Is F1 dying?

[Rob]

Just look at who is here. Look at who starts discussions. Look at the ratings. I thought F1 was on the right track this year. The cars are fast and beautiful, and races more fan friendly.
But...
The FIA is introducing the Halo. Is this the death knell? Seems awfully quiet.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

Is F1 dying?
I think it is, F1 has lost it's soul, that vibe that made it what it was. For me it's become a technologically factory dominated sport, where, due to big budget development and costs, the smaller teams will never see much podium action, it's all about the money at your disposal, not the ability of your drivers.

I think Bernie (the dictator) played a major roll in the path that F1 took, but he did it out of greed imo, and his greed allowed some teams to manipulate him and the rules to become the dominant players in the game of F1, Bernie created a monster that Liberty Media will need to kill off, and start fresh like they are aiming for in 2021, problem is, some don't like the new direction, the below link is a good example

Ferrari's Marchionne has threatened to quite F1 in 2020 https://au.sports.yahoo.com/motorsp...-sends-huge-warning-to-formula-one-well-quit/
WTF, if thats Ferrari's attitude good riddance, sounds like they don't like the fact they can't manipulate Liberty Media, so then they make idle threats to leave. Do Ferrari believe they are the only team worthy of F1 just because they have been involved since 1950, maybe it will be better without them.

I hope Liberty Media can bring F1's soul back from the grave, but only time will tell.

 

[Rob Every]

Of course it is

They are hiding it behind a paywall, and trying charge everyone for content. IN a sport run by millionaires! Its petulance at its most extreme and greed!

I watch it occasionally for a full race but usually now watch highlights or even catch a few minutes on 5 live, that is more than enough, there is little there to interest me now

 

[Turk]

Yup, like most sports these days it's been hijacked from the fans and supporters and sold of to commercial interests. The thing is, as far as those commercial interests are concerned F1 is doing great, it doesn't matter how many fans stop watching the sport, as long as they're making money and seeing profits go up every year then it's a success in their eyes.

The only way to stop it is to stop giving these people our money. Never pay for an F1 race, don't give your money to corporations that do things you disagree with. How you spend your money is more important than how you vote these days.

 

[F_B]

The manufacturers became too important, they even can talk into new rules etc and threaten the organizers with their withdrawal if new rules don’t fit them. That’s hilarious. Further on there is no real competition: we have at best two teams who can fight for wins the rest is far behind. I remember the years where Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes were so dominant that you already knew at the start of the season who’ll become WC. Quite boring imo and not a real sport. Hope that’ll change someday.

 

[paracletus]

Much different to 30-40 years ago, and arguably has lot a lot of its purism, but it's far from dead - what's that all about? It generates vast sums of money and is as popular as ever; aint going anywhere.
For sure it isn't as good to watch as the 80s and 90s, but the sport now is not really worse now that it was in the 2000s (other than the sound). Still the no.1 motorsport, by far.

 

[Daggerman]

The racing isn't as good, not by a long shot.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Is F1 dying?

No

/thread

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

Not at all imo, they could do with some regulation changes to even the field and cut costs while making actual on track racing more plausible, but to me the sport is better now that it has been in the 17 years I have followed it.

 

[tlsmikey]

I think it is. A lot of it has to do with the hybrid forced march and aero IMO. Look at LMP1 and F1 where hybrids have been forced. The costs spiraled out of control immediately and it doesn't make a lot of sense for manufacturers to invest tens of millions in engine development for a series that see
ms to be waning.

Couple that with the fact that aero has made it difficult to pass and you have a series that isn't fun to watch. DTM has the same issue with aero and the LMP1 series has the same issue with hybrids.

I think you'll see an increase in popularity of Pirelli, IMSA and GT3 series. Hell, even Indycar might get a boost.

 

[Terry Rock]

Most sports are dying just a little bit every year.
It's just a 'product' of the financial times we live in.
Ultimately Formula One cars are on track to advertise products and services.
Most companies took a long, hard look at their 'bottom-line' a few years back, and can no longer afford to put millions into sponsorship.
Sad as it may be, the track-side spectator is not their first priority...that's reserved for television advertising.
Seems a bit counterproductive doesn't it... since those track-side viewers could expose the sport to non-viewers and keep it going forever.
So yes!...F1 is dying a bit as well.

 

[Daggerman]

DRS and tarmac run off are the biggest turn offs for me. I could list a whole bunch of other stuff which has contributed to my negative feeling towards the sport, but it would just be repeating what others have said.

I do actually wonder what F1 will be in 5 years time.

 

[Andy_J]

If you think it's dying now, wait until they go all electric and have even more ugly Halo designs. The stupidly high admission prices are also responsible for a reduction in fans going to watch their annual F1 race. Jeez for the life of me I don't understand why they don't offer cut price admission and just attract more people in rather than have high costs and empty stands. I have been a F1 fan since I was a kid and used to go to Silverstone every year. The Senna and Mansell years were the best in my opinion. But now I am slowly going off F1 and I won't pay SKY to watch it either.
I'll stick to MOTO GP and British Superbikes for real racing and real noise.

 

[Rob Every]

The sad thing is Andy, attendances are not dropping that much, Silverstone is close to sellout every year despite it being almost inhumanely over priced, yet these people just hand it over and seem to think it's worth it! Lord knows why.

I haven't been to watch F1 for 18 years and even then it was a freeby with Haymarket and I left after a few hours because I was so bored.

it is a boring class, the circuits are dull, you are miles from the action at most tracks and you are paying huge fees to try and make the circuits, who are being raped by FOM hosting fees, some money as they cant make any anywhere else!

 

[Erik Springelkamp]

Such is life.

The favourite episodes seem to be in the past.

But noisy powerful petrol engines are not very marketable beyond a core of old fans.

 

[ears]

As was said at the beginning of this thread, the subscription TV paywalls that Bernie cashed in on had a huge effect.

I got into Formula One because I had to go to my Aunty's, with my Dad, for Sunday lunch every week. And I found it immensely boring. So I used to put the TV on and see what could entertain me and relieve the boredom of an early Sunday afternoon.

And there it was. F1. Exciting, interesting, and just there, on BBC2. Live.

There must be others like me. And, if F1 can return to regular FTA, there will be others in the future.

First test of the new owners appears to be German TV. I'll be interested to see what happens.

Will the new owners put the price on live broadcast coverage back into the kind of realms where public service broadcasters can bid for it?

https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2017/07/20/ard-interested-in-formula-1-rights/

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

TV rights is to be a thing of the past, I can't envision my kids who are growing up with netflix, youtube, amazon and so on will ever be interested in paying for the traditional TV when things can be had on demand.

 

[Rob Every]

I fell asleep for 90% of the race.

That has to say something surely.

Am rapidly coming to the conclusion that F1 is one of the worst tv sports known to man.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

You not being interested anymore isn't synonymous with the sport dying. I agree the race was light on action, but I had no issues staying awake...

 

[Daggerman]

F1 wont rest until the entire world is paved with tarmac run-off.