What the average fan really thinks of F1
Like it or not, this is why a lot of people watch F1
There’s a lot of discussion about how to ‘improve the show’ and make it more accessible to the ‘average fan’. But what do typical sports fans actually think of F1?
I’ve had it in my mind for some time to find out and the festive season has offered lots of opportunities to meet new people.
So – while avoiding the opportunity to bore people to death about my favourite subject – I’ve snuck the phrase “what do you think of F1?” into conversations a few times recently and turned up some surprising results.
Two responses were particularly common:
“I watch it for the crashes”
The kind of dedicated F1 fans who read F1 Fanatic are more likely to appreciate an impressive overtaking move or a great qualifying lap.
But the average fan tunes in waiting to see it all go wrong. And although safety is much improved today compared to 20 or even ten years ago, that’s still a slightly worrying thought.
There’s no denying that crashes are spectacular and, when you know a driver escaped injury, entertaining. But are there many other sports where people tune in mainly to see it go wrong?
I don’t watch much sport that doesn’t feature four wheels and an engine, so you might have to put me right on this. But I suspect football fans watch for the goals or to see their team win, rather than in anticipation of a leg-breaking tackle.
Perhaps it’s just part of human nature that we find something irresistible in seeing multi-million pound racing cars reduced to heaps of rubble by a mis-judged move. Or is it the case that the good things about F1 – the passes, the hot laps and so on – are a bit too intangible to be universally appreciated?
“It’s all down to the car”
The other comment which came up most often was the complaint that a driver’s success is entirely down to whether he’s got a good car or not.
The zero-to-hero story of Jenson Button over the past two seasons was seen as a case in point.
To an extent F1 is little different to other sports. Ferrari and McLaren can spend more money to build a better car just as Chelsea and Manchester United can dip into their vast reserves to hire the best players.
I think the difference between an average fan and an F1 fanatic here is mainly down to perception. The average fan sees F1 as a contest between drivers. Dedicated F1 fans see it as a contest between drivers and teams.
The driver’s role in developing and setting up a car tends to get get overlooked by the average fan. Not to mention the skill involved in driving it (I have long suspect on-board cameras make driving an F1 car look stupidly easy) and the ever-tighter margins of competition.
Conclusions
So if F1 wants to attract more casual fans it needs to change the rules to make all the cars the same and create more crashes.
In other words, it needs to become NASCAR.
I’m sure you all have plenty of interesting opinions about whether that’s a good idea – and whether it’s already happening. So, whether you’re a ‘casual’ fan or an F1 fanatic, post your thoughts below.
chris said on 31st December 2009, 23:14
When I was younger and first started watching F1 with my dad (mid 90′s) the things I really liked was over taking, the look of the cars and I loved it how cars bottomed out and sparks flew everywhere and you could see the air displacement off the rear wings.
Pengo said on 1st January 2010, 2:13
I lived in Mumbai, India for four years and after watching the races there the average fan doesn’t need crashes to enjoy the race in my opinion. I got the impression that the “average fan” was closer to what we would consider a fanatic (and BOTH sexes to boot, I’d be interested to see what percentage of F1 Fanatics are female, I think all of us are male here). The tecnological aspects didn’t seem that interesting, but they genuinely got really into the races. Cheering on the drivers, shouting, booing, etc. Heres a small YouTube clip a made watching the ’08 Brazil GP. Notice the Cheers when his Brother Nicholas is shown. To me that shows that they really follow the “soap opera”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eiW49YbJaI
gaz said on 1st January 2010, 10:23
(I have long suspect on-board cameras make driving an F1 car look stupidly easy)
keith to restore your faith you should watch senna’s on board from monaco in 1988? again.
David said on 1st January 2010, 23:43
Why does F1 need more fans? It’s already one of the most popular/most watched sports in the entire world.
Just like anything else, F1 has just got to stick to its strengths. Futuristic cars, amazing sounds, insane speeds, and the world’s best drivers.
VXR said on 2nd January 2010, 1:23
I’m not sure that F1 can currently say it has the ‘best’ of any of those! Maybe the last one, but it’s debatable!
TSJ said on 3rd January 2010, 10:23
Keith, you know you have to commit seppuku or something after that statement, right? :)
On a more serious note. I perfectly understand where the casual fans are coming from. To outsiders F1 can be a very closed and difficult sport to understand. Crashes are simpel and exhilarating. Our everyday lives are kind of dull and void of danger, which doesn’t really fit with the inner caveman in humans. So we look other places for danger.
Personally there are other things that interest me in F1 than crashes. However, I do accept that it is part of what makes F1 what is it. It certainly adds to the great show.
An example could be Hamiltons charge late in the game at Monza last year. While I didn’t want him to crash, the fact that he was driving balls to the wall and right on the limit with the possibility of crashing any moment made it all that more exciting. It was too bad he crashed, though.
So the outcomes has to be, that a little crashing is fine, because it means that the drivers are pushing it to the limit. If they never crashed, they do not try hard enough.
Ian said on 3rd January 2010, 15:32
I have to say that the processional races can be boring. A spectacular pile-up makes me hold my breath until the driver gets out. The minor crashes also play a part,like when a leading contender has to come in for a nose cos he’s bent the end plate and given someone else a puncture. Then to watch them come back through the field….
It’s amazing to see both the strength and fragility of an F1 car. The driver emerging from a totally destroyed chassis and the undrivable car with a slight ding to an aero component.
For me it is a team sport, the driver is the team’s gladiator and the figurehead who may get to collect some silver and we al have our favourites for that honour, either team or driver.
But crashes do play a part, either the wonder of how a driver didn’t crash in a situation or how he did! And in any type of motorsport – Peter Dumbreck’s flight in the Le Mans Merc….
I’m with you Keith, don’t have much interest in any sport without high-powered cars. Unfortunately losing some manufacturers has taken away some relevance to the viewing public as not many of them can afford a Mclaren or Ferrari.
Tim Mills said on 3rd January 2010, 19:59
Well… I’m not an average fan, it’s not for average people! Die hard is a better connotation. Just love it as it is and enjoy – There is no better sport on the planet than F1!!!! (And there is no “i” in team which is why F1 is numero uno :-)UNLIKE SOCCER/FOOTBALL LOL.
Jason K said on 4th January 2010, 1:07
F1 is what it is and shouldn’t try to become NASCAR- just because. F1 has to know its core viewers and the fans that watch other forms of racing- just as any major global brand should. One basic advantage of the F1 brand is that it is the de facto Elite Level in ALL of racing. If it can sprinkle in a bit more “accessibility” for the “middle class” & “blue collar” viewers (i.e. ticket prices, packages, outreach programs, lower priced opportunities for sponsor participation, etc), it would have a bigger share. F1′s technical superiority and driver star power shouldn’t be touched. The changes have to be at the other end, in cooperation with the teams & the drivers, for the brand to be worth while to the average viewer- to engage deeper and become a loyal follower- F1 has to work harder to achieve, and bridge this gap. Also, F1′s market is “the world” vs. NASCAR’s market is the USA. It’s comparing apples to oranges. But it should, never the less, be a wake up call for the new administration headed by Todt and for Ecclestone. F1 could be so much more- even greater than it is now.
Schumi_the_greatest said on 4th January 2010, 13:23
being a football fan myself keith i think the main difference is sports like football etc are physical sports.
people enjoy the aggression and physical aspect of these sports. whereas f1 fanatics may get exicted at the prospect of hamilton vs alonso over 1 lap in the same car football fans would like to see who’d come out on top in a 50-50 challenge between roy keane and vinnie jones.
you have casual football fans who will watch the odd game but dont really get bothered about the formations and tactics that the teams themselves are using. and while you are right that the bigger footall clubs can use their wealth to buy the best players the same can be said of the bigger f1 teams usuing their wealth to build better cars.
the fact is though that f1 is a more technical sport than say football or rugby and therfore harder to follow as just a casual fan to understand it properly you do have to need to know the ins and outs
gak67 said on 5th January 2010, 3:24
Most football fans will support a team because of their connection with the place the team comes from. This doesn’t happen in F1 as much. You may get more support for Renault from France, more support for Mercedes from Germany, etc, but where nearly everyone has a home football team (whether that be Association Football, Rugby Union, Rugby League, AFL, Aussie Rules, Gaelic, etc.), not everyone has a home F1 team. Because there is not the same loyalty to a team for the average fan they both do not understand the team dynamic in the way an F1 fanatic does, and they will not watch the sport for the same reasons as they would football.
The F1 fanatic is a different breed though, and they will develop a loyalty to a team based on any number of factors (I support McLaren because of it’s connection to NZ, for example). We learn the importance of the team, some of their key personnel (or even the non-key personnel for the truly dedicated), and we know the intricacies of the sport.