Discussion
I feel I’m approaching this point. I’ve followed F1 since the mid 90’s and attended a lot of races in the V10 era. My interest has gradually waned over the last 10 years or so. More recently though, it has rapidly nosedived.
I’ve never been partisan to a particular team or driver. I stood by the sport when Schumacher dominated and everyone was telling me it was boring.
I’ve never been partisan to a particular team or driver. I stood by the sport when Schumacher dominated and everyone was telling me it was boring.
Formula one in recent decades has generally been technically interesting but boring to watch.
Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes have taken the lions share of championships.
Seems a little odd that many tolerated Mercedes domination when the hybrid engine rules started but have lost patience when the caffeine laced drinks company have taken the last three years.
A few colleagues from Holland see things quite differently.
As we know F1 is a technically/engineering driven formula, the team that produces the very best car package and operates it well is almost invariably going to dominate until another team does better.
Doesn't make for great watching but occasionally you get a wow race.
Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes have taken the lions share of championships.
Seems a little odd that many tolerated Mercedes domination when the hybrid engine rules started but have lost patience when the caffeine laced drinks company have taken the last three years.
A few colleagues from Holland see things quite differently.
As we know F1 is a technically/engineering driven formula, the team that produces the very best car package and operates it well is almost invariably going to dominate until another team does better.
Doesn't make for great watching but occasionally you get a wow race.
Mad Maximus said:
It’s all abit s
t since end of 21 followed by total dominance of said team that benefited from catastrophe that was said year. It’s killed any passion I had. Let’s hope they don’t mess up moto gp and they stay away from btcc lol.
We've had periods of dominance before though. Things do change around, they always do.t since end of 21 followed by total dominance of said team that benefited from catastrophe that was said year. It’s killed any passion I had. Let’s hope they don’t mess up moto gp and they stay away from btcc lol. Been following since around 1963/64 (when it wasn't rarely on TV and got poor coverage in other media). My interest was based on reading books like Autocourse, The Cruel Sport and the movie "Grand Prix".
I find the current iteration of what is called F1 and rarely "Grand Prix Racing" less than inspiring. Sadly, I think it is on a downward slope - not so much becauseof anything it is doing that is inherently wrong, but because the world is changing and fascination with speed, power, noise, danger, bravery etc etc (all attributes associated with GP racing in earlier era) no longer holds much sway with the general public.
And the fact that modern GP racing doesn't possess much in the way of some of those attributes (particulartly the noise, danger and bravery bits) doesn't help.
I keep a watching brief on what is going on - but the fascination with it has faded dramatically.
Ironically, I can watch the older cars (pre mid 1990s) with unabated enthusiasm. Maybe that's an age thing.
I find the current iteration of what is called F1 and rarely "Grand Prix Racing" less than inspiring. Sadly, I think it is on a downward slope - not so much becauseof anything it is doing that is inherently wrong, but because the world is changing and fascination with speed, power, noise, danger, bravery etc etc (all attributes associated with GP racing in earlier era) no longer holds much sway with the general public.
And the fact that modern GP racing doesn't possess much in the way of some of those attributes (particulartly the noise, danger and bravery bits) doesn't help.
I keep a watching brief on what is going on - but the fascination with it has faded dramatically.
Ironically, I can watch the older cars (pre mid 1990s) with unabated enthusiasm. Maybe that's an age thing.
I don't think it pays to view historic F1 through rose tinted glasses. You only tend to remember what's memorable, so you forget how boring it could be in the past too. I recall being bored rigid on many occaisons watching Senna run away unchallenged with races that I wanted Mansell to win. Equally, occasional recent races have been quite good and the 2021 Hamilton/Verstappen ding-dong made for a very entertaining season.
That said, I do think it's gone downhill generally. The biggest issues for me are the utterly dreary exhaust note from the hybrid era cars and the purpose built modern circuits which are so wide, and with such huge run-off areas, that there's no sensation of speed at all. The increasing number of street circuits with little or no run-off do add to the visual drama so not all is lost.
That said, I do think it's gone downhill generally. The biggest issues for me are the utterly dreary exhaust note from the hybrid era cars and the purpose built modern circuits which are so wide, and with such huge run-off areas, that there's no sensation of speed at all. The increasing number of street circuits with little or no run-off do add to the visual drama so not all is lost.
Sadly, F1 has gone from one period of domination to another in the 21st century. Maybe this is one too far.
We had Mercedes before now, Red Bull prior to that, Ferrari prior to that.
It seems that just as the rules make the teams converge and things get exciting, they change the rules again and one team dominates.
How many good, exciting seasons have we had in the 2000s?
I'd only pick out
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2021 (save for the last race)
This is not a Red Bull/Mercedes thing. F1 is in danger of being what WRC was from 2004 onwards - domination to the point of boredom, meaning people switch off. If people switch off, manufacturers aren't interested and pull out.
We had Mercedes before now, Red Bull prior to that, Ferrari prior to that.
It seems that just as the rules make the teams converge and things get exciting, they change the rules again and one team dominates.
How many good, exciting seasons have we had in the 2000s?
I'd only pick out
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2021 (save for the last race)
This is not a Red Bull/Mercedes thing. F1 is in danger of being what WRC was from 2004 onwards - domination to the point of boredom, meaning people switch off. If people switch off, manufacturers aren't interested and pull out.
similar here.
I have watched 99% of GP's from early 86 until Oz 2024. Last 15 years or so, my GP viewing consisted of, having an early lunch, watching the build up,, watching the start and then going for a snooze from about lap 10 to 25 or so. Then waking up and realising that the order hadn't changed.
Then the snoozes got longer, and I started having lunch at a normal time and watch the race as live but with a 30 min delay - this helps with safety car stoppages.
The cost of Sky was not worth it, even though I had a legacy £10 pm F1 deal, so I binned it off about a month ago. I don't miss it yet ( although we're not in the European season yet), but I tried to watch the C4 coverage of Japan and lasted about 2 laps before I switch it off.
I've even binned off following the teams/drivers on twitter and faceache. It too over exposed and too many races, the mystery or romance has long gone.
It's currently at the worst its ever been for 'spectacle'. I can cope with bore fests, but not with hybrid as well and a stable driver line up with the same ones doing the winning.
It might be better next year with the changes at Ferrari, but I think Hamilton is going the Valentino Rossi way of leaving the sport. No more wins.
I have watched 99% of GP's from early 86 until Oz 2024. Last 15 years or so, my GP viewing consisted of, having an early lunch, watching the build up,, watching the start and then going for a snooze from about lap 10 to 25 or so. Then waking up and realising that the order hadn't changed.
Then the snoozes got longer, and I started having lunch at a normal time and watch the race as live but with a 30 min delay - this helps with safety car stoppages.
The cost of Sky was not worth it, even though I had a legacy £10 pm F1 deal, so I binned it off about a month ago. I don't miss it yet ( although we're not in the European season yet), but I tried to watch the C4 coverage of Japan and lasted about 2 laps before I switch it off.
I've even binned off following the teams/drivers on twitter and faceache. It too over exposed and too many races, the mystery or romance has long gone.
It's currently at the worst its ever been for 'spectacle'. I can cope with bore fests, but not with hybrid as well and a stable driver line up with the same ones doing the winning.
It might be better next year with the changes at Ferrari, but I think Hamilton is going the Valentino Rossi way of leaving the sport. No more wins.
Muzzer79 said:
Sadly, F1 has gone from one period of domination to another in the 21st century. Maybe this is one too far.
We had Mercedes before now, Red Bull prior to that, Ferrari prior to that.
It seems that just as the rules make the teams converge and things get exciting, they change the rules again and one team dominates.
How many good, exciting seasons have we had in the 2000s?
I'd only pick out
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2021 (save for the last race)
This is not a Red Bull/Mercedes thing. F1 is in danger of being what WRC was from 2004 onwards - domination to the point of boredom, meaning people switch off. If people switch off, manufacturers aren't interested and pull out.
I'd say 2012, 2014, 2016 were also fantastically interesting and exciting across the entire season (each went to the last race, although in the case of 2014 it was artificial but the peril therefore was real enough).We had Mercedes before now, Red Bull prior to that, Ferrari prior to that.
It seems that just as the rules make the teams converge and things get exciting, they change the rules again and one team dominates.
How many good, exciting seasons have we had in the 2000s?
I'd only pick out
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2021 (save for the last race)
This is not a Red Bull/Mercedes thing. F1 is in danger of being what WRC was from 2004 onwards - domination to the point of boredom, meaning people switch off. If people switch off, manufacturers aren't interested and pull out.
F1GTRUeno said:
The devil said:
So after watching F1 since about 1985 I’ve finally given up on it, it’s just net got any appeal any more
So you were fine with McLaren, Williams, Ferrari, Red Bull and then Mercedes dominating but now you've given up?The Mercedes era was too lengthy and, although peppered with a bit of variety (it wasn't all Hamilton) not exciting enough
The ground-effect era and cost cap was again supposed to converge the teams and create a close field. Instead, we have domination at a level not seen for 30 years.
So, to answer the question, I wasn't "fine" with McLaren, Williams, Ferrari et al dominating but my patience has now run out. I have better things to do than watch Verstappen get pole and win every week.
My routine is now to record qualifying and the race, look the result up on the news and if something interesting happens I'll watch it. If it's same-old-same-old I'll not bother.
I can't stand the hype of what is a boring season after another boring season, no one can speak their mind too much money at stake, the cars are too heavy, too wide and the engines dull to listen to, the night races aren't great visually watching a procession of cars driving around a wire and concreate encased track is not a feast for the eyes.
I will still watch as I've been watching for over 40 years, but it's too expensive and too complex, they need to be lighter, smaller and sound like an F1 car should, go on to YT and pick a race any race it was so much better back then it's refreshing to watch a race from the 2000-2010 era it just feels real compared to F1 now as it's covered in a plastic veneer these days.
However I will say the rest of the paddock need to pull their fingers out as RB are making them look incompetent.
Like Eric, I've followed F1 (and motor racing) since the mid-'60s so 60 years and it has also lost a lot of it's attraction for me. I still watch races but I don't get up at 4 am to watch the Australian GP nor would I stay in on a nice summer's Sunday because there's a race I put it down to i) there being so many races that one cannot arrange Sundays around F1 and ii) the current dominance of just one driver at in the fastest car.
And, before anyone recites the usual argument in defence of Red Bull; in Vettel's era he had real competition from Mark Webber, when Hamilton was winning in Mercedes he had serious competition from Rosberg and then Vettel at Ferrari. Having just one driver that can win removes any possibility of a battle at the front. Finally, in this thread people have asked what about Williams, McLaren etc. but don't forget that Mansell had Piquet to contend with, Senna and Prost etc. It was only Schumacher in the Ferrari era who had no competition from his team mate.
And, before anyone recites the usual argument in defence of Red Bull; in Vettel's era he had real competition from Mark Webber, when Hamilton was winning in Mercedes he had serious competition from Rosberg and then Vettel at Ferrari. Having just one driver that can win removes any possibility of a battle at the front. Finally, in this thread people have asked what about Williams, McLaren etc. but don't forget that Mansell had Piquet to contend with, Senna and Prost etc. It was only Schumacher in the Ferrari era who had no competition from his team mate.
From 1965 for me.
Had no TV in the 60's.
Caught as much as was rarely shown in the 70's. Was Autocar's Chief Photographer's daughter's boyfriend in the late 70's, so pitlane passes...Woo-hoo!!
80's and 90's was VHS scheduling, working my ass off and coming back to whatever was recorded.
Late 90's to 2010: running all over Asia: arranging for restaurants and bars to schedule F1. Sitting with old, goose-stepping, zieg-heiling Nazi Schumi supporters, pissed off football hooligans trying to change the channel, etc...
2010 - present: Crappy PH satellite TV and power cuts.
2021: MrsPA, who was always present at every race from 2004, completely u-turned on F1, switched off and has not looked at one race since.
I think the new rule change for 2026 might be enough for me. I am only watching highlights pretty much since 2021 anyway, and the new format and Newey's comments have given me no confidence in the "sport" being engaging tbh. We will see.
Had no TV in the 60's.
Caught as much as was rarely shown in the 70's. Was Autocar's Chief Photographer's daughter's boyfriend in the late 70's, so pitlane passes...Woo-hoo!!
80's and 90's was VHS scheduling, working my ass off and coming back to whatever was recorded.
Late 90's to 2010: running all over Asia: arranging for restaurants and bars to schedule F1. Sitting with old, goose-stepping, zieg-heiling Nazi Schumi supporters, pissed off football hooligans trying to change the channel, etc...
2010 - present: Crappy PH satellite TV and power cuts.
2021: MrsPA, who was always present at every race from 2004, completely u-turned on F1, switched off and has not looked at one race since.
I think the new rule change for 2026 might be enough for me. I am only watching highlights pretty much since 2021 anyway, and the new format and Newey's comments have given me no confidence in the "sport" being engaging tbh. We will see.
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