What the point in F1 now

[david_james2000]

Can someone tell me whats the point of F1 now.

As is see its nothing to do with racing anymore, it's used to line Bernie's and the FIA's pockets as we are losing GP to countrys that allow cigarette advertisings which = ££££££££££ or $$$$$$$ or €€€€€€€€ or whatever.

Car companys use it as a markting platform for they brand and as soon as F1 usefulness runs out or there start getting uncompetitive the car company will just move on and spend there money else where.

There is no more passion in the sport anymore, it all about the money now, race come 2nd everytime

[climb]

Dunno if this can comfort you, but the same thing is happening in most sports, nowadays: could we say that football, for instance, is different?

[oily oaf]

No argument here mate, but we still watch it tho don't we?

[Mr V]

Originally posted by david_james2000


There is no more passion in the sport anymore, it all about the money now, race come 2nd everytime

Don't wanna sound harsh, but you don't have to watch it!

[Glen]

Don't know abbout no argument - I'd argue quite strongly with that view. You could just as easily argue that the money is merely a reflection of the extreme high level of passion in the sport - in fact I will argue precisely that: F1 has never been more highly developed, more focussed, better funded, more extreme and (indeed) more professional. The drivers are fitter and better trained and more committed than ever too.

[BootsOntheSide]

Manufacturer teams dropping out could be a good thing if it reduceds the ciost and allows more private teams who love racing to enter. All the same, the big teams are pushing the boundaries of technology forward, which of course beneftits road cars as well.

I'd say tehre's been more than enough action this eyar to prove that racing is central in the minds of the drivers, mechanics, deisgners, engineers, marshals and so on. It's been a truly thrilling spectacle at times, with emtion and character very clear.

It might be worth you getting down to watch soem club racing, though - you might find the essence of comepttion and challenge there.

[Bononi]

Originally posted by david_james2000
There is no more passion in the sport anymore, it all about the money now, race come 2nd everytime

That's what happening for at least one decade...

[dretceterini]

It used to be people raced for the pleasure of competition and simple enjoyment of sport. It hasn't been that way for a very long time. It's to the point that there are no sports left at all. It's all about entertainment and money.

[david_james2000]

Originally posted by Mr V
Don't wanna sound harsh, but you don't have to watch it!

It's Mr V ok I wont take it the wrong

Originally posted by oily oaf
No argument here mate, but we still watch it tho don't we?

True oily oaf

What I'm trying to get at here is we all watch the F1 races here but are we watching it for the passion and the racing or just cos we've watch it for years. And i bet not one of you will disagree with me when i say the Mansell, Senna, Prost etc, etc day where when the cars where less technically advanced and less money was flowing, where the best F1 days then today excuse of F1 where if your country outlaws cigarette advertisings there loss the GP, where if you don't have at least £300,000,000 to throw at you team or you start at the back of the grid and that only cos the 107% rule have been scraped, where you have to employ a drive cos the main sponsor say so event know he's the worst drive on the planet.

One example :- The last year of Tyrrell in GP there where told by BAT(who own BAR)that Ricardo Rosset was going to drive for them when there wanted Jos Verstappen (im not sure on that) and what happened poor uncle Ken (god rest his solo) resigned over the decision and he couldnt see his last year of Tyrrell out from the pit wall he had to watch it on TV

Thats not passion Thats not racing.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by david_james2000
One example :- The last year of Tyrrell in GP there where told by BAT(who own BAR)that Ricardo Rosset was going to drive for them when there wanted Jos Verstappen (im not sure on that) and what happened poor uncle Ken (god rest his solo) resigned over the decision and he couldnt see his last year of Tyrrell out from the pit wall he had to watch it on TV

Thats not passion Thats not racing.

I should imagine that that sort of thing has happened throughout F1 history d_j.

Some of the smaller teams would not survive without these drivers who pay their way, which is an unfortunate thing, but it's better to see the teams still in F1 due to the money they make from these drivers. So it could be said that from the (smaller) teams point of view, the passion is still there because they want to compete when it would be really easy to give up.

The other side of the coin of course is, drivers like Wurz etc would rather sit out of than drive for a team like Minardi.

[Stephenw]

I dunno, the fact that this is creating a situation where new tracks have to be built is a good thing...for example Malaysia is one of my favorite circuits...racing in say Russia and China makes it more of a true World sport...

[RWC]

Of course the sh*t thing is that,by going to these tobbaco whooring countries bernie can claim to be going 'truly worldwide'....

[Mr V]

Just out of intrest, would going to a new circuit/country be so bad? After all, the racing at Imola has ranked amongst the worst in recent years, so why not try a different track?

[vatuloa]

The propoposed new tracks will go to countries that are not contemplating baning any for of advertising.

[tally-bally-ho]

I believe money was still very important back in the Mansell, Senna, Prost days, but the balance wasn't so 1 sided. The racing was naturally more exciting then, for several reasons, mainly that drivers didn't have the option of delaying the risk of an overtaking attempt until after 1 or 2 enforced, unwanted and manipulative fuel stops. Also the drivers' personalities seemed to shine through more, in driving (no TC) and interviews, possibly at the expense of their sponsors. Today the corporate and PR side of F1 is huge, there are marketing and branding messages that have to be delivered. This has absolutely nothing to do with racing whatsoever but seems to dominate proceedings. If the point of racing is to discover the best driver in the world, why does the equipment driven have to vary so much and be so ridiculously expensive? All this does is question whether the driver with the most points is the best or not. Imagine a grid of 20 or more 1990 Ferraris or McLarens racing each other, how would that be less of a spectacle tan todays F1? At least we'd know the driver who won the race did so through his own skills and not due to variations in equipment.

[BootsOntheSide]

I agree with most of what you've said, but I'm not so sure about the final part. The driver is just one memebr of the team unfortunately. The purpose of soccer isn't to find the ebst goalkeeper. It's always fairly clear who is getting good results purely because of the cars.

The races in Russia and China aren't a goosd thing, because no one in those countries cares about racing,a dn they will just be sold it excessively to make sure the grandstandsa re semi-full. The real profitability is in making sure the teams still get their tobacco money.

No one claims that soccer isn't a true world sport, just because no African / Asian / North American nation has won the World Cup, or that sprinting isn't international just because all the top sprinters are black. So why the obsession with tinkering with F1 at the expense of its audience?

[The Zuschauer]

Originally posted by dretceterini
It used to be people raced for the pleasure of competition and simple enjoyment of sport. It hasn't been that way for a very long time. It's to the point that there are no sports left at all. It's all about entertainment and money.

You'll find that most of those people who raced for "the pleasure" were rich enthusiasts. Now that drivers are actually paid (and can make a living out of their passion), there's actually drivers in there who wouldn't have made it in the past.

They have to earn their money somehow. I've got a passion to fly jet planes, but I'd end up broke if I persued it without joining the airforce.

[Liz]

alas, it's not only sports that's "all about money" -- you see people in every walk of life working three jobs and putting their children in charge of illegal immigrants from Guatamala so they can afford four cars, three sea-doos, two snowmobiles and a cottage, none of which they have any time to use. The idea that you earn enough money to live on and enjoy what you are doing seems to have fallen off the radar big time everywhere.

We are about to be treated to a massive strike in hockey that threatens to close down the NHL completely for at least one season, as the multi-millionaire players go up against the billionaire owners -- and the fans, as always, be damned -- and everyone is expecting that the result of this will be a very sharp lesson to the hockey players that what they are doing is not an essential industry and life in the proletariat will function quite well without them. Indeed, the $500 per game spent by the average Joe and Joeanne may actually be employed to support the lower tier hockey series (IHL and Major Junior A), and leave plenty left over for other things.

As for the F1 teams moving to circuits where they can run their teams without interference from the Tobacco Taliban, why not? Most people watch on television -- which is where the money is anyway -- and since the new tracks are being designed to the Nursery Standards that they must be so safe that they are ennervating, a race in Russia can put you to sleep just as easily as one in Italy. And when the Formula One season is more often decided in the courtroom than on the track, Ferrari can find plenty of courtrooms in Russia and China and Turkey and Bahrain to "win" endless "championships" for TGF wherever they go. And if not, they are wealthy enough to bring their own along.

Formula One will continue on its current path until the fans decide they don't want to bother anymore, and then it will crash in ruins, and something else will take its place. That's life.

[RWC]

no,not alot of point in f1 right now...and there hasn't been for quite a few years.

No serious attempt at changing the cars so that they can actually pass(no don't try to tell me they can..any passing we have now is all to do with idiosynchracies of certain tracks.It's not even close to the same thing)

Stupidly thought up boring rules;laterally grooved tyres,teams required to run two cars,the two cars must look identical,pace car to keep to TV schedules,etc etc.I'm sure we could think up way too many of these...

Being a whore to the tobacco industry-and any other way they can make money-selling races to the highest bidder,deliberately selling f1 as a rich persons show and catering to their every whim.

Complete and utter uselessness over rule violations

The long running sucking up to the most popular team to artificially boost interest

Blatant corruption (or is the right word nepotism?)
-Bernie gets the rights to f1 for HOW LONG??!!!(100yrs)
-It was decided HOW??!!!(secret meeting,early hrs of morning)

The ONLY good things in f1 at the moment are the hopes of the fans and (by some miracle) the still relentless pure competitive spirits displayed by several top teams

[Adam43]

I agree with a lot of what is said here. Although my main problems are centred around driver aids and lack of overtaking. To a lesser extent I don't liek the point system and the qualifying rules.

However there are a lot of positives from this year. First the opdd race like Silverstone. It must be remembered that not every race is an overtaking fest in the old days and htis year has been OK. It can be better though.

I also think there is too much emphasis on the championship and individual races don't matter as much. Having said that

Schumacher 72
Montoya 71
Raikkonen 70
et al.

is quite exciting.

Summary of this post: It isn't quite 1986, but it is probably slightly above average.

Enjoy the good stuff, but don't think everything is rosey. Worry about the problems, but don't let it stop your enjoyment.

[Knowlesy]

To be honest I've watched the highlights from every year since 1981 to now and there isn't a massive difference in the amount of overtaking manouvres, it's just that nowadays they happen in the midfield more than at the front. IMO.

[ralf fan]

Pts. system is also to blame for lack of overtaking.Who would want to risk flying of the road if hes getting just 2pts lesser than the winner.

[RWC]

One thing we must all realise..
if overtaking were easy ,then the faster cars would get to the front early on(if they aren't allready) and p*ss off.
HOWEVER***** It's those situations where you have two allmost equal cars that would be awsome.They would be changing places allmost every lap!!
Don't believe me?It's constantly happening in other racing series!!!
It's even happened quite abit in f1.On some rare occasions it has been a whole PACK of cars dicing for a whole race!!
monza '71 was just that
Of course we couldn't expect dicing for the lead much but anytime two similar cars are close together they WOULD pass each other

[Tristan]

Oh stop moaning you lot. Money or no money, passing or no passing - this season's been FABULOUS and you all know it!! End of discussion.

[david_james2000]

I think everyone has lost the point of this post. It was never anything to do with overtaking, the points system or how may drivers have won races this year. It's about what is the point in F1. The 50's, 60's, 70's where all about the passion The 80's, 90's where about who has the most money but there was still passion, but now it's just all about money, yes i know thats how every sport is now but even the technology there use on the car's serves no purpose in the real world now apert from traction control.