus Saturday. This is a huge difference.
You also have practically no free TV coverage of FP sessions and even some pay TV stations do not cover FPs.

The opposite is true...most fans do not care about anything but the race. For them nothing changes, besides they can watch two races.

It's basically best of both worlds! How can you not like that?

Sprint races actually make me lose interest in the actual race on Sunday. The reason is that the sprint race already shows you the race pace of the cars and since you can’t change anything on the cars you already know exactly what’s going to happen on Sunday with the only difference being the length of the race.

So...for which sprint race so far was this true? If I see it correctly there is only one Race that was one by the Sprint winner? Imola last year with a wet Sunday...I would not call this "not interesting"....

Russell won the sprint and the race in Brazil.

It was clear that RB would struggle on tires after the spring in Austria. Took about the same amount of laps on Sunday for Verstappen to be caught.

[Wouter]

.
Despite all our complaints, we are addicted to F1. So we will anyway watch it from Friday to Sunday, every single race, whatever that content is.

.
I don't agree. I won't watch de Saturday qualification and sprintrace because it has nothing to do with the GP weekend!
I like the format of building up the excitement from FP1, FP2 and FP3 >>> qualification on Saturday afternoon.

.
And by the way:

Most fans want to see a GP weekend with a build up to qualifying on Saturday and the GP on Sunday.

.
This is simply not true.
You have very little spectators on Fridays or Saturdays for the FP sessions. This even goes to "no one" if you look at races like Saudi and Baku is not far from this.
Even the classics in Europe have many empty seats on Saturdays. Monza has on average half of the spectators on Sunday, half on Friday plus Saturday. This is a huge difference.

You also have practically no free TV coverage of FP sessions and even some pay TV stations do not cover FPs.

The opposite is true...most fans do not care about anything but the race. For them nothing changes, besides they can watch two races.

.
I wasn't talking about a handfull spectators on the track, I was talking about millions of people watching FP's on TV and streams!
They even do during work.

We can watch all sessions from Friday - Sunday on TV. Most TV stations who have the TV rights from F1 are covering all the sessions and there are also streams who cover all the sessions. F1 TV PRO is worldwide and covers everything.

[PlatinumZealot]

I haven't watched a sprint weekend that I ended up hating. There was always a smile on my face. The "worst" one was probably Monza 2021. There was pretty much zero overtaking, but then the actual race was also uneventful but for the safety car chaos.

Sprint format is good three or four times a year. Let's take it as our "special stage" races.

[basti313]

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I don't agree. I won't watch de Saturday qualification and sprintrace because it has nothing to do with the GP weekend!
I like the format of building up the excitement from FP1, FP2 and FP3 >>> qualification on Saturday afternoon.

Well, different approaches and of course: No one forces you to watch the Sprint. Just feel free to do so.

I do not watch FPs anymore...

And by the way:

Most fans want to see a GP weekend with a build up to qualifying on Saturday and the GP on Sunday.

This is simply not true.
You have very little spectators on Fridays or Saturdays for the FP sessions. This even goes to "no one" if you look at races like Saudi and Baku is not far from this. Even the classics in Europe have many empty seats on Saturdays. Monza has on average half of the spectators on Sunday, half on Friday plus Saturday. This is a huge difference.
You also have practically no free TV coverage of FP sessions and even some pay TV stations do not cover FPs.

The opposite is true...most fans do not care about anything but the race. For them nothing changes, besides they can watch two races.

Sprint races actually make me lose interest in the actual race on Sunday. The reason is that the sprint race already shows you the race pace of the cars and since you can’t change anything on the cars you already know exactly what’s going to happen on Sunday with the only difference being the length of the race.

So...for which sprint race so far was this true? If I see it correctly there is only one Race that was one by the Sprint winner? Imola last year with a wet Sunday...I would not call this "not interesting"....

Russell won the sprint and the race in Brazil.

It was clear that RB would struggle on tires after the spring in Austria. Took about the same amount of laps on Sunday for Verstappen to be caught.

Thanks for pointing to Brazil. Still, I do not think Rus could have won the race like this without the crash of Ver and Ham.

And for Austria...for the full Spring Lec had a gap of 2sec to Ver. I do not see where you read it that it was a clear struggle. It was said so by Marco, something you usually take with a pinch of salt. I can not see where the Sprint made the race less interesting.

I wasn't talking about a handfull spectators on the track, I was talking about millions of people watching FP's on TV and streams!
They even do during work.

Come on, please stick to reality not something made up. ESPN has a very good tracking and their record audience for any FP session was below 400k - about 10% of the audience on Sunday. And this was the FP1 in Miami, any other FP session is much less.
FP has a very bad audience compared to the rest.The interest compared to a race is super low.

We can watch all sessions from Friday - Sunday on TV. Most TV stations who have the TV rights from F1 are covering all the sessions and there are also streams who cover all the sessions. F1 TV PRO is worldwide and covers everything.

No, this is also simply not true. There are only two free to air FP broadcasters, in Pakistan and Iran.
And for FP even in big payTV broadcasters the coverage is simply bad. Sky has often not even the full commentators on board, ESPN does not show any replays of the FP sessions, they only replay the race on the next days.

[Wouter]

I wasn't talking about a handfull spectators on the track, I was talking about millions of people watching FP's on TV and streams!
They even do during work.

.
Come on, please stick to reality not something made up.
ESPN has a very good tracking and their record audience for any FP session was below 400k - about 10% of the audience on Sunday. And this was the FP1 in Miami, any other FP session is much less.
FP has a very bad audience compared to the rest.The interest compared to a race is super low.
.

We can watch all sessions from Friday - Sunday on TV. Most TV stations who have the TV rights from F1 are covering all the sessions and there are also streams who cover all the sessions. F1 TV PRO is worldwide and covers everything.

.
No, this is also simply not true.
There are only two free to air FP broadcasters, in Pakistan and Iran.
And for FP even in big payTV broadcasters the coverage is simply bad.
Sky has often not even the full commentators on board, ESPN does not show any replays of the FP sessions, they only replay the race on the next days.

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Just an example: In the Netherlands, the free practice sessions are displayed by ViaPlay. Good broadcasts with good commentary.
Each GP race is watched by an average of 2.5 million spectators in a small country like the Netherlands.
Every Friday, the two free practice sessions are watched by more than a million people.
All sessions can be viewed in replay immediately afterwards (or during the session) at ViaPlay.
In addition, more than a million people watch on Friday via F1TVPro.
But it's okay, what you say is the truth and what someone else says is nonsense. It's fine by me. I'll leave it at this.