I would love to say I feel the same about F1 as I did when I was a kid. I got into it when Andretti won the championship and they were running at Long Beach ( I lived Long Beach adjacent and when the wind was blowing in the right direction you could hear the cars...from about 10 miles away).
What I forget about those days was that there were a few good cars/drivers but the majority of the field sucked. Anyone remember Hector Rebaque and his re-branded Lotus 79? How about the Shadows, Wolf and ATS teams? At the time I started watching I got to see Williams go from a small team to one of the most successful teams in F1 history. I watched teams such as Brabham and Ligier fall from prominence and then ultimately fail. I saw ground effects allow cars to go through the Queens Hairpin at unheard of speeds and watch the banning of those effects slow the cars down.
How about Renault bringing turbo's into F1 and making themselves the laughing stock of F1 because they were quick but would break if someone sneezed in their direction. Until this little guy named Prost nearly beat Alan Jones at Vegas. Derek Daly in an Ensign (another team that bought old Lotuses). Who knew that clothes designer that sponsored Tyrell would end up taking over the crappy Toleman team, developing a young German driver and owning the sport a decade later? Toleman? A Champion team?
Remember the speed, the smell, the absolute scream of the Cosworth's, Ferrari's and Alfa's? The drivers who would drink and party all night and then jump into a car and careen through a rough street circuit at insane speeds for a few hours on Sunday?
That was my introduction to F1.
Years later it seems that F1 is sterile and lacking the characters of my youth. Very few of the drivers participate in other forms of racing unless they retire from F1 or are let go. When was the last time a current F1 raced at Indy before Alonso? Andretti used to do it all the time.
But I also realize a few things:
Back then Indy was nearly as popular as F1 and many top drivers were in that series. The cars were, while not equal, more equal than they are today. Indy is catching up but they have a ways to go.
We still have those crappy little shoe-string teams like Rebaque's, ATS, Toleman, they just have better branding. Anyone give Alfa a chance to win this year? The dominant teams of my time are either on the ropes (Williams) or relegated to mid-field status (McLaren, my favorite team since Watson did his little twist going through the chicane on Pine at Long Beach). Merc was not even providing engines when I was younger, now they own the sport.
It became somewhat sterile and boring to me.
Then...
The power unit used today, while not a screamer, has it's own unique sound that I am liking more and more.
Yeah, Merc has dominated lately but look at Ferrari with Schumacher, RBR with Vettel, etc...There will always be a dominant team. Always has been. Yet, I do not remember a small team taking control like Brawn did with Button. I know it happened but that was before my time.
Today my team is on the up-slope. We have had the honor(?) of watching one of history's greatest F1 drivers do his work. We now have drivers like Verstappen, Norris, Sainz that offer us hope for our teams. Verstappen is a demon who if he can reign in some of his energy can rule the sport. Norris, in the past two races, has shown what he can do and Sainz was not given the Ferrari ride because they think he is sexy. Hell, LeClerc could own the sport like Hamilton if Ferrari can pull their heads out of their backside ( Which as one who has never been a fan of anything Ferrari I hope they do not and LeClerc goes to McLaren!).
TLDR: Different tech but same story. I am just old and think my time was better.
Though...those Tilkedromes must go. Now! Bring back the real Hockenheim!
What I forget about those days was that there were a few good cars/drivers but the majority of the field sucked. Anyone remember Hector Rebaque and his re-branded Lotus 79? How about the Shadows, Wolf and ATS teams? At the time I started watching I got to see Williams go from a small team to one of the most successful teams in F1 history. I watched teams such as Brabham and Ligier fall from prominence and then ultimately fail. I saw ground effects allow cars to go through the Queens Hairpin at unheard of speeds and watch the banning of those effects slow the cars down.
How about Renault bringing turbo's into F1 and making themselves the laughing stock of F1 because they were quick but would break if someone sneezed in their direction. Until this little guy named Prost nearly beat Alan Jones at Vegas. Derek Daly in an Ensign (another team that bought old Lotuses). Who knew that clothes designer that sponsored Tyrell would end up taking over the crappy Toleman team, developing a young German driver and owning the sport a decade later? Toleman? A Champion team?
Remember the speed, the smell, the absolute scream of the Cosworth's, Ferrari's and Alfa's? The drivers who would drink and party all night and then jump into a car and careen through a rough street circuit at insane speeds for a few hours on Sunday?
That was my introduction to F1.
Years later it seems that F1 is sterile and lacking the characters of my youth. Very few of the drivers participate in other forms of racing unless they retire from F1 or are let go. When was the last time a current F1 raced at Indy before Alonso? Andretti used to do it all the time.
But I also realize a few things:
Back then Indy was nearly as popular as F1 and many top drivers were in that series. The cars were, while not equal, more equal than they are today. Indy is catching up but they have a ways to go.
We still have those crappy little shoe-string teams like Rebaque's, ATS, Toleman, they just have better branding. Anyone give Alfa a chance to win this year? The dominant teams of my time are either on the ropes (Williams) or relegated to mid-field status (McLaren, my favorite team since Watson did his little twist going through the chicane on Pine at Long Beach). Merc was not even providing engines when I was younger, now they own the sport.
It became somewhat sterile and boring to me.
Then...
The power unit used today, while not a screamer, has it's own unique sound that I am liking more and more.
Yeah, Merc has dominated lately but look at Ferrari with Schumacher, RBR with Vettel, etc...There will always be a dominant team. Always has been. Yet, I do not remember a small team taking control like Brawn did with Button. I know it happened but that was before my time.
Today my team is on the up-slope. We have had the honor(?) of watching one of history's greatest F1 drivers do his work. We now have drivers like Verstappen, Norris, Sainz that offer us hope for our teams. Verstappen is a demon who if he can reign in some of his energy can rule the sport. Norris, in the past two races, has shown what he can do and Sainz was not given the Ferrari ride because they think he is sexy. Hell, LeClerc could own the sport like Hamilton if Ferrari can pull their heads out of their backside ( Which as one who has never been a fan of anything Ferrari I hope they do not and LeClerc goes to McLaren!).
TLDR: Different tech but same story. I am just old and think my time was better.
Though...those Tilkedromes must go. Now! Bring back the real Hockenheim!
