RE: F1 2013: Will you be watching?
Discussion
Lots of strongly held views on F1 here, as one would expect. Because few,if any, of us watch more than one race live- ie being there trackside- I 'd be interested to know how many contributors to this thread actually do watch live motorsport. It desparately needs more spectators - so where the hell is everyone? I attend about 20-30 events a year(Historic and club racing, F3 , GTs, rallying and drag racing ) and have done since I was a kid in the late 60s. I find most TV motorsport dull in the extreme- am I the only one who does ?
coppice said:
Lots of strongly held views on F1 here, as one would expect. Because few,if any, of us watch more than one race live- ie being there trackside- I 'd be interested to know how many contributors to this thread actually do watch live motorsport. It desparately needs more spectators - so where the hell is everyone? I attend about 20-30 events a year(Historic and club racing, F3 , GTs, rallying and drag racing ) and have done since I was a kid in the late 60s. I find most TV motorsport dull in the extreme- am I the only one who does ?
I went to the last turbo F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1988 and watched the likes of Senna, Berger and Mansell fight it out in the pissing rain. I'm glad I went just to say I'd been, but as far as being an exciting spectacle goes - well, I came away (3 hours after escaping the car park) with the distinct impression that you'd be better off watching it on TV if you wanted to get any idea of what was going on in the actual 'race'.Don't get me wrong, nothing can replace the spine chilling and deafening experience of witnessing a modern F1 car go through somewhere like Bridge at full chelp (as we used to be able to see during mid-season testing before they abolished it), but the actual 'racing' seems so sterile now. It was coming to something many seasons ago when the most interesting part of every Grand Prix was Brundle's grid walk, and the exchange of banter between Jake and the guys.
Race after race we see drivers being investigated by the stewards for the slightest of collisions, or the fact that they swerved a bit too much trying to protect their position from what would have otherwise been a gutsy edge of the seat overtaking manoeuvre.
And then there's DRS, the most artificial of artificial excitement creators in the whole world of sport. Lets give the bloke just behind a distinct advantage over the guy just in front - I wonder what could possibly happen here. My goodness, he's a racing champ through and through - did you see that overtake - how did he do that, thats amazing. I wonder what will happen on the next lap - oh look, now the other bloke's a racing god. This is fantastic! No - 'fake' is the word you are looking for.
Excitement? Go and sit on any corner and watch Moto GP, the Goodwood Revival, Formula Ford or BTCC. You'll wonder why you ever bothered with Formula mogadon.
Edited by Cobnapint on Saturday 16th March 09:21
coppice said:
Lots of strongly held views on F1 here, as one would expect. Because few,if any, of us watch more than one race live- ie being there trackside- I 'd be interested to know how many contributors to this thread actually do watch live motorsport. It desparately needs more spectators - so where the hell is everyone? I attend about 20-30 events a year(Historic and club racing, F3 , GTs, rallying and drag racing ) and have done since I was a kid in the late 60s. I find most TV motorsport dull in the extreme- am I the only one who does ?
Absolutely love F1 and the constantly evolving technology it uses. I think the innovations the teams always come up with to "flex" the rules as much as possible are fantastic and find it interesting that all the teams have their own interpretation of how to build the fastest car within the guidelines of the rules. I've been a massive F1 fan for a long time now, but I've never been to a single race. I've always watched it on BBC / ITV / BBC and last year as the coverage is now so poor on the BBC I changed to SSF1. Having been to a few BSB and BTCC events and also LeMans, I just didn't see enough of the racing, which is what I went there for. The car parks are usually horrific (unless I'm on the bike) and you only see a small part of the track at a time, no close up pit stops, no intercom chat to listen to what's going on, no track battles that last for more than the corner you're standing by etc. Unfortunately I missed so much by actually being there, I didn't even know who'd won! If you're a real F1 fan, other than the noise (which I've heard before) and speed (which I've seen before) I can't see the point in going? Maybe people go for the good food on offer? 
or the atmosphere?... but certainly not to see the race. I shall continue to fully support F1 from the comfort of my living room and big TV 
coppice said:
Lots of strongly held views on F1 here, as one would expect. Because few,if any, of us watch more than one race live- ie being there trackside- I 'd be interested to know how many contributors to this thread actually do watch live motorsport. It desparately needs more spectators - so where the hell is everyone? I attend about 20-30 events a year(Historic and club racing, F3 , GTs, rallying and drag racing ) and have done since I was a kid in the late 60s. I find most TV motorsport dull in the extreme- am I the only one who does ?
This. I went to to Silverstone in 2001 and was blown away by what I observed. I vowed never again to watch it on TV as it simply didn't do it justice, but I am a man of humble means and don't have the dosh to follow the circus across the globe. Last time I watched an F1 car pound round, I think Williams were doing some high speed testing at Kemble airfield. Since the debacle with the BBC and sky, I've found it fairly easy to distance myself from it. Since I started racing my quad I've always found specating alot harder, as I'd much rather be taking part. However, I'm keen to get my boys involved in any form of motorsport and as I result I think you need to blow their tiny minds by going to see the spectacle. So far, as twin 5 year old boys, they've been to quite a few local motocross races, and even been out on a couple of tracks, they've been to arenacross (which even I was impressed with) and a local rally featuring a couple of decent ex wrc cars. The plan (despite living in cornwall) is to try and get them to as much as possible every couple of months. And I quite like watching without wondering if my own equipment is about to expire. So there you go, I don't like what sky/the beeb have done to the coverage, and when you look at where Sky's horrific subscription fee can take you, it's a complete no brainer. Would you rather say that you were sat on the sofa scoffing nacho's, or in the grandstand cheering with others? Lifes to short. I'm glad someone raised the subject of physical spectating, as I need to plan our next event.
I quite fancy a visit to santa pod....
I was angry when the bbc and sky cooked up their deal against the standing agreement of the time that f1 would be free to air in major markets, however since I have sky hd anyway I enjoyed the coverage last year and I will be watching this year.
I think its better without dc to be honest. The sky pad bit with the token totty is a bit lame but the qual and race coverage is fine and all in hd too
I think its better without dc to be honest. The sky pad bit with the token totty is a bit lame but the qual and race coverage is fine and all in hd too
Cobnapint said:
coppice said:
Lots of strongly held views on F1 here, as one would expect. Because few,if any, of us watch more than one race live- ie being there trackside- I 'd be interested to know how many contributors to this thread actually do watch live motorsport. It desparately needs more spectators - so where the hell is everyone? I attend about 20-30 events a year(Historic and club racing, F3 , GTs, rallying and drag racing ) and have done since I was a kid in the late 60s. I find most TV motorsport dull in the extreme- am I the only one who does ?
I went to the last turbo F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1988 and watched the likes of Senna, Berger and Mansell fight it out in the pissing rain. I'm glad I went just to say I'd been, but as far as being an exciting spectacle goes - well, I came away (3 hours after escaping the car park) with the distinct impression that you'd be better off watching it on TV if you wanted to get any idea of what was going on in the actual 'race'.Don't get me wrong, nothing can replace the spine chilling and deafening experience of witnessing a modern F1 car go through somewhere like Bridge at full chelp (as we used to be able to see during mid-season testing before they abolished it), but the actual 'racing' seems so sterile now. It was coming to something many seasons ago when the most interesting part of every Grand Prix was Brundle's grid walk, and the exchange of banter between Jake and the guys.
Race after race we see drivers being investigated by the stewards for the slightest of collisions, or the fact that they swerved a bit too much trying to protect their position from what would have otherwise been a gutsy edge of the seat overtaking manoeuvre.
And then there's DRS, the most artificial of artificial excitement creators in the whole world of sport. Lets give the bloke just behind a distinct advantage over the guy just in front - I wonder what could possibly happen here. My goodness, he's a racing champ through and through - did you see that overtake - how did he do that, thats amazing. I wonder what will happen on the next lap - oh look, now the other bloke's a racing god. This is fantastic! No - 'fake' is the word you are looking for.
Excitement? Go and sit on any corner and watch Moto GP, the Goodwood Revival, Formula Ford or BTCC. You'll wonder why you ever bothered with Formula mogadon.
Edited by Cobnapint on Saturday 16th March 09:21
Think about it - DRS just removes the disadvantage of the following car created by the mess of flilthy air that shoots out of the back of an F1 car. There isn't much "natural" about being a faster driver in a better car and then being stuck for 30 laps because of aero - DRS is just a pragmatic response to remove that artificially created disadvantage. I haven't seen DRS make slower drivers beat faster drivers, but i've seen it prevent faster drivers being stuck behind slower drivers. As it should be.
I'm on the sofa now watching Sky's quali coverage and i'll say again that those above that say their coverage is dumbed down and "terrible" are completely and utterly wrong. Crofty, Kravitz, Brundle, Davidson - all absolutely superb. And Damon and Jonny aren't Eddie and Colthard, but that by itself does not justify some of the nonsense written here.
ZX10Ben said:
coppice said:
Lots of strongly held views on F1 here, as one would expect. Because few,if any, of us watch more than one race live- ie being there trackside- I 'd be interested to know how many contributors to this thread actually do watch live motorsport. It desparately needs more spectators - so where the hell is everyone? I attend about 20-30 events a year(Historic and club racing, F3 , GTs, rallying and drag racing ) and have done since I was a kid in the late 60s. I find most TV motorsport dull in the extreme- am I the only one who does ?
Absolutely love F1 and the constantly evolving technology it uses. I think the innovations the teams always come up with to "flex" the rules as much as possible are fantastic and find it interesting that all the teams have their own interpretation of how to build the fastest car within the guidelines of the rules. I've been a massive F1 fan for a long time now, but I've never been to a single race. I've always watched it on BBC / ITV / BBC and last year as the coverage is now so poor on the BBC I changed to SSF1. Having been to a few BSB and BTCC events and also LeMans, I just didn't see enough of the racing, which is what I went there for. The car parks are usually horrific (unless I'm on the bike) and you only see a small part of the track at a time, no close up pit stops, no intercom chat to listen to what's going on, no track battles that last for more than the corner you're standing by etc. Unfortunately I missed so much by actually being there, I didn't even know who'd won! If you're a real F1 fan, other than the noise (which I've heard before) and speed (which I've seen before) I can't see the point in going? Maybe people go for the good food on offer? or the atmosphere?... but certainly not to see the race. I shall continue to fully support F1 from the comfort of my living room and big TV For F1, ashamed to say i've only ever gone corporate with the booze, food, little TVs, etc. and that is a great day out, as you would expect. But would i pack into a grandstand for F1 without an idea who is winning, and seeing only one section of the track? Don't think i would - the noise is great,but agree you just don't see as much of the racing.
Watching TV motorsport is like watching Masterchef instead of eating out in my book ..it's watching telly , end of. I get lots more info on TV about pit stop times etc but what I need is the raw physical spectacle of seeing a racing car compete with another, hearing it , seeing it and smelling it. And if you know how to watch , and where, you will learn far more live than watching a 2D image and having the director decide what you watch .
coppice said:
Agree totally; I am just sad that so many people now seem to think that motorsport is F1 full stop and that actually going and watching it live is a bit geeky. As opposed to sitting on a DFS sofa mucnhing Doritos and boring the other half on why Maldonado should be penalised...
Sadly, so is the general media coverage of Motorsport; basically F1 to the exclusion of everything else. 
marshall100 said:
coppice said:
Lots of strongly held views on F1 here, as one would expect. Because few,if any, of us watch more than one race live- ie being there trackside- I 'd be interested to know how many contributors to this thread actually do watch live motorsport. It desparately needs more spectators - so where the hell is everyone? I attend about 20-30 events a year(Historic and club racing, F3 , GTs, rallying and drag racing ) and have done since I was a kid in the late 60s. I find most TV motorsport dull in the extreme- am I the only one who does ?
This. I went to to Silverstone in 2001 and was blown away by what I observed. I vowed never again to watch it on TV as it simply didn't do it justice, but I am a man of humble means and don't have the dosh to follow the circus across the globe. Last time I watched an F1 car pound round, I think Williams were doing some high speed testing at Kemble airfield. Since the debacle with the BBC and sky, I've found it fairly easy to distance myself from it. Since I started racing my quad I've always found specating alot harder, as I'd much rather be taking part. However, I'm keen to get my boys involved in any form of motorsport and as I result I think you need to blow their tiny minds by going to see the spectacle. So far, as twin 5 year old boys, they've been to quite a few local motocross races, and even been out on a couple of tracks, they've been to arenacross (which even I was impressed with) and a local rally featuring a couple of decent ex wrc cars. The plan (despite living in cornwall) is to try and get them to as much as possible every couple of months. And I quite like watching without wondering if my own equipment is about to expire. So there you go, I don't like what sky/the beeb have done to the coverage, and when you look at where Sky's horrific subscription fee can take you, it's a complete no brainer. Would you rather say that you were sat on the sofa scoffing nacho's, or in the grandstand cheering with others? Lifes to short. I'm glad someone raised the subject of physical spectating, as I need to plan our next event.
I quite fancy a visit to santa pod....
droschke7 said:
how on earth did the BBC not take Monaco, undoubtable the most exciting and best race in F1,
I know a fire rain of hate will come down on me.Monaco is s
t !! Thats right I said it's st....I wouldn't miss it if they dropped it.
The cars are far better than that track can offer,and it shows.
Dear oh dear what a construct......free to air where can one get such a service not from any TV company it always comes at a cost, the BBC licence is £145 per year nothing free here, and you pay for this TV licence even if you subscribe to other services. call me cynical but I suspect once the majority of the UK has broadband this TV licence will switch to a media licence (this I suspect is why the government is keen to get it rolled out)
Then we have the fabulous notion of a free market and what 'competition' can bring....yea right. if you want sky sports its £252 per year
so in the bad old days of four TV channels we had the F1 'free' now we have the luxury to pay Sky every one is a winner except the poor old punter.
I am happy to decline the sky offer, i do not wish to make multi-millionairs even richer on the back of what was a public broadcasting service, if you choose to pay Sky etc etc I have no issue with that but for many of us its a step too far.
As for F1 its just a rich boys game playing with High tech toys. club racing is far more entertaining.
No flaming please its just a perspective :-)
Then we have the fabulous notion of a free market and what 'competition' can bring....yea right. if you want sky sports its £252 per year
so in the bad old days of four TV channels we had the F1 'free' now we have the luxury to pay Sky every one is a winner except the poor old punter.
I am happy to decline the sky offer, i do not wish to make multi-millionairs even richer on the back of what was a public broadcasting service, if you choose to pay Sky etc etc I have no issue with that but for many of us its a step too far.
As for F1 its just a rich boys game playing with High tech toys. club racing is far more entertaining.
No flaming please its just a perspective :-)
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff