Which Was The Best F1 Race of 2018?

[shimon.ifraimov]

monza!

Ferrari got completely **** on their home grand prix.

 

[LeSunTzu]

As usual Baku was Mario Kart nonsense.

There were lots of very good GPs this year, especially Silverstone, Hockenheim and Monza. C'est dans les vieux pots qu'on fait la meilleure soupe.

 

[Enderfailer]

US GP! The funny guy going "nyoom nyoom nyoom" imitating F1 cars was my highlight.

In germany we didn't hear that because there was a comerical break there -_-

 

[michelforest]

For me my interest in Formula One is at an all time low nowadays, and frankly I thought the whole year was something of a disappointment really. Not much in the way of on track fighting (the real kind, not DRS assisted or fast cars coming from the back with no challenges), and the cars just don't do anything for me from a spectator point of view.

However, much like a fan of a band who's first two albums rocked and the next 10 years were rubbish, I'll keep tuning in to see if the tide turns.

Sadly, I agree with you. I've been watching F1 for 40 years and what annoys me now is how much F1 is less about racing and more about managing ressources. The 3 engines per season rule is total nonsense. I don't mind the hybrid engines, but make them simpler, less expensive and let them have one engine for 2 races, or something like that. And if Pirelli brings 3 different tire compounds per race, make the use of the three compounds compulsory during a race. That way, we will get two pitstops, instead of one. Now, drivers have to manage tire wear, ERS, fuel use, etc. I bet most drivers would rather be driving to the limit, instead of constantly being reminded by the engineers to save fuel, etc. F1 is not endurance racing.

 

[Jolero02]

Overall best season since 2012 I would say. Problems F1 needs to address( realistically) is making the cars more raceable( yes basically going against the changes made in 2017) and sort out the tyres- the tyre issue being partially due to the struggles the cars have to overtake. The overtaking issue is simple enough to understand, harder to combat whereas the tyre issue is harder to understand but easier to fix providing the cars are made a bit more raceable

 

[michelforest]

OP first 2 sentences says it all.
Its understandable some lose interest especially when their team is not winning…Liberty media are making more changes to the F1 show so for some you might be better of watching re-runs of the good ol days .......older guys are still wishing for the 70's ,80's and even some the 90;s to come back. [/MEDIA]

Well, I don't really have a favorite team or driver, I watch F1 mainly because I love racing, period. Liberty media is making a lot of cosmetic changes and it's true that TV coverage is far superior now to what it used to be. The problem is on the track itself, where drivers are constantly managing the engine, tires, fuel, etc. instead of going at full speed. There are just too many rules. F1 needs to be an extreme sport again.

 

[Shadowoff]

Voted for the 24h Nordschleife... whoops, wrong thread

 

[LeSunTzu]

Well, I don't really have a favorite team or driver, I watch F1 mainly because I love racing, period. Liberty media is making a lot of cosmetic changes and it's true that TV coverage is far superior now to what it used to be. The problem is on the track itself, where drivers are constantly managing the engine, tires, fuel, etc. instead of going at full speed. There are just too many rules. F1 needs to be an extreme sport again.

They wiped out track records at every circuit during the last couple of years. Not by a tenth but by full seconds. What's "extreme" then I wonder.

 

[NDG]

Best races, well there's quite a few, really! That race when Vettel crashed in Germany was good enough.. Spa was good, also Monza... Baku and COTA probably the most boring of track layouts but those delivered really good races this year! Boring ones are Australia, Monaco, Singapore, Spain and Hungary.

Everything is boring if your bet is not winning. Imagine Williams and Mclaren fans. Ferrari fans surely got some highs too, admit it or not! Merc fans probably also enjoyed those runaway wins by Lewis on those very boring races I mentioned.

 

[TrumpetReich]

No love for Bahrain? That race was fantastic! Had no idea who would win the entire race, especially during the last 20 laps. Vettel's defense over Bottas was stunning.

 

[domhnall]

Lot of good races this year. Enjoyed the season a lot. Don't understand why some 'fans' are so negative about the sport at the moment. The on track product is much better than it was 10-15 years ago.
Anyway my favorite race this year was Italy. Was glued to the screen all the way through, fascinating race.

 

[michelforest]

They wiped out track records at every circuit during the last couple of years. Not by a tenth but by full seconds. What's "extreme" then I wonder.

The cars are quicker... It just means they could go even quicker if there were less restrictions. What I find annoying is all this talk about saving engines and gearboxes, fuel, energy, etc. Just ask Alonso... A lot of drivers don't say anything because they have to obey the team's PR people.

 

[Motowntom]

Indycar Road America race...period.
Cheers

 

[LeSunTzu]

The cars are quicker... It just means they could go even quicker if there were less restrictions. What I find annoying is all this talk about saving engines and gearboxes, fuel, energy, etc. Just ask Alonso... A lot of drivers don't say anything because they have to obey the team's PR people.

I don't think there was ever an era in F1 when they would go flat out during a whole race or even most of the race. They always had to save engines and gearboxes and manage fuel and tyres. That is one of the reasons why drivers like Jackie Stewart won titles and those like Ronnie Peterson didn't.

Drivers complain as much or even more than before: one day the car is perfect and it's a thrill to drive them; the other day it was such a bore to drive that it does not make any sense. Of course that depends on whether they won or not. Lately Alonso was the greatest moaner of all because he had a bad car that gave him no chance for a decent result.

 

[jpalesi]

They need to learn lessons from Indycar

Fantastic wheel to wheel and almost anyone can pull off a win .....7-8 drivers this year was it ?
...and only 17 races

Yeah, spec racing does that. F1 has never been the place for that kind of thing.

 

[michelforest]

I don't think there was ever an era in F1 when they would go flat out during a whole race or even most of the race. They always had to save engines and gearboxes and manage fuel and tyres. That is one of the reasons why drivers like Jackie Stewart won titles and those like Ronnie Peterson didn't.

Of course they did. I remember the turbo era, when drivers ran out of fuel... That was not much better, in a way. But I just think that now, the amount of "management" (if I can say that) has become much higher than before. But my main complaint is the 3 engines rules. That's utterly ridiculous and it leads to those stupid grid penalty. Same with the limited number of gearboxes.

As I wrote, I've been a fan since 1978. Some eras were better than other, but I admit the current era is simply not as interesting to me. I get the feeling that they are trying all kinds of gimmicks to make the show better (don't get me started on DRS!!!), and every one fails. I still watch, of course, but it's just not as interesting to me.

 

[Chris]

For me it was Baku.
Yet again it provides the best race of the season for sheer chaos.

I think Silverstone and Monza were also contenders because of the proper battles with Mercedes and Ferrari.

 

[hagapito40]

After seeing the results of the pool, and because I wanted to keep a little faith in F1, I decided to download the US GP ... my God! ... if this was the best race of the year, I can only imagine how boring and poor was the rest of the season ...

 

[Sasha Jednak]

After seeing the results of the pool, and because I wanted to keep a little faith in F1, I decided to download the US GP ... my God! ... if this was the best race of the year, I can only imagine how boring and poor was the rest of the season ...

I have to agree here, at first I wanted to look through highlights to remember all the races, and to find race that was better than US GP, but then I realized. If I forget on SC included false entertainment (Australia, China, Baku, Sliverstone), then those 2 tracks I can't remember (Singapore, Sochi), then remove Merc/Ferrari being above all (Spain, Canada, France, Belgium, Japan). I end up with Bahrain ("old tyres, noooo. Oh it's Bot not Lewis, I got it guys"), Monaco ("Please Renault, survive"), Austria (did they race there this year?!), Germany (cry-wall-smile, racing=0), Hungary ("death race frankenstein" in second position taking on red/blue cars), Italy (team tactics leading to 0.1% of racing), Abu Dhabi (his engine can survive only 1 lap, but he can win without issues).
And I come to "top" 3 races: USA, Mexico and Brazil. Coincidence that Max was top2 (or 1) driver in those Brazil, finally some racing between top 6, thanks to young Max. Mexico, racing between top 6 thanks to Merc tyre eating and Vettel, but in last 10 laps Max showed that he had pace as much as Merc/Ferrari in Spain/Canada. And USA, Kimi won, let's vote for this. But actually, that was the race where it was not 100% sure until last corner.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Since I used certain name in positive sense, all that don't like it can put disagree (or skip whole post) and not try going into no-point discussion. Thank you