Alt+F1: 05 - 04/07/2014 - Bahrain Battle Royal

@drewbert@dannyodwyer The 100 kph limit for ERS is only at the start of the race. After the race start, it can be used at anytime.

For tires, Pirelli picks two dry compounds for each race from their four compounds (Super-soft, soft, medium, hard). The harder of the two is referred to as the prime and the other is the option.

Really enjoy the podcast!

Someone has probably explained this but I'm too lazy to check. But yeah... If you finish 90% or more of the laps the race winner completes then you're classified as a finisher.

For the Maldonado-Gutierrez incident it definitely appears to me like it was a wheel collision that caused the car to flip and not the nose or wing getting under the car and flipping it. At about 1:36:10 on the Sky broadcast you can see the back right tire on the Sauber make contact with the Lotus' front left. Immediately the two tires kiss and when they do Gutierrez's car is instantly popped up. Not only that but you can clearly see that this is the first part of the car to get lifted. If it had been the nose that lifted the car it would have rolled the car laterally left-over-right instead of back-over-front.

I'm quite surprised the commentators on Sky were saying that they thought it was the low nose that had popped the car up the way it did. It definitely made contact with the side of Gutierrez's car but it certainly didn't get under him and it certainly wasn't the cause of the flip. I understand that there is some concern that the lower noses could scoop a car up but as we've seen already these aren't solid parts of the body and they seem to break off quite easily.

Great race but also a little disappointing to see just how dominant Mercedes is. At least this is a dominant team with two well matched drivers this time.

Finally decided to watch a race as well and what a race it was. It's been a pretty long time since I watched F1, but I was not disappointed, except for Button. He's my favorite driver. :(

I just want to say that I was going to try and get into F1, but being a us citizen without tv it seems pretty fucking impossible to watch a race, am I missing something or is this just a case of another backward company afraid of the internet?

@pirsig: This is what it seems like to me. However, the NBC Sports website mentions "Additionally, every race can be viewed live on your desktop and mobile device via NBC Sports Live Extra and the NBC Sports Live Extra app." I don't see how they can be dicks and lock out people for having the wrong internet service provider or some other bullshit like that, so I'll give it a shot when China comes around.

For those interested in going to a race: I would also suggest looking into series that aren't F1. I know this is an F1-specific show, but there's lots of good racing around the world that isn't NASCAR.

For Americans, I recommend either IndyCar (which is having a hell of a resurgence the last few years) or the IMSA Tudor United Sports Car Series (which is the current major sports car series). IndyCars are also open-wheel like F1, and the quality of driving and racing is pretty awesome. There's also Americans to cheer for if you're into that. IMSA is sports cars, so if you've played Forza or Gran Turismo you may recognize some of the cars -- GT cars like the Corvette C7R, the Viper, the Porsche 911 GT3, Ferrari 455s, the Audi R8R, and more (you know, the racing cars that look like real super cars!). What's cool about IMSA is the variety -- not just screaming spaceship-looking cars, but also Vipers, Vettes, Aston Martins, and more, so the different engine notes are great.

For international fans, the World Endurance Championship is the FIA World-level sports car series, and its prototypes include the Audi R18, the new Toyota, and Porsche. They're using technology similar to the new Formula 1 engines -- hybrids, with energy recovery systems. The Toyota is pushing out 1000 hp when they combine the electric and gasoline engines. They also have GT cars, too. The Blancpain GT series is good if you're on the European continent. Another good shout is the British Touring Cars, which are always hysterical in a slam-bang way.

Another potential option is MotoGP, which is the F1 of motorcycle racing, but I have no clue how ticket prices for that compare. It's an international series, but there are three races in America alone.

The advantage is it may be easier to follow (races don't start at wacky times) AND if you want to actually go to a race, there are more chances, closer to where you live, AND MUCH, MUCH CHEAPER! To draw an aptly nerdy comparison, Formula 1 is like GDC, where the tickets are really fucking expensive, while other series are more like PAX or other conventions where they're much, much more affordable.

Formula 1 is amazing -- I love F1, I love following it, but it can be a great gateway drug into following other series as well, especially if those other series give you the live and local option. Then again, I'm a degenerate who has gone to the track to watch amateur SCCA run-off weekends and even something called ChumpCar, so clearly I'm at the "crack addict" level of the spectrum.

@harperdc: MotoGP tickets are actually dirt cheap (in the US), I think the tickets for the race this weekend in Austin are like $50 bucks. I was a huge fan of ALMS, here's hoping Tudor can get its act together.