Ask Dre #7 – Formula E, My F1 Team, Return Of V10’s?, Dre’s Haters?

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Read time: 8 mins

“Who knew Formula E would get so many questions?”

Okay, first up, my apologies, it’s been a REALLY long time since I’ve done one of these and I’ve been SUPER busy lately, so apologies on that one. To make up for it, this is by FAR, the biggest Ask Dre blog I’ve done so far, so I hope it makes up for things a little bit. With a little luck, I hope for this to be a weekly column again! But until then, enjoy the questions, and thanks to everyone who sent one in! (PS: Prepare yourself, Formula E features strongly in this one!)


“Do you think we have seen the last of Kimi Raikkonen or do you think he will return to form next season?” – Eoin Harrington

This is a tricky question for sure, and very interesting. Fernando Alonso had a big say in what was going on in Ferrari, and it’s unsure whether Sebastian Vettel will have that same level of “pull”. No matter which way you look at it, 55 points is a miserable haul for Kimi, who was outscored 3-1 by Alonso this season.

He really hasn’t got an excuse this time around though, as a lot was made over his struggling to adapt to the brake-by-wire system that the 2014 Ferrari F14T had, and he has a headstart on Seb this year. And at 35, his skillset may just be declining now, as it does with being an F1 driver for nearly 15 years now. The 2015 season will answer a lot of resounding questions over Raikkonen, and if it doesn’t work out this year, he very well may be finished. Remember, it’s a contract year for The Iceman…

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”
” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″]Seb and Bottas[/fusion_imageframe]“If you could put together a F1 team, which two drivers would you pick and why?” – Will Dunford

Good question. I’d be taking one driver from the clear Elite 3 of Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Now, Nando might be the best in the sport, but I don’t think he’s the right guy to build a team around, and he’s 33. So that leaves Lewis and Seb, who are more similar than many realize. I think they’re very close, so I’d take the younger guy who provides excellent feedback in Sebastian Vettel.

And out of all the 2nd tier drivers available to me, I’d take Nico Hulkenberg as his teammate. Nico is a guy who hasn’t been given a seat at the tip, yet has gotten better every year he’s been in F1, and despite rotating through midfield teams, he’s had flashes of true brilliance and I think he could be as strong as any driver in the field today if he was given the same opportunity. Daniel Ricciardo a close 2nd.

[fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”
” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″]M_Id_402721_Bernie_Ecclestone[/fusion_imageframe]“Do you think Bernie was being serious when he said bring back the v8s and v10s, especially after we have only had one season of v6 turbos?” – Nathan Green

Honestly, knowing Bernie, it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a strong element of truth to his words. I know he jokes, but he never does when it comes to the competitive nature of the sport, and I think that’s what this situation boils down too.

I suspect, deep down, Bernie was hoping that the V6 Turbo’s were going to remove Red Bull’s dominant spell at the top of the sport. He was right, but unfortunately, he replaced one enemy, with a bigger one, like when Hades shows up in the middle of Kid Icarus Uprising.

I don’t think he’s through this through very well, and the teams would never accept something like this except for Ferrari, who would LOVE to make V10’s again given the Schumacher era, due to the level of extra expenses involved (Which are already steep enough), but yeah, it kind of begs another question: “What was wrong with the V6’s in the first place?”

“Could you ever consider doing simulator games (not codies F1)?” – Yuri Kasdorp

Was Gran Turismo 6 not enough for you? 😉 But in all seriousness, Simulators more often than not, in my opinion, don’t make for very entertaining videos and I don’t get excited to play them. And if I’m not enthusiastic about that something, it shows in my work, so I wouldn’t count on me playing rFactor, or Assetto Corsa or other sims, anytime soon. (Project Cars may be a possibility…)

“Is the shortage of Japanese riders in MotoGP going to be a problem for the factory teams in the future?” – James Francis White

Short answer: No. We’ve never had a top flight Japanese Champion in MotoGP, and in recent times, we’ve been through an era of Valentino Rossi dominance and the Spanish resurgence from Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo, and Dani Pedrosa, with some Australians and Americans sprinkled in as well.

The Factory teams have just adapted with the times, the Spanish are the dominant force in bike riding now, and I really don’t think the lack of a Japanese star rider is ever going to be a problem, when Dorna, the people who run the sport, are Spanish themselves. For them, this is a wet dream to have a homegrown superstar take control of the sport.

[fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”
” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″]04-fernando-mclaren-2014-okpz-711[/fusion_imageframe]“Who will win the teammate battle, Jenson or Fernando? Also, who will come out on top of Ferrari and McLaren?” – Christian Sorgendal

For the teammate battle, Jenson Button. What many people are failing to realize here, is that Jenson has had that team built around him for 2 years now, and he has already done 5 within that team. He knows the team, the car, the system and the development. Fernando has to come in and learn to adapt again, after being out of McLaren for 8 years.

Don’t get me wrong, on merit, I rate Fernando as a slightly better driver than Jenson on paper, but I don’t think the difference is all that great between them, and for me, the reasons of Fernando being the new boy, in my opinion, gets Jenson the slight edge.

As for the team itself, I’m still not convinced that leaving Mercedes is for the best. I think the Honda switch is an enormous gamble, and Ferrari are the biggest spenders in F1, and are going to throw money at the problems they’ve had, coming off their worst season in recent memory.

“Did you ever had a game that you loved but everyone else hated? or the other way around?” – Miguel Silva

If there was a game I hated that everyone else loved, it was Halo 3: ODST and Reach. Both games I only payed because my friends at the time, had them too. ODST was a 3 hour mission pack and Reach ruined what was a pretty amazing combat engine.

On the other end, I loved Mario Strikers Charged Football on the Nintendo Wii, despite everyone I know being frustrated as HELL with it.

[fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”
” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″]Formula E[/fusion_imageframe]“Out of the three circuits used for Formula E so far, how would you rate them?” – Richard Evans

Challenging, but ultimately, I think they’re more trouble than they’re worth. Take Uruguay for instance. Sectors 2 and 3 of the track were great, and it did an awesome job of get the cars to squirm about and get the back end out a bit, but the track was super narrow, and really dangerous when you combine that with the sausage kerbs that the track had too. Beijing had a box. Like, literally. Not exactly awe inspiring.

Like, I get what Formula E are trying to do with the Street Circuit vibe, but I’m not keen on it at the moment, and would like to see smaller, more traditional circuits like Donington used instead.

“What do you think about this first 3 races of formula E?” – Andre Silva

Well, China had the newsworthy Nico Prost collision, Malaysia had some great action up and down the field, and Uruguay was more of the same. They’ve had some great racing and some epic drama, so I don’t think you could ask for much more from a new and up and coming series!

“Following JEVs guest drive in FE – who else from any series would you like to see in FE?” – Marcus Hoare

One name strikes the top of the pile for me…Conor Daly. A shame he couldn’t get the funding to continue in GP2, he’s a damn good driver, and exactly the kind of charismatic young hotshot that Formula E could use. I’d also love to see guys like Andre Lotterer and others from the Endurance circuit.

[fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”
” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″]lewishamilton_ap[/fusion_imageframe]“Will F1 drivers ever be given the respect as an athlete that they deserve?” – Evan Wolff

Well, we did just have Lewis Hamilton win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, the first time an F1 driver has won the award in 18 years, so we must be doing something right!

But in the grand scheme of things, I think too many people just have a really snooty attitude regarding F1 in the mainstream media, regarding it is: “Just some guys going around in a circle over and over again”, when many sports can be boiled down to just a mundane action, like Football being “kicking a ball in a field”, or Golf being “just hitting a metal ball with a rod”. Instead of celebrating our sportsman, many idiotic personalities like The Fleet Street Fox and Joey Barton were waving their over-patriotic vaginas on Twitter screaming: “How dare he not pay his taxes, BOO THIS MAN”.

That annoys me. Especially when you consider as well, that F1 drivers are some of the fittest athletes in the world. Look at Jenson Button, he’s 34, and is a professional level triathlete in his spare time. You could probably grate cheese off his abs. So, no, I don’t think we’ll ever get there, but then again, who cares? The people who appreciate F1 already, is good enough.

[fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”
” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″]575369_10153531757170584_1502735844_n[/fusion_imageframe]And finally, two questions from Danielle14F1 on Twitter: “Has your Ask.fm failed in its purpose for you to do this?” and “Do you think people hate on your success or you not there yet?”

I have to admit Dani, the first question you asked made me laugh (In a good way), more than any question I’ve had on here to date! No to be honest, Ask.FM is for the anonymous ones, where as on Facebook and Twitter, you know you’re going to get quality questions that make blogs like this one, all the more intruging. I hope.

As for the second question, well…It all comes down to what you want to call a “success” I suppose, because the term itself is subjective. Being a decently sized YouTuber, and being very open on the Internet using tools such as Ask.FM means I’m more open to abuse as well, and I’ve had my fair share of it on here, from racist taunts, to being mocked at work for it, all that kind of stuff. So yeah, you could argue that I do, but I don’t call myself a success, when I know I can be doing better, and that’s what I intend on doing. Hope you can stick around for the ride![/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

About the Author:

Dre Harrison

Somehow can now call himself a Production Coordinator at the Motorsport Network, coming off the back of being part of the awkward Johto Era at WTF1. All off a University Project that went massively out of hand. Weird huh?

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