"THIS IS THE END..." of an era. What you think?

[stubeck]

I have to say, I am a bit saddened that some of you are not following current F1, or are not interested in the cars that were recently racing.
Mind you, I do not think less of you! I just think it is sad that F1 has not (continued) to capture your attention.

But in fairness, its only lately that F1 has tried too hard and become WWF1 and I hope (I really really hope) that after this debacle F1 will do an about turn and try to regain some of its integrity so you can follow it again.

The 1960s and 1970s seem to be the most popular time periods for the models. I can understand that. The 1960s cigar shapes were pretty to look at, and the 1970s brought the most innovation (and dead ends).
In the 1980s all cars became copies of each other, with big boxy sidepods and giant rear wings, and it did not get much better afterwards.
But there were both still developments, and the racing was just as good if not better. At least there we got races with more than 6 finishers.

Some cars I build for their technical prowess, and some for memorable races/drivers. I wholeheartedly recommend that approach.

I'm still watching, minus Qatar and Saudi Arabia, I've seen every race since I started watching in late 98. I skipped those as I don't believe F1 should be going to either of those places based on a number of reasons. I think the cost cap will help the racing tremendously. I don't think this year was particularly special for the series, its just that from 14-20 we had so few competitive teams that's it looks great in comparison.

I hope we get more coherent stewarding and return to 05-06 where it was a set group and not changing every race. At least then we will know why a decision was made and not what we have now. I also hope we get past the idea that tarmac is the best thing to slow a car down. As we've seen at Spa/Hungary, cars don't slow down on tarmac, they stay just as fast and also causes issues where rather than slowing down, cars drive at full speed off track and then hit other cars (think Hubert...). If we have a specific rule for track limits that is the same across the calendar (maybe the one in the rule book about white lines?) that would help as well.

[43rdMichael]

We’re at risk of getting off topic, F1 was an escape - outrageous speed and noise. Life is overwhelmed with rules, and when i look at an F1 car now, i don’t see an escape, i just see more rules. The designs would all conform quickly even if the regulations were open, but that would ‘feel’ different to me.

[bossy122]

Good riddance.

[Alex_Kung]

I have always watched f1 since the late 80s. Even if it seemed like a certain driver that I did not like was dominating and was almost sure to win, I would still wake up early or stay up very late to try and watch it live because you never know what is going to happen.

I liked the engineering and new ideas that have come up trying to get around the rules. I don't have a favourite era. I like certain drivers and will try and model their cars if a kit is available. Also certain cars will just look right and I would build a model if there was a kit.

i remember all the rule changes to try and create more on track passing. Refueling brought in, refueling banned, narrow cars, no tire changes allowed, the grooves in the tires etc.

[Corpsegrinder]

Since I started modeling few years back I knew that I wouldn't build anything after 1995 even if my life depended on it. Since then cars became real mingers, so to me there's nothing to take from the last few years and I've totally lost any interest in F1.

[F1mechanic]

An era has ended. But looking at the different eras that have past, all leave me with apsects of F1 cars that I like to look at and build.
The pure mechanical chassis/engine build up of a lotus 49, lotus 79 or MP4/6 and even the F2007 can a pleasure to look at. Sort of a 'naked bike' without the aero bits.

Than the many aero bits of 2007 or 2010-13 cars. Building a front wing of a Sauber C30 or Ferrari 150th are a pleasant challenge and takes planning and practice, just like building the engine and chassis of a lotus 72.

The licence costs limit the manufacturers making kits with a total package. Imagine a 2016 kit with full PU and radiator internals.
I first started watching F1 in the early 80ties. My first kit was the Tamiya 1/12 Renault RE 20. And that was when I was about 10.
Even though some of the cars are ugly at first, some seem to grow on me over time. Still to many ideas to build and to little time.

[JamesB]

(...)Still to many ideas to build and to little time.

THanks for sharing! Nice and touching. I see thetes a common or at least quite spread sense of sharing the thrills of building real and building models.
I´d say there are quite a few F1 engineer wannabes among us. And some that even got there!