32 replies to this topic

[FirstnameLastname]

Melbourne back to the middle of the night in the UK!

Suzuka as the 3rd race still doesn’t seem right - but I rate the first 6 races start times and the final 5 before Abu Dhabi too

[WonderboyF1]

Bring back 10 past the hour starts lol

[sportyskells]

So that two races that I have to play avoid the result the 1st one and the Las Vegas one

[F1 Mike]

Wonder why the earlier times for Oz & LV, anyone know?

[loki]

Wonder why the earlier times for Oz & LV, anyone know?

It’s cold in Vegas and running it at 10 pm local cuts into nightlife on the Strip.

[sportyskells]

Wonder why the earlier times for Oz & LV, anyone know?

On the Oz front sunset time over there

[FirstnameLastname]

Wonder why the earlier times for Oz & LV, anyone know?

Is it not because the respective time zone changes haven’t happened which equals a 2hr time shift? Was the same in Suzuka recently where it happened at the time of year where UK clocks fall back and Japanese clocks go forward, and resulted in the race being at the time I remember in 1998

[Brawn BGP 001]

Wasn't Oz the same time last season?

[TomNokoe]

Bring back 10 past the hour starts lol

Bloody hell I'd forgotten that shambles

[jonpollak]

iirc…..

It was at the request of TV so they could start the broadcast at the top of the hour instead of 5 till.

Jp

[Ruusperi]

Didn't realize Australian GP start time is that early this year. But honestly, ever since F2 and F3 races were added as support categories, which take place a few hours before the GP, I've been forced to stay awake the whole night anyway, and sleep during the day. So not a big deal.

 

iirc…..

It was at the request of TV so they could start the broadcast at the top of the hour instead of 5 till.

Jp

That was just stupid, as if most TV channels wouldn't start their pre-race coverage way earlier.

I always tune in a minute before the formation lap anyway.

Edited by Ruusperi, 04 February 2025 - 11:52.

[HuddersfieldTerrier1986]

On the topic of start times, can I just say that although it's not quite the same as the 2am/3am starts of 20+ years ago, I love the fact that the first race of the season is in Australia at 4am, rather than the 6am/7am sort of times we've been used to.

I always felt there was nothing better than getting up at stupid o'clock (or just not sleeping) for the first race of the season starting at say 3am, the majority of the country asleep while I'm watching 20+ drivers driving round the streets of Melbourne at 200mph

[Dara]

I always felt there was nothing better than getting up at stupid o'clock (or just not sleeping) for the first race of the season starting at say 3am, the majority of the country asleep while I'm watching 20+ drivers driving round the streets of Melbourne at 200mph

Since we're able to record programs on a decoder, I just start the recording when I wake up and ignore al social media.

But when VHS was the way to go, I did get up and I agree, there was something special about it.

[pacificquay]

Since we're able to record programs on a decoder, I just start the recording when I wake up and ignore al social media.

But when VHS was the way to go, I did get up and I agree, there was something special about it.

 

Has to be live!

 

There's something intangibly different about watching something knowing the result is already decided, even if you don't know what it is.

 

Therefore - has to be live!

[Ferrim]

Well, I'm surprised but happy that the times of Bernie pushing every race around the world to better European time windows are in the past.

[cjm321190]

Feels like a proper F1 opener. 04:00 uk start. Australia. Brilliant.

Better than two dull races before the season really started down under.

[Topsu]

The alarm for the first race of the year is always such a nice feeling!

[F1 Mike]

Since we're able to record programs on a decoder, I just start the recording when I wake up and ignore al social media.

But when VHS was the way to go, I did get up and I agree, there was something special about it.

I stayed up watching the Bathurst 1000 in 2003 and fell asleep before the Japanese Grand Prix started.

Fortunately, I had set the video to record.

Unfortunately, in my panic when I woke up dazed and confused, I changed the channel over to see the Suzuka podium celebrations.

Edited by F1 Mike, 04 February 2025 - 21:56.

[Dara]

I stayed up watching the Bathurst 1000 in 2003 and fell asleep before the Japanese Grand Prix started.

Fortunately, I had set the video to record.

Unfortunately, in my panic when I woke up dazed and confused, I changed the channel over to see the Suzuka podium celebrations.

One time, around 2002/2004, the Belgian public network had the rights to air the races. But they didn't care about f1, so when we had a race in the American continent, that race was being run right in their primetime schedule.
So they postponed the race untill no other shows were on. So the race started at around 8pm but was only being shown on TV around midnight.

So we're all waiting for a couple of hours to finally watch the race, this dumb hostess comes on and says "well unsurprisingly, Schumacher has won again but here's the race for you to watch"

[LolaB0860]

I always tune in a minute before the formation lap anyway.

Minute before? That's luxurious, I tune in during the formation lap. Nothing better than to skip the meaningless pre-babble and most of the garage head shots

Edited by LolaB0860, 05 February 2025 - 06:52.

[AustinF1]

Wonder why the earlier times for Oz & LV, anyone know?

From my perspective re: Vegas, starting a race at 10PM - 1AM depending on where you live in the home country is idiotic at best imho, never mind South America where the start time was 1AM - 3AM. 

 

Moving it 2 hours earlier will help a lot, at least in North America.

[JimmyClark]

I stayed up watching the Bathurst 1000 in 2003 and fell asleep before the Japanese Grand Prix started.

Fortunately, I had set the video to record.

Unfortunately, in my panic when I woke up dazed and confused, I changed the channel over to see the Suzuka podium celebrations.

My greatest F1 regret was doing an all nighter for the 2005 Japanese grand Prix (after a heavy night at uni) and falling asleep about a third of the way through.

I then woke up during the podium celebrations.

[absinthedude]

I was thinking of giving F1 a chance this year watching Australia as I'll have the house to myself (and the cats) that weekend....but....nah....can't be arsed getting up at 3:50am. 

 

As for Vegas....nope...I have this place called "work" which kind of expects me to be in and functional on Monday morning. 

 

So I probably won't bother with any of the races again this year. It really did used to feel exciting, unmissable even. 

[loki]

I was thinking of giving F1 a chance this year watching Australia as I'll have the house to myself (and the cats) that weekend....but....nah....can't be arsed getting up at 3:50am. 

 

As for Vegas....nope...I have this place called "work" which kind of expects me to be in and functional on Monday morning. 

 

So I probably won't bother with any of the races again this year. It really did used to feel exciting, unmissable even. 

 

Vegas is on Sat night.  It would have been nuts to have it on Sun night.

[Collombin]

So I probably won't bother with any of the races again this year

Tip for this year: don't post things that somebody who wasn't watching wouldn't know about.

[Flasheart]

I stayed up watching the Bathurst 1000 in 2003 and fell asleep before the Japanese Grand Prix started.

Fortunately, I had set the video to record.

Unfortunately, in my panic when I woke up dazed and confused, I changed the channel over to see the Suzuka podium celebrations.

As an Aussie, I loved it when Bathurst started earlier, and was finished in time to switch over for the Japanese GP. The days before everything was driven by commercial revenue for the broadcasters.

[Peat]

I welcome the changes. If i were paying through the nose for ticket and buying the expensive food at the track, I would at least expect the race to be put on a time convenient for me rather than someone on thier sofa thousands of miles away. 

Edited by Peat, 05 February 2025 - 12:03.

[Stephane]

It would have worked perfectly with a 2pm local start. Just saying.

[Red5ive]

The alarm for the first race of the year is always such a nice feeling!

Feel like I am too old for that these days - probably (for the first time) plan to watch at least 2 of these races on record.

[DW46]

I was thinking of giving F1 a chance this year watching Australia as I'll have the house to myself (and the cats) that weekend....but....nah....can't be arsed getting up at 3:50am.

As for Vegas....nope...I have this place called "work" which kind of expects me to be in and functional on Monday morning.

So I probably won't bother with any of the races again this year. It really did used to feel exciting, unmissable even.

Yep darn life getting in the way! I only watched 3 races last year and followed the rest on here. It’s the too many races saturation point for me which the start times don’t help.

[F1 Mike]

This is my 29th year properly following F1. I actually completely skipped a few of the quali sessions in '24 and watched YouTube highlights. Whilst I'll now happily watch a race delayed if I've something more important happening, I still enjoy getting up at a silly time through the night to watch. Beer, crisps, cakes, sweets & chocolate... not a peep from the Mrs!

[Stephane]

I missed more afternoon races than early morning/late evening.

[absinthedude]

Tip for this year: don't post things that somebody who wasn't watching wouldn't know about.

 

And what did I post last year which suggests I watched a single race?

 

I saw some bits on the news and sought out a couple of controversial incidents on Youtube.