Sad, but I'm done with F1

[miasmum]

I refuse to be one of those viewing millions who it is more important to entertain, than stop a dangerous race whilst a driver is very possibly dying at the side of the track.

Even the commentators weren't privy to the situation, although to be fair they should have noticed Bianchi had fallen by the wayside somewhere. But no, all that matters is the fight between Hamilton and Rosberg and the money from the TV rights.

And Massa whinging about how dangerous it was afterwards. Back in the day Alain Prost would have refused to race in that. Shame drivers are such puppets these days

I have followed F1 for 32 years, and I might find it too difficult to give up, but I am sickened by the events of today and certainly have no intention of watching this season out

[manxie]

I tend to agree with you, with all the tecnology used today to control and change the cars during a race it has got boring for me too.

Gone are the days when practically every driver had a similar tool(car) and used it to the best of his skills and craftsmanship.

I am now almost 70 and have loved motorsports of all kinds having been brought up on the Isle of Man and the TT races,
so it has been in my life since a toddler when in a pram I would accompany my father as he marshalled on the course at Ballacraine.

I digressed lol, these days it does seem money is more important than safety, which is wrong. The drivers need some form of union, or committee, that has teeth,that will act independently of the various teams solely for the good of the drivers. Take yesterday for instance regardless of tv viewers or spectators they should have either moved the race forward a day and lost a little practice, and held it under better conditions, or cancelled it completely as happens here on the Isle of Man. In many years TT races weather often cuts the race programme down or some races not run at all others curtailed to fewer laps when bad weather or even road conditions demand it.( a lap here is 38.3/4 miles and goes from sea level to a height of about 1800 feet above sea level and is on normal roads we use daily. so here leaves/rain/oil on the roads/visibility up high/ and light conditions inder tree lined sections are all taken into account before a bike sets off.

We also have travelling marshals , ex racers, who go round before races or practises reporting in on radio what conditions are all round the circuit so the Clerk of the course can make an informed decision whether to proceed, delay or run a race at all.

Maybe soon the penny will drop with the teams that the life of their drivers is more important than money.

OK the tecnology they develop is helping the motor industry make better cars for us all, but how many lives is it really worth??

That is my turn on the soapbox I will stand down and listen to anyone else.

Manxie xx

[Workingman]

I got up to watch the race live and, judging by the conditions, was convinced that it would be called off. The installation laps were a waste of time as nobody could learn anything from them. Then came the parade lap to form the grid, when Ericsson spun off, and I thought that was it, but no......

We were told that there was a 'window of opportunity' and that a wet race would be started behind the safety car. Fair enough, that has happened before. After what was a failed first attempt and a 20 minute break, the Safety Car was used again and after a few laps there was a racing line beginning to show as the rain eased and a race proper got under way.

Now, whilst all this was going on, there was a debate about why it was not moved forward, backwards or sideways. The argument always seemed to come down on the side of there needing to be a race. All eventualities were explained: from no points, to half points, to full points and at what point in the race - but the fans needed to have a race, it was only right.

I am OK with that so long as it is safe to race, and there was a period when it was safe to race, that's why intermediate and full wets are provided. Where it went wrong was when the heavens opened again and cars were switching from inters to full wets. At that point someone (Charlie Whiting) needed to make a decision - and failed. Forty laps had been completed, so full points would be awarded so, as soon as any driver came off, the race should have been red flagged.

As for the drivers..... apparently many more than Massa were saying that it was unsafe. If that was the case then the drivers should have taken matters into their own hands and pitted - Prost and Stewart would have done so.

I don't know where to go with F1 now. Over the past few years it has become more about the technology than the drivers - Scalextric without the wires. I do not want to give up on it, but this might be my last season of dedicated watching.

[cromwell]

When Sutil spun off and they sent a JCB out to move his car, the safety car should have been deployed as a minimum and tbh it would have been better to just stop the race. Poor Bianchi nearly paid for that with his life.

F1 is suffering a bit. Mainly it is suffering from SKY / BBC coverage. I don't know who the lead commentator is on the Beeb but he is dire. Viewing figures are going down but the coverage is massive - it's too much.

The bikes are better imo but MotoGP live coverage is on BT Sports, which most people don't have.

[miasmum]

My problem is not that the race started, as they did start behind the safety car and for the majority of the race conditions were ok, not good but ok. I also agree that the cars are safer than they have ever been.

What disgusts me is that race control, chose to hide what had happened to Bianchi in the hope it wouldn't detract from the 'title' race. The commentators weren't privy to the information and therefore the viewing public weren't either.

The race should have been stopped when Sutil went off, visibility was too poor to see waved yellows and by then drivers were complaining, but no, viewing figures are what count here, and TV revenue. Not stopping it then was bad, but to allow it continue, lap after lap whilst Bianchi was treated at the trackside, was heartless in extreme. Once we got enough laps to constitute a racing distance, oh we'll stop now then. They were obviously hoping Bianchi would be something and nothing and no one would ever be any the wiser.

[Workingman]

The 40 lap full-points limit happened before Sutil crashed, so as soon as it happened the race should have stopped. Had that been the case Bianchi might not have crashed as well.

I watched it live and nobody had any idea that Binachi had crashed. The commentators were wondering why it was taking so long to move Sutil's car from what looked like a simple track position. What they didn't know, and no pictures were shown, was that Bianchi's car had hit the tractor and come to a stop behind the barrier and out of sight of the live feed cameras. So from their POV to carry one behind the Safety Car was in the rules and OK.

That brings in the FIA and Bernie's crew. TV companies are all given the same feed provided by the "Organisers". How many times have you heard Brundle or Coulthard wishing to have a different camera view or some other part of the track? All of the cameras are rolling all of the time, that is how Charlie and his crew know how things are going. They see things we don't. They will have seen Bianchi hit the tractor and disappear behind the barrier. They will have seen the signals from the tractor crew and other Marshals.

Given all that I accuse Charlie Whiting, Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt for Bianchi's crash.

[miasmum]

I hadn't realised they had reached the full race distance when Sutil crashed, so that makes it even worse.

I didn't watch it live, I watched the full replay and at the beginning we had a sombre Suzy Perry telling us about Bianchi. It was just like the highlights programme when Senna died. Steve Ryder telling us "if you have tuned in for the highlights, there are no highlights just the said death of one of greatest racing drivers the world has ever known" That day is etched on my memory and I didn't even like Senna.

I agree with everything you say Frank. My little protest will mean nothing, but I have a saying in life "principles only matter when you stick to them when its inconvenient' and as a matter of principle I am bowing out, certainly for this season. Too bad a taste in my mouth now

[Workingman]

Honestly Shell, if you had watched it live you would have never known.

There was that little bit before the presentation where Perry, Coulthard and Jordan fill in the time and all they could say was something along the lines of "We understand that Jules Bianchi has been taken to the medical centre........" They did not appear to know much.

I never bother with all the presentation stuff so switched off and went back to bed. I only found out from the news later on.

Having none myself I do admire your principles.

I will try to keep you informed as the season drags on.

[miasmum]

Wonder whether it would have been the same had it been one of the top drivers that crashed? Presume their absence would have noticed, but a lowly Marussia driver???? Sadly not

My friend stunned me, when I text her to say what awful news she replied "I know, it took all the joy out of Lewis' win and Button doing well" Comments like that are why I couldn't be patriotic for a million pounds. If the driver I like is British, fine, if not still fine. Although have to admit they never are.

I was tempted to reply 'have you contacted Marussia to ask them to make sure the next time one of their drivers nearly kills themselves, they do it when someone other than a Brit is winning"

Had I watched it live, I might have clicked as they kept showing the Marussia team looking concerned and Bianchi had disappeared from the running order.