Has F1 reached a new low?

[iandc]

With the farce of yesterday's practice in Russia it got me thinking. Has F1 ever been so bad? With the confusion over engines for Red Bull, Silverstone complaints, more penalties than points and a pretty inevitable DWC and MWC plus numerous other negatives like Lotus and other "poorer" teams futures uncertain, is it too late to save the sport we all love?

[ukaskew]

Not to mention we're at a nondescript track with no atmosphere or character whatsoever. But, good news, we're off to Azerbaijan next year!

[rallycross]

ukaskew said:

Not to mention we're at a nondescript track with no atmosphere or character whatsoever. But, good news, we're off to Azerbaijan next year!

Agreed this track is awful can't imagine why the bbc are giving this one full,coverage it's dull bland grey charmless and there is hardly anyone turning up to watch. Also this type of circuit with high speed straights and fence all the way round the circuit has the potential for horrible accidents - was this the best they could do?

[naboo]

Maybe the Beeb's ailing budget has something to do with this? I can't believe the cost of covering Monaco or Monza live is the same as covering this barren stretch of tarmac.

[dr_gn]

Difficult to think how it could get much worse, then again now it's controlled by the engine manufacturers it could easily sink to even lower levels. Hopefully it will die a natural death and get reborn as something people actually want to watch again.

Formula One slammed as ‘not saleable’ and a 's*** product' by Silverstone boss Patrick Allen:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing/fo...

[RUNAMOK]

Friend of mine works in F1 and had zero enthusiasm for going off to Sochi the other day, nothing good to say about it. I love cars and motor racing of all kinds. Had some spare time this morning and the F1 was on, yet I had no interest in watching so didn't bother - I should want to but just don't. Not sure where it will end but whoring it out to places like Sochi for every reason other than to make good racing is depressing. How long will it continue to dine out on the fact it is 'F1'?

[naboo]

I can't wait for Azerbaijan...

[NewMetalSystem]

naboo said:

I can't wait for Azerbaijan...

It'll probably be more memorable than Russia, Korea, India, Turkey, etc.

[glazbagun]

I thought the nadir were the Schumi years of domination with Ferrari, with team orders making it even worse. Companies going bust & falling from grace is and always has been par for the course.

https://youtu.be/-u7EEdscVJI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfHTsaP4hQg

Edited by glazbagun on Saturday 10th October 15:41

[anonymous-user]

NewMetalSystem said:

naboo said:

I can't wait for Azerbaijan...

It'll probably be more memorable than Russia, Korea, India, Turkey, etc.

I wouldn't bet on it.

[sirtyro]

NewMetalSystem said:

naboo said:

I can't wait for Azerbaijan...

It'll probably be more memorable than Russia, Korea, India, Turkey, etc.

Can we add Valencia to that list?!

Street circuits in general just don't seem to have the same appeal or atmosphere as a proper old school race track. Singapore is not so bad but to be honest I don't think it's a good layout, just being a night race makes it more interesting.

[NewMetalSystem]

glazbagun said:

I thought the nadir were the Schumi years of domination with Ferrari, with team orders making it even worse. Companies going bust & falling from grace is and always has been par for the course.

https://youtu.be/-u7EEdscVJI

Yeah, I certainly don't think we're any worse off than 2001-04. Remember the days of the season ending in July? At least we have two Mercedes drivers able to fight for the title (even if one isn't doing a very good job of it)

We also have more private entrants now, which adds to the sport. It's not so long ago that we had works teams from Ferrari, BMW, Renault, Toyota and Honda (and you could make a point for including McMerc in that list).

[NewMetalSystem]

sirtyro said:

NewMetalSystem said:

naboo said:

I can't wait for Azerbaijan...

It'll probably be more memorable than Russia, Korea, India, Turkey, etc.

Can we add Valencia to that list?!

Street circuits in general just don't seem to have the same appeal or atmosphere as a proper old school race track. Singapore is not so bad but to be honest I don't think it's a good layout, just being a night race makes it more interesting.

Agreed, but I'd say that street circuits still have more character than the other new ones we've come to expect (Valencia maybe being a bad example, and Sochi if we're going to count that as a street circuit). The new tracks built on flat land in the middle of nowhere always look a little depressing.

I had kinda hoped that Baku would be a little bit like Macau, especially when I saw the track layout, but I doubt Tilke would provide us with something that exciting.

[danllama]

I was actually thinking this last weekend. What an achingly dull track. All of the brilliant tracks in the world and they go to Sochi. Pathetic.

[naboo]

At least the sun was shining at Valencia... there's more atmosphere on the moon than in Sochi, looks a depressing place.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

naboo said:

At least the sun was shining at Valencia... there's more atmosphere on the moon than in Sochi, looks a depressing place.

I really miss Valencia. Stay in the city, walk to the track, sit in the sun & have a few beers. In the meantime some noisy cars are whizzing past in the background!

[SPS]

Saw the F1 rewind program this morning and it makes you realize how far F1 has plummeted in just 10 years!!!!
Really enjoyed watching the last of the real drivers actually racing each other - proper racing tbh.
The reality is that they could let the cars run a "race" without actually having any drivers on board.
I started to watch this morning as both my wife and I do like Motorsport. She watched for about 20 mins and said that F1 was like watching paint dry and could we watch last weeks Super Bike racing that we had recorded instead, so we did all 3 hours of it - now she said that is proper racing!

Edited by SPS on Sunday 11th October 11:59

[danllama]

SPS said:

Saw the F1 rewind program this morning and it makes you realize who far F1 has plummeted in just 10 years!!!!
Really enjoyed watching the last of the real drivers actually racing each other - proper racing tbh.
The reality is that they could let the cars run a "race" without actually having any drivers on board.
I started to watch this morning as both my wife and I do like Motorsport. She watched for about 20 mins and said that F1 was like watching paint dry and could we watch last weeks Super Bike racing that we had recorded instead, so we did all 3 hours of it - now she said that is proper racing!

Do you watch BTCC? If not, try that.

[suffolk009]

rallycross said:

ukaskew said:

Not to mention we're at a nondescript track with no atmosphere or character whatsoever. But, good news, we're off to Azerbaijan next year!

Agreed this track is awful can't imagine why the bbc are giving this one full,coverage it's dull bland grey charmless and there is hardly anyone turning up to watch. Also this type of circuit with high speed straights and fence all the way round the circuit has the potential for horrible accidents - was this the best they could do?

I heard somewhere that they have to take every third or fourth race. There's a formula involved.

But mainly, I think they have to take what they're given.

[suffolk009]

Didn't Ted say in the opening of his notebook, that most of the buildings look like office blocks in Swindon.