2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

[rfdesigner]

That's great! Thanks for sharing! What gear did you shoot with? (Lens +Body, etc?)

Thanks Rusty, I really should have put that info on the first post, sorry!
I used my 5DIII with the 100-400L exclusively, there are so many different settings as the light changes so quickly in Abu Dhabi that I left off the exif data, or I would have been at this thread for hours
I'm in agreement with all of you about the season overall. My biggest shock was seeing the American GP is in doubt next year, that was one of the major highlight races this season, it had everything! so i'm hoping that it goes ahead in 2016.

If Bernie thinks he can do without Austin he's making a major mistake.. an agreement will be reached, just Bernie might not make as much off that GP. Not sure exactly how Austin compares to SPA/Silverstone/Monza but it's at that end of the list, it would be sacralidge to lose it.

 

[Roo]

Excellent shots Stewart! and especially so with the changeability of the light.

 

[V8Beast]

Great shots, Stewart! I'm hoping Nico can carry some momentum into 2016 and give Hamilton a run for his money

If Bernie thinks he can do without Austin he's making a major mistake.. an agreement will be reached, just Bernie might not make as much off that GP. Not sure exactly how Austin compares to SPA/Silverstone/Monza but it's at that end of the list, it would be sacralidge to lose it.

Bernie still hasn't been paid his fee for this year's USGP, so the race organizers better get their act together or else there will be no Grand Prix in Austin in 2016

The weather made this year's race very exciting, but the event itself was a disaster. Although the track itself is fantastic, the facilities around it are very under-developed. Much of it isn't paved, so when this year's rain hit, it transformed the entire facility into a giant mud pit. COTA lost millions of dollars in concession sales.

The same goes for the parking. There is very little onsite parking, so the majority of the fans that parked off site had to wade through the mud all weekend. Many cars got stuck due to flooding, so fans were forced to park many miles offsite on Saturday and were then locked out of the track for free practice 3 that morning.

Overall, the planning was very poor and the event was understaffed. This was very surprising because the first three years the staffing and planning was excellent. I suspect many of the temporary workers they rely on for these events simply called in sick and decided to stay home instead of getting rained on all weekend. None of this is enough to keep hardcore fans away, but for anyone visiting Austin for the first time, I could see how they might have walked away very disappointed.

The track itself is awesome, but IMHO nothing compares to the technical challenge of Spa or Suzuka, or the atmosphere and history of Silverstone, Monza, or Monaco. COTA is a great track, but it needs to host an F1 race for longer than four years to even be included in the same conversation as the legendary F1 circuits of the world.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for next year's race!

 

[Valvebounce]

Hi rfdesigner.
I think you will find Bernie is spoiled for choice on circuits he can choose from, he has in the past excluded (or threatened to exclude) historic circuits for having less calamitous foul ups or problems, circuits are expendable, you'll get over it!

Cheers, Graham.

If Bernie thinks he can do without Austin he's making a major mistake.. an agreement will be reached, just Bernie might not make as much off that GP. Not sure exactly how Austin compares to SPA/Silverstone/Monza but it's at that end of the list, it would be sacralidge to lose it.

 

[V8Beast]

I think you will find Bernie is spoiled for choice on circuits he can choose from, he has in the past excluded (or threatened to exclude) historic circuits for having less calamitous foul ups or problems, circuits are expendable, you'll get over it!

Sadly this is very true. The best way to get on the naughty list of everyone's favorite greedy midget is to owe him money. Unless Bernie gets paid, there will be no 2016 USGP. Bernie wouldn't hesitate to cancel Silverstone if he doesn't get paid, so cancelling the Austin event would be an even easier decision for him. If the latter happens, he'll just get someone else to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to host another race, then gouge them with his hosting fee.

Austin would merely join tracks like Korea, India, and Turkey that Bernie could pick and choose from and leverage against one another to line his pocket.

 

[rfdesigner]

I think you will find Bernie is spoiled for choice on circuits he can choose from, he has in the past excluded (or threatened to exclude) historic circuits for having less calamitous foul ups or problems, circuits are expendable, you'll get over it!

Sadly this is very true. The best way to get on the naughty list of everyone's favorite greedy midget is to owe him money. Unless Bernie gets paid, there will be no 2016 USGP. Bernie wouldn't hesitate to cancel Silverstone if he doesn't get paid, so cancelling the Austin event would be an even easier decision for him. If the latter happens, he'll just get someone else to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to host another race, then gouge them with his hosting fee.

Austin would merely join tracks like Korea, India, and Turkey that Bernie could pick and choose from and leverage against one another to line his pocket.

you might be right.. but Bernie has made it very clear he wants to break into the US. Austin is a great circuit and there isn't another US GP.. I can't see him willing to drop it unless the money side of things is really bad. What he needs to make the money work in the US is mutliple US venues. Once that's in place then he can start playing them off against each other, until the US fan base has been built up it would be a mistake to ask for too much too quickly.

 

[IMG_0001]

Nice images Stewart, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. I've also been caught off by changing light conditions in Montreal in the past. It is already hard enough for an amateur like me to manage manual mode and panning for nsuch fast cars slamming the brakes without dealing with changing light conditions. you did a good job.

 

[IMG_0001]

I would bet Bernie sees Asia as a market with much more potential growth than the Americas. I also am pretty sure he considers Montreal as a US grand-prix, so he already has two in north america. Not to mention that the legal context in Asia must be much easier to deal with than in the states or Europe.

I would tend to agree that any grand prix is expandable sadlly.

I think you will find Bernie is spoiled for choice on circuits he can choose from, he has in the past excluded (or threatened to exclude) historic circuits for having less calamitous foul ups or problems, circuits are expendable, you'll get over it!

Sadly this is very true. The best way to get on the naughty list of everyone's favorite greedy midget is to owe him money. Unless Bernie gets paid, there will be no 2016 USGP. Bernie wouldn't hesitate to cancel Silverstone if he doesn't get paid, so cancelling the Austin event would be an even easier decision for him. If the latter happens, he'll just get someone else to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to host another race, then gouge them with his hosting fee.

Austin would merely join tracks like Korea, India, and Turkey that Bernie could pick and choose from and leverage against one another to line his pocket.

you might be right.. but Bernie has made it very clear he wants to break into the US. Austin is a great circuit and there isn't another US GP.. I can't see him willing to drop it unless the money side of things is really bad. What he needs to make the money work in the US is mutliple US venues. Once that's in place then he can start playing them off against each other, until the US fan base has been built up it would be a mistake to ask for too much too quickly.

 

[V8Beast]

I would bet Bernie sees Asia as a market with much more potential growth than the Americas. I also am pretty sure he considers Montreal as a US grand-prix, so he already has two in north america. Not to mention that the legal context in Asia must be much easier to deal with than in the states or Europe.

Yup, Mexico and Montreal make the USGP even more expendable. Maybe the rumored California race will pick up the slack, although California politicians are in the business of shutting down tracks, not building new ones Mexico looks like an interesting track, especially the stadium section, but I don't want to get kidnapped, so if Austin goes kaput I'll have to take a trip to Montreal instead.

 

[TheJock]

Thanks for all the kind words guys, really appreciated. Keeping the images looking sharp and properly lit was a huge issue, I really should learn to use the AV and TV modes, I’m always in M so it was a challenge and I lost a few good shots for this reason.
I am really glad and excited to see that this thread has spiralled in to a debate on the forever popular F1 politics, rumours and “what if’s”.
V8, I’m sorry to hear about your experiences at COTA this year, it was (in contrast) one of my favourite races of the year on TV, I watch every session from P1 right through Fri/Sat/Sun to the race, and COTA was a snoozefest right up to the race, it then exploded into action and I was left with complete satisfaction after watching that race! It better not be off the calendar next year!
I am also praying on bended knee that McLaren get their stuff together for next year as I’m really needing to see some podium action, something that has been missing in my life for a long time!!! Last win was 2012 (Brazil) and last podium was in 2014 in Melbourne (1st bloody race of the year), I’m sad now I’ve just reminded myself of these stats, I’m away to sulk :'(

 

[V8Beast]

I'm happy anytime I can attend an F1-related event, so I really didn't mind the rain at all. I just felt bad for all the international fans who flew across an ocean only to then deal with a chaotic and poorly organized event. If I flew to Spa or Silverstone, then got locked out of the track, I wouldn't be too happy.

At least the race was exciting, and fans got to see the crowning of the world champ. It was cool to see all the fans erupting in cheer when Ricciardo took the lead Nico spinning the tires and losing the lead was quite the shocker as well. IMHO the Red Bull chassis is still the class of a field. If they had a real engine, Mercedes dominance would end very quickly.

....and last podium was in 2014 in Melbourne (1st bloody race of the year), I’m sad now I’ve just reminded myself of these stats, I’m away to sulk :'(

Wait a second, I could have sworn that I saw Jenson and Fernando on the podium at Brazil ;D Better luck to McLaren next year. No one could have predicted that the Honda power unit was going to be such a turd.