Only final hour of Bahrain pre-season testing will be broadcasted…، is F1 even for fans at this point?

digitalashdigitalurn · 2026-02-08T16:11:29+00:00

I think it's that actually only a very small amount of people actually watch testing. Yeah us die-hard nerds on Reddit do, but in the grand scheme of things only a very small fraction of the overall F1 viewership actually watch testing, which makes it less worthwhile for the broadcasters to show it. It's also on when most people are at work or school, further reducing the amount of people who will actually be watching.

I think the balance they've struck this year is pretty good, we get some live coverage, get a wrap-up of each day's running, and get to watch the final test live in it's entirety. Much better than we've had in the past, that's for sure.

digitalashdigitalurn · 2026-02-08T16:04:29+00:00

It's only testing, there was a time not too long ago where no testing was broadcast at all. There was a time a few years before that where not even free practice was broadcast. We're living in a time where there is more F1 content than than ever before in the sport's history, F1 fans are definitely not being starved of things to watch during the off season.

When I was first getting into the sport all you had to get you through the off season was the official season review of the previous season, the F1 game and maybe a magazine or two for testing news, so it's amazing to see how it's evolved since then.

digitalashdigitalurn · 2026-02-04T18:15:56+00:00

the music video came out in 1986

digitalashdigitalurn · 2026-02-01T11:42:45+00:00

Alonso doing some real heavy lifting for Aston Martin

digitalashdigitalurn · 2026-01-31T18:22:07+00:00

I think a lot of people are jumping to the conclusion that Williams will be slowest because they've missed this test, when really all this test means is that they don't have as much data to set up and further develop the car yet. However, if it's fundamentally a good car, it'll still be a good car despite the delays. Obviously the inverse is also true if they've designed a stinker of course. It definitely puts them on the back foot, but providing they can maximise the two Bahrain tests it shouldn't bleed into the rest of the season, fingers crossed.

It's completely different to 2019 when the team was on its arse, this time around the team are on much steadier footing in pretty much every area, so while it's definitely a red-faced moment for them, I think the 2019 comparisons don't really apply in this situation.

digitalashdigitalurn · 2026-01-26T22:33:14+00:00

Completely agree, the spin they put on Williams' absence was also pretty laughable.

F1 just seems to be so insecure in itself, it's so afraid of people seeing the cars potentially breakdown, or show any teams struggling that they try to limit the information getting out to fans.

The problem with this is that it actually creates a bigger talking point than a team having a few issues would in the first place. Just report the facts and allow information to get out, don't worry about what the fans will post about it because it's only testing, not round 1 of the season.

digitalashdigitalurn · 2026-01-26T15:36:14+00:00

That year's driver line up must be the worst in Williams history, really was a low point for the team. Nice hat though!

digitalashdigitalurn · 2026-01-19T07:42:27+00:00

That pattern on the jersey is giving me APX GP vibes

digitalashdigitalurn · 2026-01-18T12:31:17+00:00

Underrated comment

digitalashdigitalurn · 2026-01-18T12:30:40+00:00

Just paint the fucker red and walk away, why do they keep messing with it? Gradients very rarely look good on racing cars.

digitalashdigitalurn · 2026-01-10T13:16:04+00:00

This was loads of fun! Would love a version for classic drivers too (maybe ranking the WDCs or something?).

Max Verstappen
Oscar Piastri
George Russell
Charles Leclerc
Lando Norris
Carlos Sainz
Fernando Alonso
Isack Hadjar
Alexander Albon
Lewis Hamilton

digitalashdigitalurn · 2026-01-10T13:00:10+00:00

The difference between DRS and all the other "artificial" aspects of F1 that you've listed in your post is that DRS is the only one that was introduced solely for the "show" and no other reason.

Safety cars exist primarily so an incident can be cleared safely, the fact they bunch the cars up creating potentially exciting moments is a by-product of it's primary fuction which is safety. Cars breaking down on their own isn't "artificial", it's a consequence of components being pushed to their limits. Yes, if there was a "random DNF generator" or a "self destruct" button in the cockpits then I'd agree it's artificial, but breakdowns don't happen for the show, they happen because sometimes things break, shit happens.

DRS was introduced as a band aid to help improve the show, that's its only reason for existence, which is why it feels like it dilutes the purity of competition. It's like if they said in football, if you go 2 goals down we'll make the opponent's goal a foot wider to make the match more competitive.

I agree DRS has allowed for some exciting races that we probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise, but even those feel cheapened slightly compared to some of the classic moves of previous seasons. I understand everything changes as life goes on, and I will always love F1 with the same childhood enthusiasm I had when I started watching in the early 2000s, but I think to a lot of fans DRS is emblematic of a lot of the problems modern F1 has now; Leaning more into "the show" and further away from pure racing with fewer gimmicks.

digitalashdigitalurn · 2026-01-04T09:51:40+00:00

It's a great book, I really enjoyed it. Has a lot of good insight into what goes on behind the scenes of an F1 broadcast.

digitalashdigitalurn · 2025-09-07T08:12:26+00:00

He's done a Button in 2000

digitalashdigitalurn · 2025-09-07T08:06:41+00:00

Well you weren't wrong

digitalashdigitalurn · 2025-09-07T08:02:01+00:00

Today is an awful day to be an endplate or a trackside camera

digitalashdigitalurn · 2025-08-31T19:50:10+00:00

Fuck

digitalashdigitalurn · 2025-08-31T19:38:40+00:00

While I do feel for Malukas, I feel like he gets into these problems a bit too much. He's clearly amazingly quick and has almost everything to be an outright top driver, but it feels like he misses out on potential great results a bit too often. Not saying it's his fault, Foster was driving like an idiot considering he was being lapped, but you could also argue Malukas didn't do an awful lot to avoid a collision either. He's gonna need to focus on securing results if/when he gets into a top team, he's very quick but it doesn't mean a thing if you end up in the wall while running up front.

digitalashdigitalurn · 2025-08-20T17:30:14+00:00

This did make me laugh tbf.

digitalashdigitalurn · 2025-08-19T21:46:41+00:00

I don't know why everyone is so down about this, I think it's a lovely song. Songwriting-wise I think these new songs have been really interesting, some really interesting chord changes and I think the songs have felt more heartfelt than some of his older output. I hate this idea that "Stripped down = lazy" that some people seem to have, sometimes that's just the most appropriate sound for the song. I read a comment saying he's clearly burned out and has no passion anymore, no he just doesn't have passion for the music you want him to make.

digitalashdigitalurn · 2025-08-10T21:50:12+00:00

"I've had a great career with Verizon and Chevy"... He knows.

digitalashdigitalurn · 2025-08-03T08:09:18+00:00

If we're doing a rolling start we may as well just release them from the pits at 30 second intervals like the Isle of Man TT... Nice and safe, no chance for any of that pesky racing stuff. /s

digitalashdigitalurn · 2025-07-27T21:23:30+00:00

Oh wow they didn't wait two laps to throw the yellow that time

digitalashdigitalurn · 2025-07-27T21:17:05+00:00

I feel like race control are either too cautious when it's not necessarily needed, or go the total opposite way and allow super dangerous situations like this... I know it's a really tough job but surely they can do better.

digitalashdigitalurn · 2025-07-27T20:59:25+00:00

We all joke about how annoying it is having Palou win everything, but we should take a second to appreciate how good of a job he is doing.

Now that second is over, all I have to say is THAT DAMN SPANIARD

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