{"id":536,"date":"2013-12-16T15:17:06","date_gmt":"2013-12-16T20:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/?p=536"},"modified":"2013-12-16T15:17:06","modified_gmt":"2013-12-16T20:17:06","slug":"2014-series-preview-formula-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/2014-series-preview-formula-1\/","title":{"rendered":"2014 Series Preview: Formula 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following on the heels of last week\u2019s IndyCar preview<\/a>, it seems only right that I continue this series with the most popular open-cockpit series everywhere outside the US: Formula 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"F1Logo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0What is it?<\/h3>\n

With millions of fans around the globe and roots reaching back to the early days of motorsport, Formula 1 is widely considered the world\u2019s most popular racing series.\u00a0 It\u2019s held on a variety of race circuits located everywhere from Europe to Asia to the Americas.\u00a0 Each competing team fields two open-cockpit cars of their own design.\u00a0 Each pair of drivers works together to win the constructors\u2019 championship, but only one person can win the drivers\u2019 championship.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why should I care?<\/h3>\n

Even if you took away the globetrotting glamour and the plethora of breathtaking circuits, there would still be plenty to like about Formula 1.\u00a0 The teams spend hundreds of millions every year designing their cars, using some of the most advanced (and expensive) technology available.\u00a0 As a result, the cars are unbelievably fast, even compared to other racing series.\u00a0 The drivers are some of the best in the world, and long-standing rivalries between teams produce emotional storylines every year.\u00a0 This is essentially the standard by which all other forms of racing are judged, and not without good reason.<\/p>\n

\"f1monaco\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s new this year?<\/h3>\n

An enormous number of rule changes will be in place for the 2014 season, including new engines and advanced energy recovery systems.\u00a0 The changes are aimed at making the sport more relevant to modern road cars, but may also have the effect of changing the balance of power between teams since everyone must essentially start from scratch with their car designs.\u00a0 Russia and Austria have been added to the race calendar, replacing Korea and India.\u00a0 Four of the top five teams have made changes to their driver lineups, making room for some new and interesting rivalries.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Who\u2019s going to win?<\/h3>\n

Red Bull Racing has won the constructor\u2019s championship for the last four years in a row, and Sebastian Vettel has done the same with the drivers\u2019 championship.\u00a0 You\u2019d have to be a fool not to consider them the favorites, but the new technical regulations have the potential to introduce a bit of chaos.\u00a0 The Mercedes team has plenty of momentum after finishing second in 2013, and Ferrari have a pair of extremely talented drivers working for them this season.<\/p>\n

\"sebvettel\"<\/a><\/p>\n

How can I watch it?<\/h3>\n

The NBC Sports Network handles F1 broadcasting in the US.\u00a0 They showed several races on NBC itself in 2013, and there\u2019s no reason not to think 2014 won\u2019t be the same.\u00a0 Because the races happen all over the world, you may want to invest in a DVR is you don\u2019t enjoy waking up at 3 AM on a Sunday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pit Box One is written by Paul Jensen. You can follow his thoughts on video games and motor racing on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>.<\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following on the heels of last week\u2019s IndyCar preview, it seems only right that I continue this series with the most popular open-cockpit series everywhere outside the US: Formula 1. \u00a0What is it? With millions of fans around the globe and roots reaching back to the early days of motorsport, Formula 1 is widely considered [Read more…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":543,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536\/revisions\/543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}