I started watching F1 in the 1960's, and still do. As the original article states, I often feel it's out of loyalty - I've always watched it, so I always will. Are the races boring today ? Compared to many other series (esp: WEC, IMSA), yes. But it's still the spectacle that it always has been. F1 is more than just teams blasting their cars around, it's the modern equivalent of the circus coming to town. That's always been part of the appeal to me, virtually travelling to all these different countries around the world, just to watch some insanely expensive machinery get flogged around the tarmac.
I've spent plenty of time wondering why it's just not as exciting as it used to be. Like many things today, it strikes me as it's overly regulated, overly concerned with safety, and overly concerned with being "fair" to all... which in something that's supposedly competition, is simply silly. In the old days, one or two teams dominated just like they do today - that's the nature of the business. The big guns get the biggest bang. But there was always the off chance that one of the "other" teams could bring along their "A game" and bounce the big boys. And privateer teams sometimes made a big difference. Yes, the cars were simple by today's standards, but every now and again some team would innovate a new way of doing something, and we'd all be surprised the following weekend. Think Tyrrell 6-wheeler here... just imagine trying to drop something like that on the grid today, the FIA would would confiscate your track pass...
The homogenization of the drivers is also something that gets me... I wonder what it feels like, when they're giving their post-race interviews, and every one of them is accompanied by their "minder" who follows them around, noting every single word they say... a far cry from the interviews in the 70's when drivers would actually display a little emotion when they got out of the car, covered in sweat, oil, and grime... and say whatever came into their heads. Often it wasn't pretty, but they got their point across.
Bring back real penalties for poor driving. Grass and sand traps. And as for the people who love BoP... well, somebody posted here the other day that "BoP is socialism for racing cars" and they were right. Don't BoP, just write your rules to allow this, don't allow that, and then let the engineers get on with it. Especially the engineers just out of University... Put on a maximum financial cap or some other mechanism to allow for less wealthy teams to play, and then let the boys and girls drive the wheels off their cars. As for wheels, or rather tires, let each team pick and choose their rubber, and bring back the tire wars.
