My Problem with Modern F1

[DND]

Hmmm, Don't like the modern cars, don't like the modern tracks, don't like the DRS, tired of constant rule changes, tired of stupid penalties, tired of non-existent track limits and on and on. Took the year off with the exception of British, Spa and Monza and even those were barely enough to hold my attention. Like I have written before I will check back in 2020.

 

[TuElite]

The driver's pit and interview area is a little remindful of a zoo. I'm not sure who is on which side of the barriers..

Someone more intelligent said something similar more eloquently.

 

[Copef1]

Its the way of the world. Everything changes with time. Its a shame it can't be how it used to be, but I still love F1, and watch it, and I probably always will. I remember going to the IndyCar races in Portland Oregon in the 80's. You could walk right up and look over the mechanics shoulder as they wrenched on the car. I remember one year seeing Al Unser Jr. sitting in a lawn chair next to his car, rocking out to a loud boom box he had playing music next to him. I have pictures of the girl I used to live with chatting with Rick Mears, and Emerson Fittipaldi, right in the middle of the paddock area. I also remember going one year near the end of the 80's, and Newman Haas racing, who ran Mario Andretti, had barricades all around their cars, and transporters. With in a few years all the teams had them. Before long the only time you saw drivers in the paddock area was in the few minutes before the practice, qualifying, or race sessions began. Its a shame its all different now. IndyCar came back to Portland this year after several years away. Its a lot different now, but the race was good, and I still had a good time.

 

[aleph]

There is also the obsession with safety since Senna's death. As I said elsewhere, we don't need to go back to the 2-deaths-a-year period, but some risk and some daring are fundamental in any race and should be welcomed instead of punished. What made F1 drivers admirable - what gave them character and made them worthy of our respect - is that they were facing death. They were like modern gladiators. Would you care for a successful Everest climb if the participants had safety nets under them all the time?

 

[daykrolik]

Nostalgia can be a trap. Was the racing and circus around that necessarily better? Or is it merely the idea of what we think and/or remember with fading memory?

I am 70 years old and was a passionate fan of F1 in the late 1950s through the late 1970s. I have been passionate about cars in general since I was about 10 years old. Since the company for whom I worked for 35 years, NBCU, broadcasts F1, I have tried to rekindle my interest, but it just doesn't work. Time marches on and younger people have different standards and expectations. However, there are many reasons why the races and racers from the 1960s are legendary: great personalities who were very human and accessible; different cars; more diverse circuits; greater risk and danger (we have to admit that was a factor); better ways to experience the races as spectators (such as roaming the pits without a government security clearance or $500 ticket); and, although we knew money was important, there wasn't the sense that it was primarily about the money. I hope fans are enjoying themselves now, but, in my opinion, they are missing a lot of what made the "old days" so classic and legendary.

 

[bsmooth]

I've watched pretty much all racing since the 60's, but modern F1 racing is lacking. Passing or should I say overtaking happens, but not very often. Cars pretty much look the same, and those in the back don't even stand a chance of winning, unless it rains. Thats mainly what I hope for during a race, not because its more dangerous(which it is), but because it even out the field somewhat and almost anyone can win.
Aero ruined F1, especially when it caused cars to become unstable in back of other cars. Besides now everything has wings, even the cameras.As has been said theres not much individuality at all.
Whats really annoying is announcers trying to make the racing more exciting by dramatizing everything, from tire changes to marbles offline.
The drivers have almost been taken out of the equation, the cars are just about bulletproof. There great as far as tech goes, but they have no character, just winged wonders.
Do I still watch, yes, but I'm always hoping for rain...

 

[Boby Kim]

There is no TV program that puts me in sleep so fast. F1 has become a boyband status...

 

[giulio0079]

Those late 80s, early 90s days when it was so accessible.

Not just to me, but to Eddie Jordan, to Osella, Dallara, Tyrrell, Benetton, Williams.

Where with a bit of nous and genius you could turn something really striking out - Harvey Postlethwaite's groundbreaking Stukka Tyrrell, the beautiful Scuderia Italia Dallara with the raised nose, Adrian Newey's 'porpoise' Leyton House and subsequent Williams FW14.

I still say, if you took the advertising, colour schemes off all the 1991 F1 cars and just made them all black, I'd still be able to tell you which was which.

It's just not accessible any more, F1.

And the removal of live F1 from FTA UK TV, well, I don't know what they're thinking.

To (slightly mis)quote another famous film script...

It had it .. then it lost it.

Also here in Italy , land of Ferrari , I think it's a shame that the broadcasting isn't public tv anymore ... Times change i know , but even if the sport is becoming a little boring , some free to air coverage would make people hold to it a little bit more imho

 

[Jack Straw]

Well boys, you're preachin' to the choir. I've followed F1 on and off since 1962 and it's so boring now I hardly bother.
I drive 450 miles to watch grass roots vintage races these days. Admission is $10 for the entire weekend, all access. Walk through the pits and ogle a nice GT 350 and often the owner/driver will engage me in conversation, asking where I'm from, am I racing this weekend? Many of the competitors are actually excited that I know something about their cars. Often I'll hear them say to make sure and look them up at the next event. Best of all is the variety of hardware and the fabulous sounds......twin cam Alfas, flat 4 Porsches, 6 cyl. Jags, bellowing Detroit V8s, and the occasional V12 Ferrari. Oh yeah, the snack bar is very good and coffee is only $1.50!!!!
Modern F1 is nothing more than hi-tech show business.

 

[giulio0079]

Well boys, you're preachin' to the choir. I've followed F1 on and off since 1962 and it's so boring now I hardly bother.
I drive 450 miles to watch grass roots vintage races these days. Admission is $10 for the entire weekend, all access. Walk through the pits and ogle a nice GT 350 and often the owner/driver will engage me in conversation, asking where I'm from, am I racing this weekend? Many of the competitors are actually excited that I know something about their cars. Often I'll hear them say to make sure and look them up at the next event. Best of all is the variety of hardware and the fabulous sounds......twin cam Alfas, flat 4 Porsches, 6 cyl. Jags, bellowing Detroit V8s, and the occasional V12 Ferrari. Oh yeah, the snack bar is very good and coffee is only $1.50!!!!
Modern F1 is nothing more than hi-tech show business.

Yes, I always talk about this with friends , but after a lot of preaching of fun and entertaining different motorsport categories and how much they're fun to watch , we always end up saying "damn do you remember when mansell started its race with the steering wheel almost turned again prost screwing his chance for the world title (portugal 90 i think) ? No team orders back then in ferrari "
That s just to say that f1 was (and is or should at least be) the pinnacle of motorsport , and it's hard to ignore this championship even in the condition that it is right now , and if it makes sense , it hurts even more

 

[CobraCat]

There is also the obsession with safety since Senna's death. As I said elsewhere, we don't need to go back to the 2-deaths-a-year period, but some risk and some daring are fundamental in any race and should be welcomed instead of punished. What made F1 drivers admirable - what gave them character and made them worthy of our respect - is that they were facing death. They were like modern gladiators. Would you care for a successful Everest climb if the participants had safety nets under them all the time?

So the possibility of a participants death increases your enjoyment of the sport ? Two deaths per year is too much for you, so would one death per year be satisfactory to increase the entertainment value ? Perhaps a few drivers lose limbs per year, or perhaps severe burns, how macabre would F1 need to get for you to find it admirable again ?

I bet if you spoke with Jackie Stewart he'd have nothing but praise for the current level of safety in F1.

Far too many people romanticize those by gone eras, similar to the people that romanticize war. Its great until you or a family member are injured or killed then its a different thing entirely.

F1 is still plenty dangerous although you seem to think danger is the primary objective in racing when its really about who gets to the finish line first. Danger is simply one of the by products of driving a car around stretch of tarmac at high speeds.

 

[Motowntom]

Problem solved.... just watch Indycar, though all you folks in Europe will have to stay up a bit late, but it's worth it. It addresses almost all your dislikes of F1.
Cheers

 

[John B. Ellis]

Some of the best racing I have watched this year was at the Goodwood Revival Sussex Trophy. Watching a 1959 Lister-Jaguar "Knobbly" being muscled around the track from the pit lane to first place was infinitely more rewarding as a spectator and lover of motorsport than any modern-day F1 event.

 

[aka2k]

Couldn't agree more. F1 is doomed though. Unless a crop of charismatic, talented drivers pop-in in the next few years, and the F1 bosses all quit and let it be a true sport again. I think there's a better chance of Socialism working somewhere than this happening.

 

[COTA Fett]

Some motorsport fans appreciate the maturity of F1 as it attempts to transcend decades of innovation and transformation. And it's not just F1 that's changed, the world has changed.

Current F1 is this simple question: If you were to invite a non-motorsport fan to watch an F1 race, do you fancy you would have to spend too much time explaining the intricacies of the race or could you simply let the racing speak for itself?

 

[E304LIFE]

I drive 450 miles to watch grass roots vintage races these days. Admission is $10 for the entire weekend, all access. Walk through the pits and ogle a nice GT 350 and often the owner/driver will engage me in conversation, asking where I'm from, am I racing this weekend? Many of the competitors are actually excited that I know something about their cars. Often I'll hear them say to make sure and look them up at the next event. Best of all is the variety of hardware and the fabulous sounds......

Modern F1 is nothing more than hi-tech show business.

Amen!

 

[Robertinotje]

The engine sound.

 

[Ghoults]

Too many computers.

 

[Sun Levi]

Anyone here loved the old days & the new days?

Obviously it could be much better but I still love watching it. There were big problems back then and now.

 

[tlsmikey]

IMSA is where it’s at now. I hope it grows and outpaces F1.