Do you like F1 - but don't (necessarily) like where it's going?

[Appie Kuipers]

Without competion it’s rubbish, Merc’s domination in all previus years made it boring, so let’s hope the battle this years goes on

 

[Turk]

Yes, there is too much aero work need for the cars, overall it has become to expensive. Tickets should be 15 bucks. Insane how much they want for a team's polo shirt where you can run around and promote the sponsors. Nuts.

I think the main reason for that is the target audience. F1 has been very mush focused at rich people. All the sponsors are expensive ones, or ones aimed at other businesses. It's all big money low volume, not really ideal for the masses.

It's going to be hard for F1 to appease the masses. If F1 is to remain an engineering competition then it's always going to be inherently unfair when it comes to the drivers competition. There's no way around that fact. Old heads in the F1 scene have always said F1 is about getting to the end as fast as possible, it's not about close racing with other cars and never has been.

The next problem is we just know too much, we can't undo fuel and tyre saving, it's always going to be a sensible strategy unless they take away those variables by making everyone use a fixed weight of fuel and one set of tyres that lasts the race. I don't think they'd be improvements.

I don't know how they can fix F1, I don't really think it's broken, it is what it's always been.

 

[Antony Snook]

I have not really enjoyed f1 as much as I once did since the vettel era, I fell away from it when Ferrari and Schuey dominated, Lewis and jenson bought me back a little as did Nando, but since the hybrid era I have lost massive interest.

Now other my attention goes to more deserving series that offer better racing, less pompous drivers and far, far less domination by one team and driver/rider.

In 20 or 30 years you will claim these are the glory days. When you look back it always seems better, when often it was not you are pointing your mind to something positive. And ignoring the Negative.

Back to handshifting
V10 ,12
Pitgirls!
More races on old school tracks

Edit: finaly more rock and roll we life in a toooo... clinical world everyone gets sick

1st of all the road car market are looking into small block engines. F1 would be developing technology for itself as the car company's will look into small engines and alternate fuels. So we have to go with the road car market.
Formula one cars are out growing tracks so they are becoming to fast for them. So the older circuits need to be altered and changed. Besides the V6 Turbo is faster than the big block cars and lighter. Better fuel efficiency. Any one will tell you the secret to a good handling car is a light small engine. Maybe we need to do away with energy recovery and all that. Maybe go highbrid A small 4 or 6 cylinder turbo and a electric motor. Eventually F1 will be Formula e. The future is scary to some but this will happen because the scientists involved in the teams will make it happen.

 

[muzikant]

In 20 or 30 years you will claim these are the glory days. When you look back it always seems better, when often it was not you are pointing your mind to something positive. And ignoring the Negative.

1st of all the road car market are looking into small block engines. F1 would be developing technology for itself as the car company's will look into small engines and alternate fuels. So we have to go with the road car market.
Formula one cars are out growing tracks so they are becoming to fast for them. So the older circuits need to be altered and changed. Besides the V6 Turbo is faster than the big block cars and lighter. Better fuel efficiency. Any one will tell you the secret to a good handling car is a light small engine. Maybe we need to do away with energy recovery and all that. Maybe go highbrid A small 4 or 6 cylinder turbo and a electric motor. Eventually F1 will be Formula e. The future is scary to some but this will happen because the scientists involved in the teams will make it happen.

I understand what you're saying. but too few fans will go to electronic car races. no fans, no hotels, no money... so I think combustion engines will always be there. only the technology will diminish. but maybe i'm wrong

 

[xnorb]

F1 has barely done anything for street car development, they have been developing for themselves since the beginning, so absolutely no reason to start with that now.
F1 is entertainment with loud and fast cars - don't give in to the illusion that we're developing for the future or that fans will accept Formula E as a 100% replacement. If that would be the case, we'd just ignore F1 and watch F-E, but who does that?

Fuel and tyre saving have always been part of racing - for decades there haven't been mandatory pitstops and i have seen my fair share of refueling-accidents to happily accept the vanishing of refueling.

Let's talk about dominance:
How many people here think that 1988 is the greatest F1 season ever?
The whole season was basically a McLaren solo-show.

It just depends which team and which driver you like.
We all loved the red-white McLaren and Senna, so it was a great season

 

[Gevatter]

How many people here think that 1988 is the greatest F1 season ever?
The whole season was basically a McLaren solo-show.

Contructor yes, driver, not really. There were several wins by Prost that season. That was also only one year, McLaren dominated less in 1989 and wins were mixed in 1990.

Mercedes has now been dominating basically since 2015 while already being very strong in 2014 with a more mixed season in 2017 & 2018 while still winning the construtors title ach year. That's not one season, thats seven seasons in a row.

 

[Goblin616]

I don't mind them going electric. Hopefully it will bring the weight down a bit. I just want the cars to be lighter and better looking again. The cars simpler (full electric w/o hybrid should reduce the complexity - and simpler steering wheels.) I wouldn't mind if they shortened races to make room for it - to 280km (like monaco) from 305 - (australia's albert park would lose only 5 laps for instance.)

Anyway, let's hope for the best. They're working on it, and if they make mistakes we should let them know. For instance, there's a certain race i'll be boycotting this year, and possibly future ones, depending on what they do.

 

[gecco]

Have to admit, I'm rather disappointed of what has become of F1 over the last two decades.

Today it's an elusive club of Millionaires sons, Billionaires sons, and former F1 drivers (also Millionaires) sons, one of which (Schumacher) is being caressed into a cockpit for the sole purpose of monetizing the last buck out of his name for the sake of the F1 brand. Team managers at the mercy of their billionaire owners, shareholders, and corporate image advisers. Uninspiring drivers, still in their puberty, and not looking like they will grow a beard anytime soon, at the mercy of their team managers, their teams strategies, their race engineers, and their public relations officers, hustling around ugly monstrosities of cars, that weigh in close to 800kg and look exactly alike, on Tilke circuits with flat nanny curbs and tarmac run off areas the size of football fields.

I never considered Formula 1 a sport, but back in the day it was one hell of a show at least.

Yeah, only the rant of an old man in a reminiscent mood of the past, I'll admit, but...
the OP has asked for it...I'll retreat back into my cave now

 

[Jim Layee]

Have to admit, I'm rather disappointed of what has become of F1 over the last two decades.

Today it's an elusive club of Millionaires sons, Billionaires sons, and former F1 drivers (also Millionaires) sons, one of which (Schumacher) is being caressed into a cockpit for the sole purpose of monetizing the last buck out of his name for the sake of the F1 brand. Team managers at the mercy of their billionaire owners, shareholders, and corporate image advisers. Uninspiring drivers, still in their puberty, and not looking like they will grow a beard anytime soon, at the mercy of their team managers, their teams strategies, their race engineers, and their public relations officers, hustling around ugly monstrosities of cars, that weigh in close to 800kg and look exactly alike, on Tilke circuits with flat nanny curbs and tarmac run off areas the size of football fields.

I never considered Formula 1 a sport, but back in the day it was one hell of a show at least.

Yeah, only the rant of an old man in a reminiscent mood of the past, I'll admit, but...
the OP has asked for it...I'll retreat back into my cave now

Point me to a time where part of the grid wasn't filled with the sons of the rich and powerful.

 

[bsmooth]

Wayy too much aero, I sort of understand the engines, although I miss the great sound of the former engines. Cutting edge tech I suppose is the thing of the future, maybe accident avoidance too for the drivers like road cars (hehe). Dump DRS, interesting, but once the driving is back in the hands of the drivers, drafting can take its place.
Like the aero, narrow up the tires a bit, maybe limit to one change of tires in the dry and another going to wets.
Two main things: put the driving back into the drivers hands, and even out the field.Once wings are smaller, without all the little winglets that won't keep breaking off, it should make for closer racing.
I'd also like to see the drivers take to some more even cars like a Skip barber car, but I know that won't happen.
As far as when it wasn't filled with rich and famous, that would be before sponsers came in. Some of the drivers used to tow there own cars to F1 races.

 

[BrightCandle]

I used to like F1 but I realised a while ago that cars with so much in the way of custom manufacturing were always going to produce very uneven procession races. It is about manufacturer marketing rather than racing and for all the rules attempting to even things out and make overtaking easier etc the reality is that while the cars are so vastly different that money invested with drive who wins championships and the racing will be dull.

 

[Goblin616]

I used to like F1 but I realised a while ago that cars with so much in the way of custom manufacturing were always going to produce very uneven procession races. It is about manufacturer marketing rather than racing and for all the rules attempting to even things out and make overtaking easier etc the reality is that while the cars are so vastly different that money invested with drive who wins championships and the racing will be dull.

Something else I thought about the other day that's really ****: It's just major teams, and their 'junior' teams in the same series right now. Can Alpha Romeo, or Alpha Tauri, or Haas ever win a championship while they're practically junior teams for the big boys? The sport needs some major changes if it's ever going to be exciting again.

 

[Goblin616]

Point me to a time where part of the grid wasn't filled with the sons of the rich and powerful.

This is true, but who drives doesn't bother me - the sport is what matters, not who takes part