Do you think many A1 drivers suck?

[squala]

If ever I chance upon their races, some of them either go to the grass/gravel or hit each other. I never saw a clean race. It's also quite 1-sided to France.

It's really a shame we cannot take part of this and show what Pinoys are really made of. I hate to see inferior, but well-funed drivers from other countries get the chance to participate in such tournaments.

[aceshark]

mukhang hindi rin. kasi si jos "the boss", yoong, freisacher at firman na kulelat sa F1 parati, kulelat pa rin sa A1 e. ibig sabihin magaling talaga si Lapierre at Premat (France). opinyon lang naman yan.

[flakez]

kakabwisit nga minsan manood ng A1, lagi may bangaan kaya laging may phase car(?).

[squala]

kakabwisit nga minsan manood ng A1, lagi may bangaan kaya laging may phase car(?).

I think you're pertaining to 'pace' car. In some motorsports like A1 and F1, it's called the safety car.

for me a1 is more exciting kasi its really the driver whos really in control of the car as compared to f1 wherein too much hi tech stuff. In some races theres overtaking all throughout the race as compared to f1 now very limited na specially the gap between the first and last pitstops can be very boring...

even if jos,yoong, friesacher,carpentier,herta has f1/cart fedex experience its still a different car compared to what their used to driving.and a1 is in its 1st year so teams and drivers still not familiar with their cars.in the case of jos during the first half of the season all he did was crash and have mechanical failures but in the past 5 races i think hes in the top 5 na even got a race win up his sleeve.lets give a1 a chance

plus with the no testing rule.and no engine mods it really showcases the drivers and the teams skill.

yes there are very slow drivers in the field but theyre from countries who are still starting in motorsports or new drivers staright from karting or jr formula like russia,china,lebanon,india,pakistan etc. indias driver armaan ebrahim i think is just 16 yrs old and he came from karting with only 1 year formula bmw experience imagine going up against ex f1 drivers and the current crop of european f3 contenders.

theyll have a better show next year..i just hope shiek doesnt run out of money.

I don't see the reason why there's no pre-testing allowed. Now I know why there are numerous collisions in the sport. I guess it's a wrong approach to exciting races. The fact that all the cars are more or less the same should make A1 even more neck-and-neck compared to F1 where the better car normally wins, regardless of driver.

The countries that joined A1 are the ones who can afford it, not necessarily the good ones (like ours). Tyson or Enzo could have easily won a number of races here. It also seems that some don't take it seriously. I expected countries like USA, Germany and Italy to be among the top, but it's a single-sided deal towards France. Brazil only had a one-off at Brands Hatch, winning both the Sprint and Feature Races.

There's really a lot more adjustments to be made. A1 is so far lousy and boring.

[pixelparadigm]

unlike F1... ABS, traction control and other driver aids are non-existent in A1.

[118designs]

for me a1 is more exciting kasi its really the driver whos really in control of the car as compared to f1 wherein too much hi tech stuff. In some races theres overtaking all throughout the race as compared to f1 now very limited na specially the gap between the first and last pitstops can be very boring...

even if jos,yoong, friesacher,carpentier,herta has f1/cart fedex experience its still a different car compared to what their used to driving.and a1 is in its 1st year so teams and drivers still not familiar with their cars.in the case of jos during the first half of the season all he did was crash and have mechanical failures but in the past 5 races i think hes in the top 5 na even got a race win up his sleeve.lets give a1 a chance

plus with the no testing rule.and no engine mods it really showcases the drivers and the teams skill.

yes there are very slow drivers in the field but theyre from countries who are still starting in motorsports or new drivers staright from karting or jr formula like russia,china,lebanon,india,pakistan etc. indias driver armaan ebrahim i think is just 16 yrs old and he came from karting with only 1 year formula bmw experience imagine going up against ex f1 drivers and the current crop of european f3 contenders.

theyll have a better show next year..i just hope shiek doesnt run out of money

[aceshark]

mayaman yang si sheik makthoum. wag lang sana maubusan ng langis ang dubai.
sana pagtagal ng A1 makapasok tyo... Tyson Sy mga pare. angas ng batang to. nakita ko sa rockwell dati, nakamput*, mas maskulado pa sa akin. (chubby kasi ako)

[niky]

The US effort doesn't seem to be that serious. C'mon, with Indy and CART, they should have lots of drivers good enough to win.

I think it just reflects how much experience some countries have with open wheel racing. Brazil has great experience in this, as do GBR and Ireland. France... well, the French are just so damn competitive. The ROC championship, WRC, and F1 (but with a Spanish driver)... looks like they're set on world domination.

Other countries are just starting out. So it's to be expected that they'll suck in the first season. One thing, though... if a great driver and veteran like Alex Yoong comes out only midpack in A1, that means that there are some really good drivers out there with him.

[squala]

The US effort doesn't seem to be that serious. C'mon, with Indy and CART, they should have lots of drivers good enough to win.

I think it just reflects how much experience some countries have with open wheel racing. Brazil has great experience in this, as do GBR and Ireland. France... well, the French are just so damn competitive. The ROC championship, WRC, and F1 (but with a Spanish driver)... looks like they're set on world domination.

Other countries are just starting out. So it's to be expected that they'll suck in the first season. One thing, though... if a great driver and veteran like Alex Yoong comes out only midpack in A1, that means that there are some really good drivers out there with him.

My thoughts exactly. The US ought to straighten out things here, at least try something other than just going around in circles.

As for Yoong, he got into F1 only because he had a multi-million dollar backing from his country. He's nowhere near Mark Webber's lap times when they were teammates in Minardi. Well, at least he finished second once here in A1, but his talent is well within the grasp of our own racers, I'm sure.

[mazdamazda]

A1 races are fun IMO.

[badkuk]

akala ko you guys were referring to "graduates" of A1 driving school. wala kasing A1 racing sa bundok ko eh :D

[theveed]

I've only watched A1 twice, it's a lot more exciting even if di mo kilala ang drivers...

Kinda like comparing UAAP vs PBA where the former is more exciting and the latter is smothered with money decision and nothing else. hehe.

[squala]

If you're talking about a destructive kind of excitement, A1 is second to NASCAR. I remember one time when a car even flipped over while following a safety car. I think it was Japan, which hit the car in front of him and turnturtled.

[niky]

What's fun in A1 is that it's unpredictable, and you have a lot of fighting and overtaking among drivers.

As for the crashes, wait one season. The format allows teams to change drivers on the fly, as the championship points are exclusively awarded to the team, not the driver. So other countries may be able to become competitive by bringing in fresh blood.

Others, without much of an open-wheeled training ground in their region... well, they'll continue to provide smash-up entertainment for the fans, and a moving obstacle course for the fast cars.

[baurtwellXUV]

A1 grand prix = parang kang nanunuod ng asian f3... in my opinion ah

[118designs]

I don't see the reason why there's no pre-testing allowed. Now I know why there are numerous collisions in the sport. I guess it's a wrong approach to exciting races.[QUOTE]

Limiting pre-race testing eliminates the advantage of big budget teams who can have unlimited test sessions over underfunded teams with limited sessions due to budget constraint. In fact this rule would make racing more exciting and it would emphasize the drivers and mechanics skill and not the superiority of the teams machinery.

A1 grand prix = parang kang nanunuod ng asian f3... in my opinion ah

kartings more exciting to watch than af3. very limited overtaking, huge gap between teams budgets,technology,expertise and reliability issues

The US effort doesn't seem to be that serious.

They were serious but the best us driver to invade europe scott speed started well in a1 but had to go because of his commitment to redbull f1. phil giebler not that popular in the us. Reason why us is not a force in a1 maybe beacuse european and american racing cultures are different and a1 is more of european style of racing.

Tyson or Enzo could have easily won a number of races here

Ananda Mikola and Christian Jones are both pwerhouses in the af3 series. if you look at their a1gp results ananda is more consistent finishing in top 10, even battled for fifth once, and is always a mid pack qualifier as compared to christian slowest times during practice sessions and at the bottom end during the gp. Main reason is Ananda has been racing in Europe for a couple of years. He even raced in F3000 which was then the feeder series for F1. champions of f3000 Jean alesi,zonta, juan pablo,montoya, nick heidfeld, wilson, luizzi,massa,bourdais.While Christian has very limited european experience and australia is not known for their open wheel series. Compare his results with australian drivers in a1 like marcus marshall,will power and will davison these drivers have been racing in europe.

Whats my point?Filipinos dont lack the talent. but talent is just a part of the puzzle for me level of philippine competition, corporate sponsorship, and media support are what we need to launch filipino racers internationally. For me af3 is a joke its not racing its like drivers doing qualifying sessions. if we want to prepare our drivers for the big leagues participate in formula renault asia, formula renault v6, formula toyota japan or better yet race in europe ueuro formula renault, or british f3 would be the best training grounds(very fierce competition).even japanese drivers are having a hard time in european racing.

Before filipino drivers think of f1 or even a1 we should first get at par with chinas ho pin tung( done testing with BMW williams), marchy lee, and hans lin.before trying ur luck in the intl racing scene. Very young and fast european drivers to watch out for Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, James rossiter, nelson Piquet.

As for the title of these thread they dont suck. Premat and lappiere drivers of team france are winers of the Macau GP.A horde of ex f1 drivers.champ car drivers carpentier, Fittipaldi, and Herta, Up and coming european drivers neel jani, robbie kerr, sean macintosh, and timo schneider to name a few.