F1

Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of F1?

  • This topic has 9 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 6 years ago by Anonymous.
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  • #357952

    Formula One faces a time of considerable uncertainty: New owners making their impression on the sport, the internet disrupting its once-lucrative broadcasting model and fundamental changes in the automotive world which raise serious questions about whether motor racing is relevant to the younger generation. And that’s leaving aside the eternal hand-wringing over the quality of the racing and competition.

    With all this in mind, what’s your outlook on the sport’s future? Do you see difficult times ahead or a bright new era just around the corner?

    #357959
    Ben Needham
    Participant

    I toy between optimism and pessimism to be honest, depending on the latest races, latest news and my mood in general. The main aspect of the sport that keeps me optimistic is actually one man: Ross Brawn. I have immense faith in his ability and desire to bring the sport round to something that is sustainable, exciting and competitive. I like that Liberty are asking questions, trying things (whether they work or not) and prodding to find the holes. I believe they will be successful, but I don’t expect anything until at least 2020.

    There is a broad range of things that need fixing; not least the accessibility (which is already being addressed with Formula One’s YouTube and other social media improving immensely over the last year). I’m a huge F1 fan (obviously) and that was born in my youth, when I used to look forward to sitting down on Sunday lunchtime with a roast dinner on my lap and watching the Grand Prix with my Dad. I wouldn’t have had that experience if it wasn’t available on free-to-air TV. I can only assume that children today will be missing out on this for the very same reason.

    Other problems are fairly large and varied; it’s too expensive to attend, the circuits are too sanitised and the cars can’t follow each other without huge artificial allowances (DRS/degradable tyres etc.).

    I could go on with what I personally would address – but I feel confident in Ross Brawn’s ability to give us a good balance that is best for owners, teams, drivers, sponsors and viewers.

    #358008
    RyanDixon
    Participant

    I am optimistic about the future of F1 on a sporting level. I am pessimistic about the fans/support of F1.

    On a sporting level I feel that Liberty Media genuinely have the sport in mind when making changes. As mentioned above Ross Brawn is the man with the plan and I feel with the support he will get from LM he can make F1 more competitive and fun. They are asking questions and getting promising answers, they are making the sport ‘friendly’ and they are attempting to change the ethos of the sport from a ‘Rolex’ generation to a ‘general’ generation.
    On an actual sporting level, I feel last year was a corner stone for the sport. We had Ferrari and the Merc’s fighting one another, some great performances from other teams, more on the track action than in previous years. If, and they won’t, F1 could keep the regulations stable for more than 5 years I feel we could be having the best few seasons to come before the regulation change. We have finally two world class drivers fighting and the supporting cast are more than capable to cause an upset. With more manufacturers looking interested in the sport and some even actively participating in some form or another (Aston Martin) we could be gaining much needed manufacture support.

    Now time for reasons to be pessimistic. Fans. The lifeblood of the sport and the reason teams (should) be going racing. This isn’t to suggest every fan is/are ruining F1 nor to suggest that opinions are not valid. However, I get the feeling no matter what Liberty Media or F1 do, the direction it goes, or the rules it impliments will ever satisfy or quell fans desires for utopian motor racing. We are all guilty of it but fans across the spectrum from hardcore to casual will want something different to what’s been offered. Therein lies the problem. If we take football as an example, fans are more polarised in terms of teams they support than in F1. Some teams win more often than others but nobody is clamouring to change the rules of football to make it more even for the lesser teams. Football is a sport and fans need to realise that F1 is also a sport. If we want it to be utopian and fair then we should call it ‘sports entertainment’ like WWE or something similar. Fans will always want to change the rules because one team dominates or its perceived as being ‘boring’. In football or any other sports the poor/boring games always out way the better games. It’s the unpredictable nature of sport. The sooner F1 fans just take F1 as a sport rather than an entertainment then I feel F1 can progress.

    (Note that this is not an indictment to fans as they are allowed their own opinion on matters but fans can’t eat their cake and have it too in regards sport/entertainment).

    #358318
    Damon
    Participant

    “I used to look forward to sitting down on Sunday lunchtime with a roast dinner on my lap and watching the Grand Prix with my Dad. I wouldn’t have had that experience if it wasn’t available on free-to-air TV. I can only assume that children today will be missing out on this for the very same reason.”

    But the reality of today’s kids is that they don’t watch TV. And if they do, they don’t watch it with their parents. They are modern consumers, who choose their content. I’ve heard an anegdote about how a teacher got laughed at by the kids for asking if they had watched sth on TV – because not only none of them watched TV, it was also perceived as sth only “old people” (their parents?) did.

    #358320
    Damon
    Participant

    “If we take football as an example, fans are more polarised in terms of teams they support than in F1. Some teams win more often than others but nobody is clamouring to change the rules of football to make it more even for the lesser teams. ”

    I’ve got no idea what your point was supposed to be :)
    Nobody wants to change football rules, indeed, which shows you they are optimal. The playing field is perfect, the goal size is perfect, the size of the ball is perfect – but the key fact is that they’re all exactly the same for each team. They are fair.
    But if you ever saw a team with barefoot players who couldn’t afford shoes having to score on a larger goal than the opponent team – nobody would be in favour of such contest, would they?

    “I get the feeling no matter what Liberty Media or F1 do, the direction it goes, or the rules it impliments will ever satisfy or quell fans desires for utopian motor racing.”

    What you call “utopian” racing is a normal occurence!
    Look at MotoGP – as far back as I can remember, it has always been as utopian as fans would like F1 to be. You’ve always had exciting races, you’ve always had a huge bunch of competetive teams, and you’ve never had huge careers being wasted by being stuck in a non-competetive team or seasons suffering from 1 team’s (=2 drivers) technical dominance.
    Another examples? IndyCar in the 1990s – great tracks, beautiful cars, competetive cars, exciting races, if you were a great driver you were winning, if you were a young talent you always had a chance of proving yourself, no champion’s career was wasted by driving a 2018 McLaren Honda.

    #358356
    Jon
    Participant

    I remember the Senna-Prost Honda days. That is when I first started watching. What I would give to see such a close rivalry again.

    I think the best solution is where at least 2, optimally 3 teams have an almost equal chance of victory, ie at the end of the season 3 teams almost equally shared the number of victories.

    How to achieve that, I do not know.

    #358610
    Jeanrien
    Participant

    I think we don’t want to be optimistic because the past has told us to be cautious but there is every reason to be optimistic.


    @keithcollantine
    I don’t know if your question originate from a change in comment tone on F1fanatics but I notice that the reaction to new announcements are totally different from the end of Bernie’s era. Most changes are welcome within the community and we can feel thrust in some of liberty members (Brown)…

    They haven’t had time to adress the bigger problems of F1 but they have acted for smaller ones when they could and that is a positive sign.
    Looking around, we have every reason to be optimistics even if I have difficulties to accept the feeling and to admit it after so many years of Bernie…

    #358616
    Paulzx
    Participant

    Pessimistic to be honest, just look at the viewing figures, they are surprisingly low. We’ve had the glory years of F1 and now we’re into a very bland, corporate era. Lack of competition doesn’t help, but even when that is the case, it used to still be a spectacle, especially live. I used to live and breathe F1 but I’m not going to any more British Grand Prix’s while the halo is being used. What with that, and the lower formulas sounding a lot better, it’s just doesn’t have the wow factor it used to have.

    Despite all of the justifications for the regulations and such like, F1 relies on fans going to races and watching on tv. Both are dwindling because no one can make a decision based on what fans want to watch. I will likely cancel my sky subscription for F1 too this year, and that’s me done.

    #361384
    Scottie
    Participant

    I’m pretty optimistic.

    Liberty are targeting new broadcast mediums, more exposure for the fans and exciting cars and as an outcome, are looking for more exposure and income avenues. Some see this as just money grabbing exercises, but I really like what I hear in terms of the first three items on that list and if they give me what I want from my favorite sport, I should be happy!

    We F1 fans complain about many things (DRS, Halo, stewards decisions, etc) because our sport is inherently complex, and it can never satisfy everyone. But if they nail the other stuff, all all those other nitty gritty complaints really going to stack up as them doing a bad job? Technically minded people are hard to satiate at the best of times with our microscopes on the latest barge boards on our favorite cars.

    If this is the wrong path for a sport to take, I’m happy to leave this planet as I don’t see anything else making much sense to excite us or them.

    #361843
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    To be honest I’m both.

    I was very happy when Liberty took over, as many were, and as much as we didn’t know a lot about them, it was a change from Bernie. Whatever one thinks of BE he done so much for F1 but over the last 10 years most were “ok, thanks Bern, time to go”. Liberty are fresh but green. Ban grid girls was one- ok, I don’t care so much, they looked nice, but lets make a competitive car get within 2 seconds of he front car and overtake- on his own, no DRS.

    Falling viewers is an issue. I am 41 and watched F1 since I was 9. I remember getting up for the 1987 Brazilian GP in Rio at 11 y.o. (Senna new Camel yellow car, active suspension) at maybe 2am, watched he whole race. Mum could not stop me from doing that- I got my own TV LOL

    My son is now 11 but he loves watching F1 with me, but wont get up say 1am to watch it- that’s fair. My nephew who is 21 doesn’t know F1 exists until he will ask a few questions about where I have been- done my lifelong dream to do Monaco (and added Spain two weeks earlier) and he said “didn’t you go away for something??- the young don’t see F1 exciting now, or even know about it. This is the major issue for F1. Young kids viewing it!

    The new F1 streaming from Liberty looks good. But can we record and play back an FP1 or Quali session?? With Liberty pushing back start times in Europe I can honestly say I will really struggle to see a live GP this year bar Suzuka (now Sepang has gone), yet will still have Sochi and Abu Dhabi??

    Ross Brawn I think is our man to save F1- its not totally broken but we need some work. Adu Dhabi to go first please.

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