What happened to F1?
Discussion
Just watched "Rush" again as you do on a Sunday and it reminds me of when I really enjoyed F1. In the 70s and early 80s the drivers were mental and the cars seemed dangerous. Haven't watched the sport for years, at what point did it become boring and corporate?
Apologies to any modern F1 fans....but it's not as cool as it used to be.
Apologies to any modern F1 fans....but it's not as cool as it used to be.
wormus said:
Haven't watched the sport for years, at what point did it become boring and corporate?
Corporate, I'd say from the 90es. Boring when they started to totally over regulate it, so a bit later. It has gotten a lot safer though, which is a good thing IMO.If you have a minute on a Sunday, tune in though. You might be surprised, this season is not that bad IMO. I wish they could get rid of the stupid DRS stuff, artificially bad tyres and tight technical regs. But despite this, there is a nice fight for the title, a variety of teams capable of scoring points, talented (and not so) drivers, and a qualifying format works fairly well.
And Williams are back. Gotta love that
.It's no longer about who can get from start to finish the quickest, it's who can get from start to finish with limited power, brakes, tyres, fuel, and batteries the least slowest.
Cars now often have to 'lift off and coast' to save fuel. No F1 car should ever have to coast for goodness sake ....
Cars now often have to 'lift off and coast' to save fuel. No F1 car should ever have to coast for goodness sake ....
PurpleMoonlight said:
It's no longer about who can get from start to finish the quickest, it's who can get from start to finish with limited power, brakes, tyres, fuel, and batteries the least slowest.
Cars now often have to 'lift off and coast' to save fuel. No F1 car should ever have to coast for goodness sake ....
Blame the team's strategy decisions for that. Cars now often have to 'lift off and coast' to save fuel. No F1 car should ever have to coast for goodness sake ....
Personally I find this year has been very entertaining and I guess DRS, limited life tyres and fuel regulations have much to do with that.
However we still have total dominance from a single, albeit different team.
I still watch F1 but its less about actual racing and more strategy and technology, interesting in its own way. Although every now and then it throws up a good race.
If I want to watch wheel to wheel racing though I try and find some Aussie v8 super cars on youtube or similar, best racing going I reckon and I'm sure theres a rule now that they have a minimum amount of fuel they have to put in the car over a race......
If I want to watch wheel to wheel racing though I try and find some Aussie v8 super cars on youtube or similar, best racing going I reckon and I'm sure theres a rule now that they have a minimum amount of fuel they have to put in the car over a race......
PurpleMoonlight said:
It's no longer about who can get from start to finish the quickest, it's who can get from start to finish with limited power, brakes, tyres, fuel, and batteries the least slowest.
Cars now often have to 'lift off and coast' to save fuel. No F1 car should ever have to coast for goodness sake ....
Gotta love the old days when the tyres and brakes lasted forever, fuel tanks went on forever and the cars never had to be looked after because the engine and transmission were bulletproof. Cars now often have to 'lift off and coast' to save fuel. No F1 car should ever have to coast for goodness sake ....
Before my time, but I do like the cigar-shaped cars. The end of what I see as the good looking cars was the early- to mid-90s when the nose cone 'separated' from the front wing (started by Benetton, IIRC). That car itself still looked OK, but it was the start of the evolution path we see now, and I'm not a fan.
F1 has always been about strategy, like any race that lasts longer than 20 minutes is.
The last few years have given some of the greatest racing in a long time, and this season even more so. Before criticising it might be worth actually watching it and having a clue what some of you are actually taking about.
The last few years have given some of the greatest racing in a long time, and this season even more so. Before criticising it might be worth actually watching it and having a clue what some of you are actually taking about.
I've just scanned a couple of wiki articles, and I think Flavio Briatore has an interesting take on matters:
Briatore has always spoken out about his desires to see F1 provide better entertainment. In 1994 he said: "All the team owners are orientated towards the technical side rather than the entertainment side, and this is a big fault. Every meeting that I go to, people are talking about pistons and suspensions. Nobody goes to a race to see that kind of thing… People come to see Schumacher and Senna racing each other."[16]
Twelve years later his feelings were much the same: "The people in charge should be businessmen, as they are in Hollywood, not ex-engineers. Nothing costs more, and delivers less entertainment, than hidden technology. And that’s what engineers love most of all."[38]
...
On 20 March 2014 he said it was wrong to let the car manufacturers succeed in their push for the all-new regulations, featuring 'greener' engines that use less fuel. "They delegated the writing of rules to engineers who do not care about the fans or entertainment, If Formula One does not change again in the near future, then the audience will be lost. Look at the comments on the internet, in blogs, on Twitter -- they did not like the Australian Grand Prix. It was an indecipherable and depressing show. This is unacceptable and now we have chaos" said Briatore. [40]
On 12 June 2014 he said: "I do not like this new Formula One. It's not our Formula 1." "He pointed a finger at cars that "do not make a noise", drivers having to "save fuel" and "fake overtaking". He added: "It is no longer a sport of gladiators, it is a sport of accountants." [41]
Briatore has always spoken out about his desires to see F1 provide better entertainment. In 1994 he said: "All the team owners are orientated towards the technical side rather than the entertainment side, and this is a big fault. Every meeting that I go to, people are talking about pistons and suspensions. Nobody goes to a race to see that kind of thing… People come to see Schumacher and Senna racing each other."[16]
Twelve years later his feelings were much the same: "The people in charge should be businessmen, as they are in Hollywood, not ex-engineers. Nothing costs more, and delivers less entertainment, than hidden technology. And that’s what engineers love most of all."[38]
...
On 20 March 2014 he said it was wrong to let the car manufacturers succeed in their push for the all-new regulations, featuring 'greener' engines that use less fuel. "They delegated the writing of rules to engineers who do not care about the fans or entertainment, If Formula One does not change again in the near future, then the audience will be lost. Look at the comments on the internet, in blogs, on Twitter -- they did not like the Australian Grand Prix. It was an indecipherable and depressing show. This is unacceptable and now we have chaos" said Briatore. [40]
On 12 June 2014 he said: "I do not like this new Formula One. It's not our Formula 1." "He pointed a finger at cars that "do not make a noise", drivers having to "save fuel" and "fake overtaking". He added: "It is no longer a sport of gladiators, it is a sport of accountants." [41]
I don't really care too much for what Flavio has to say. Today's race had a decent amount of wheel to wheel racing and non DRS passing. Noise arguably is a factor. They need to take a leaf out of Indycar and GP2 books, both great series.
For some reason standing restarts and sparks are the solution.
The first thing they need to do is nothing to do with the cars though, they need to make it cheaper and more accessible for the fans.
This season has been fine mostly. Good battles today, an epic battle between Alonso and Vettel last time (ruined by whining) and the Canadian GP was just mad.
For some reason standing restarts and sparks are the solution.
The first thing they need to do is nothing to do with the cars though, they need to make it cheaper and more accessible for the fans.
This season has been fine mostly. Good battles today, an epic battle between Alonso and Vettel last time (ruined by whining) and the Canadian GP was just mad.
Edited by CharlesAL on Sunday 20th July 19:40
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