GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => General F1 Discussion => Topic started by: Irisado on August 14, 2018, 06:12:44 PM
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As some of you will know, I have been very busy with work this year and have not been able to find the time to post very much as a result. Even when I have had time though, I have found myself unable to post anything because I cannot find enough positives to say about Formula 1 any more and I dislike being so negative all of the time about a sport that I used to love so very much.
I keep being mystified as to why those in charge of Formula 1 and some commentators and pundits keep saying that 2018 is such an exciting season. Yes, the championship is close between Hamilton and Vettel and there are some exciting new drivers coming through, such as Leclerc, but the actual racing (aside from Austria because of unreliabilty and Germany because of the rain) has been dismal. It struck me just how poor modern Formula 1 racing is when I saw some clips from some races in the mid 1980s, when, just as now, there were no pitstops for fuel and drivers had to drive to the limits of their fuel tanks, resulting in some running out of fuel in the closing stages. On the face of it, that doesn't sound like a lot of fun. Why then are these races so much more interesting to watch clips from? For me, it comes down to the fact that there was more racing (i.e. genuine overtaking without DRS assistance), more unreliability and driver errors (which made the races much less predictable) and a tyre war going on between three tyre manufacturers which would change who was setting the pace on some weekends. In other words, there were far more variables taking place in a race than there are now.
Races now are governed by who can stop their tyres from wearing out. Nobody is really pushing, the drivers don't look in the least bit tired after a race, and the cars are almost as prestine as they were prior to the start. This, for me, is not how Formula 1 should be at all and it has got to the point where it's almost risibile to call it the pinnacle of motorsport in my opinion. How can the pinnacle of motorsport justify using DRS to generate easy overtakes and force the drivers to drive slowly because otherwise the tyres will 'fall off the cliff'?
Is it just me who feels this way or are any of the rest of you as disullsioned as I am?
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Is it just me who feels this way or are any of the rest of you as disullsioned as I am?
I agree with most of your points/opinions. I think we all want f1 to be "raw and tough" again. It's too clinical, robotic and sensitive in this current era and I would hope most fans are voicing their opinions on social media too???
As we have moaned about this for a good number of years now, sort out the aero, sort out the fuel usage and sort out the tyres!!! ... I think F1 needs to be simplified in some ways, while embracing technology in others, but time will tell under the new ownership, whether F1 declines further, before significant improvements are implemented. So long as I don't hear "Embracing the Fans!" from Chase on every outing, I may hold onto my sanity???
Best Regards,
Cal :)
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Why then are these races so much more interesting to watch clips from?
I think you need to be a little careful here. Watching clips from the 80s is not comparable to watching a race from the 80s. I've been watching F1 since around '85 (when Mansell started appearing on the news more frequently - I was 10). I loved it and was hooked... but I also remember a lot of tedious boring races.
My favourite photo ever of F1 is Mansell, Prost, Senna and Piquet sitting on a wall.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/nigel-mansell-nelson-piquet-alain-prost-and-ayrton-senna-967523/3053019/
(https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/nigel-mansell-nelson-piquet-alain-prost-and-ayrton-senna-967523/3053019/)
Why? Because despite the fact that these guys were the best of a generation fighting tooth and nail during the race, they manage to sit on a wall embracing each other and, well, just looking normal. I don't think you get that anymore. It's all too professional nowadays.
Having said that there are probably other factors also, eg age. Things are more impressionable when you are young. And after 30 years of watching, it kind of gets repetitive. ;)
However, I do think you have a point and I think some of the loss in excitement is because nobody seems to be on the edge anymore. The cars are driving like on rails nowadays. It didn't seem like that in the 80s. Nobody gets out and collapses anymore (like Mansell I think). It's all become too professional, too perfect. This is not surprising given the sums involved, but it makes for worse viewing and I don't know what the answer is. I think all sport is like this nowadays. Football, as gifted as the players are, business interests see to it that only 2-3 teams can win the league in any season and often the winner will be clear already 10 games into the season.
One final comment, probably worthy of a separate thread. Those head protectors... Increasingly you can't see the driver anymore. If you compare a car from the 50s to nowadays, well, Fangio you could see his whole torso from the side and thereby the effort he was making. Whereas with Lewis, all you see now is the top of the helmet leaning left or right. You barely see the steering wheel anymore. I sometimes think that I am only half joking when I say that in 30 years time the drivers will be sitting in a room in the paddock steering the cars remotely and we'd never know!
[Sorry for the rambling post :)]
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I have also watched complete races from the 1980s, and I agree that some were boring, just as was the case in the 1990s and first half of the 2000s, but what I feel has become much worse is the quality of the racing. Even in boring races from decades gone by, there would still be a certain level of unpredictability in the overall result, even if the race at the front was deadly dull. Nowadays, it's just passing by DRS or driving slowly because of the tyres.
Age is definitely a factor too and I'm sure that most young people getting into the sport think that it is amazing. That said, watching some other sports that I am interested in (not football, which I cannot stand) I feel as though that they have improved over time, so I don't know. I think that the jury may be still out on this one.
Nevertheless, I think that you make very interesting points and rose tinted spectacles can be dangerous, so it's all food for thought :).