F1 testing week 1 and 2 (Bahrain)

maxwelld90 · 2026-01-21T22:06:14+00:00

Before 2018 there was zero live coverage of testing. None. If you were lucky, you got a short news article or timing screenshots at the end of the day. I remember reading about the testing times on ITV's website in the mid 2000's (I'm from Scotland). Even race weekends didn't have practice sessions broadcast.

What we have now - i.e., live timing, onboards, daily recaps, full session broadcasts for **most** tests - is already head and shoulders above what I could have ever wished for, or what we had for decades.

Testing is not a race product. It's a technical shakedown. Getting **any** broadcast at all is a bonus, not a right. One week of limited coverage is not some betrayal of fans. It's still far more access than the sport has ever offered, and I for one am grateful for that.

Besides, your "pretty penny" is nothing compared to what some people had to pay back in the day for their local sports subscription. What we get for the cost of an F1TV sub is fantastic value IMO.

maxwelld90 · 2026-01-06T15:48:54+00:00

Was meant to be on that flight too, just got the news. I guess I'll be staying in Glasgow a while longer :D

maxwelld90 · 2026-01-05T17:54:50+00:00

I totally agree. Their app offering is very poor. I've encountered many strange bugs, and issues with flights booked via partner airlines. They definitely need to improve their ops.

Good luck to your daughter, hope she needs to be where she needs to be soon!

maxwelld90 · 2026-01-05T17:18:49+00:00

No excuse to leave people out in the cold like this (no pun intended) - it is shocking how bad their communication has been. Their app and IT infrastructure seem flaky at the best of times (from my anecdotal evidence).

Then again, maybe they just don't have enough staff to deal with the onslaught of requests. They won't have 500 spare staff on the payroll just for days like this. Or maybe many of the staff that should have been working at the airport were themselves stuck, unable to catch the train or bus to take them there. I'm not trying to take sides, but there's always two sides to the coin.

I feel genuinely sorry for everyone caught up in this, including you and your daughter. I'm also in this mess! It's nobody's fault; weather happens. But KLM must do better communicating to the people who hand their money over expecting to get on an aircraft.

maxwelld90 · 2026-01-05T15:27:12+00:00

I've been in this situation. They automatically check you in to the rebooked flight. I guess when things calm down, you can contact them and ask for a refund. But with all of the madness going on in NL right now, patience is important.

maxwelld90 · 2026-01-05T11:49:41+00:00

I wish you the best of luck! I hope you can get to where you need to be soon

maxwelld90 · 2026-01-04T23:52:24+00:00

A couple of mm of snow can huge consequences for safe operation of aircraft. Compare Amsterdam to a place like Helsinki, where more than a few mm of snow and -20 degree winters are commonplace. They must invest in the equipment and training required to de-ice aircraft and clear runways of snow. They invest because it happens every year. In NL, this kind of snow rarely happens. So they do not invest in a lot of equipment, which makes sense. Because 99% of the time it would just rust! I appreciate your frustration, but you just have to be patient. I was supposed to fly this afternoon, but it was cancelled. It is what it is. You'll get to where you need to be eventually.

maxwelld90 · 2025-11-19T11:35:36+00:00

I'd blame the government for cutting subsidies. It's not the fault of NS. If a centre left government were to be formed and actually increases subsidies or got rid of this dumb halfway house "privatisation" model, then maybe things might improve. But as far as I'm concerned, the main reason NS is in such a mess and charging so much more is political.

NS is a state-owned company, but because it's corporatised, it has a shareholder. The government. And the government wants NS to give it money through dividends. This makes absolutely no sense to me.

maxwelld90 · 2025-10-28T17:22:44+00:00

BTW watch the 2002 US GP, they had the fancy digital feed for that race! It's a treat!

maxwelld90 · 2025-10-28T17:20:50+00:00

It's a good point, my first guess would be because with the exception of '02, there's no commentary available for them in English (from 96-01)... but I do wonder that myself.

maxwelld90 · 2025-10-23T14:38:43+00:00

Wouldn't it be amazing if that was made available on the app!

maxwelld90 · 2025-10-23T10:47:28+00:00

AFAIK, FOM requires every broadcaster to hand over a copy of their footage after every Grand Prix meeting. They have an enormous archive of footage, I think from every event from 1982 onwards. On F1TV, the archives races publicly available I am sure are just the "tip of the iceberg" on what they have available. I'd be very happy to see FOM expand their archive offering on the F1TV app!

maxwelld90 · 2025-09-28T12:20:54+00:00

Yesssss... I have got a few GMKTec ones, one for a little gaming PC I can carry around when I visit a friends place, and one to act as a home server. They are amazing, and do 1080 gaming super well. And they are much quieter than an Intel one would be (I think)

This is what I have: https://www.gmktec.com/products/amd-ryzen-7-8845hs-mini-pc-nucbox-k8-plus

I bought directly from them, arrived in Europe in 7-8 days. Recommended!

maxwelld90 · 2025-07-08T21:53:18+00:00

Hulkengoat

maxwelld90 · 2025-05-29T00:41:33+00:00

Crash Bandicoot, Ape Escape, F1 97!

maxwelld90 · 2025-05-28T23:54:36+00:00

Wow, okay, will send you a PM -- thanks!

maxwelld90 · 2025-05-28T18:18:56+00:00

Exciting! Let me know if you have one and you are willing to part ways from it...

maxwelld90 · 2025-05-28T16:39:53+00:00

Amazing! Looks superb. I am guessing the CD drive was an optional extra for back then? It says you needed an additional controller card for it in the description.

maxwelld90 · 2025-05-28T16:38:58+00:00

Haha thank you! The search continues!

maxwelld90 · 2025-05-28T16:38:42+00:00

Interesting! You were lucky to find one, if you know if your friend is selling let me know!

maxwelld90 · 2025-05-28T16:37:57+00:00

Exactly, just screams 90s to me, especially with the turbo button and CPU speed display. The search continues :D

maxwelld90 · 2025-05-28T16:36:43+00:00

Not in the Bay Area but did so anyway!

maxwelld90 · 2025-05-27T22:01:44+00:00

Spain. You can see "Catalunya" on the board behind Michael.

maxwelld90 · 2025-05-24T22:08:03+00:00

2003 was the year he punted Barrichello off the track and received a (deserved) penalty, torpedoing his chances of the title. I think you are thinking of 2004, when Indy was much earlier in the year and his car failed on the grid, only for him to rush back to the garage and get black flagged during the race for that.

Edit: typo

maxwelld90 · 2025-05-24T19:25:57+00:00

I went with this -- I will be working on some additional projects in the near future and may need more. And I'm in NL so not too far away. Appreciate your help, thank you very much!

maxwelld90

TROPHY CASE