What happened to F1?
Discussion
JonRB said:
CharlesAL said:
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.
Which years were those? I've been following F1 since 1988 and I can't recall *any* season where that was true. 
Fire99 said:
F1 has become the David Copperfield of motor sport. All about promoting an illusion of something that isn't really all that in reality.
F1 has been this way for a long time. Sponsorship first, winning second - it's just a fact of life in an industry that relies on commercial finance (rather than playboy spending).Good point about the eco-b
ks! The cars would be simpler (and therefore cheaper) without the hybrid nonsense and the fuel saving regs. For eco-believers, the improved economy of the cars must be irrelevant compared to the excesses of the travelling circus. The ultimate economy car should be a different competition, not Formula 1. And we wouldn't have to listen to Vettel (for example) being told not to race 'cos he needs to ave fuel!
ks! The cars would be simpler (and therefore cheaper) without the hybrid nonsense and the fuel saving regs. For eco-believers, the improved economy of the cars must be irrelevant compared to the excesses of the travelling circus. The ultimate economy car should be a different competition, not Formula 1. And we wouldn't have to listen to Vettel (for example) being told not to race 'cos he needs to ave fuel!All major sports suffer from 'history viewed through rose-tinted spectacles' syndrome amongst long-term followers.
I'm 47 and have been following F1 since I was 12. In that time, I have watched all but 8 races live on telly and attended many as a spectator. Let me tell those of a younger age (and I don't wish to be patronising here), there have been very long periods of time when the racing was exceptionally dull. There were many races where no overtaking took place on the track, 10 seconds covered the grid and races were won by a whole lap or more between first and second.
The first ever F1 race was won an Alfa that lapped the entire field three times.
There has never been a time in the sports history where the driver has not had to conserve fuel, tyres, engine or whatever.
One might levy the suggestion that there is too much artificiality in the sport at present but how do you define this? Was ground effect and artificial means to increase the cars' speed? or turbos? or the introduction of slick tyres, wings....? The only pure form or motorsport is go-karts. As soon as you move away from the purity of chassis, engine and driver, everything changes.
Looking at the current pot of goodies such as DRS, they may stand accused of contriving excitement but what they haven't done is contrive results. If we ended up having Caterhams and Marussias winning races, one could say 'hang on a minuite...!"
In the past there have been dull races and edge-of-the-seat races. As there will in the future.
I'm 47 and have been following F1 since I was 12. In that time, I have watched all but 8 races live on telly and attended many as a spectator. Let me tell those of a younger age (and I don't wish to be patronising here), there have been very long periods of time when the racing was exceptionally dull. There were many races where no overtaking took place on the track, 10 seconds covered the grid and races were won by a whole lap or more between first and second.
The first ever F1 race was won an Alfa that lapped the entire field three times.
There has never been a time in the sports history where the driver has not had to conserve fuel, tyres, engine or whatever.
One might levy the suggestion that there is too much artificiality in the sport at present but how do you define this? Was ground effect and artificial means to increase the cars' speed? or turbos? or the introduction of slick tyres, wings....? The only pure form or motorsport is go-karts. As soon as you move away from the purity of chassis, engine and driver, everything changes.
Looking at the current pot of goodies such as DRS, they may stand accused of contriving excitement but what they haven't done is contrive results. If we ended up having Caterhams and Marussias winning races, one could say 'hang on a minuite...!"
In the past there have been dull races and edge-of-the-seat races. As there will in the future.
StevieBee said:
sensible stuff
Agree completely. F1 fans probably wear the rosiest tinted glasses of all.
For me, F1’s absolute nadir in terms of entertainment was the Ferrari / Schumacher era of total dominance in the early 2000s. Remember when we used to watch an empty track for the first 45 minutes of qualifying? Now that really was tedious. Today’s racing is spectacular in comparison.
Another sport which suffers badly from ‘rose tinted glasses syndrome’ is cricket. Back in the 1930s /1950s / 1980s (delete as applicable) the quicks bowled at 120 mph, the ball turned square on uncovered pitches, batsmen never played bad shots, everyone walked, etc etc.
Football, interestingly, doesn’t seem to suffer from this. Most fans seem to agree that the modern game is faster, today’s pitches are far better and modern players are much, much fitter than in any previous era.
Bradgate said:
For me, F1’s absolute nadir in terms of entertainment was the Ferrari / Schumacher era of total dominance in the early 2000s. Remember when we used to watch an empty track for the first 45 minutes of qualifying? Now that really was tedious. Today’s racing is spectacular in comparison.
Let's not forget the infamous 2005 race at Indianapolis - a hopeless circuit for F1 at the best of times - where only 6 cars started! IIRC Bernie ended up paying compensation to ticket holders.Mind you, when F1 2014 restarts at the end of August they might as well just have 10 cars on the grid and tell the rest to stay home. Even then, 8 of them will just be racing for third.
scarble said:
I admit I only caught the highlights, I guess there were slow parts to it, but there were tense moments all over, seems there was a lot of potential for cars to fall off at any moment, looked like the drivers were all properly on edge for the whole race.
Interesting blog post from Will Buxton : http://willthef1journo.wordpress.com/2014/07/28/ne...
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