{{ OT }} Formula One racing ...

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Jeff Strickland - 11 May 2008 20:33 GMT

All forms of racing count the laps up, F1 counts them down.

For example, they will say or show on screen 40 of 200 complete, 120 of 200
compete, 198 of 200 complete. But F1 shows a 58 lap race, and the number of
laps remaining. For example, I'm watching the Turkey Grand Prix right now,
and they say 7/58, 2/58.

Why does F1 use the reverse format of counting the laps down instead of
counting them up?

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Jeff - 11 May 2008 22:16 GMT

> All forms of racing count the laps up, F1 counts them down.
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Why does F1 use the reverse format of counting the laps down instead of
> counting them up?

Gee, I was watching the NASCAR race last night (another win for a
Toyota-sponsored team), and they had on the screen words like "189 laps
remaining."

In this case, I think the "they" is the broadcasters rather than F1
racing itself. Apparently, the broadcasters thing showing the remaining
number of laps is easier for their viewers or better for their bottom
line (or both).

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Hachiroku ハチロク - 12 May 2008 02:38 GMT

> All forms of racing count the laps up, F1 counts them down.
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Why does F1 use the reverse format of counting the laps down instead of
> counting them up?

They explained it once on ESPN when they had the F1 contract (wish they
still did...Speedvision is an extra on my system) but I can't remember
what it was.

But then again, it's European. They do things different there...

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Jeff Strickland - 12 May 2008 15:35 GMT

>> All forms of racing count the laps up, F1 counts them down.
>>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> But then again, it's European. They do things different there...

That explains it, it's metric ...

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