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Honestly, you could probably stick a camera on a gantry over the M62/M6 junction and get enough thrills and spills to keep me interested.
Maybe keep a herd of skittish cows on the exit from the pit lane at Silverstone?
These days I’d much rather see drivers rotate through the teams through a season, allow teams to develope the cars more between rule changes (which means higher budgets), or standardise the car specs.
I reckon separate the drivers championships and constructors. Every race lucky dip matches cars to drivers. And reverse the grid order.
If only there was a way to avoid watching it….🤔
But it seems it’s interesting enough to start a thread away from the usual F1 thread to say how
I dont watch it, I suspect quite a few posting dont as well. But I also suspect quite a few would watch if the sport was more exciting (which is obviously subjective), I guess for me at least, the interest lies in the possibility the sport would regain the excitement I remember it offering.
I'm not sure clogging up the main thread with whinging about it being a borefest will be well received by those still enjoying the sport.
Have to say, pretty clueless and uninformed post and mostly the expected clueless responses I’d expect on a cycling forum.
Tour de France is always boring to wat h when the favourite wins. Far too much waffle before and after and silly rules that nobody understands. Much better back in the day. All about having the best bike.
Football always boring to watch as Man City always win it. All about how big owners budget is, also involves silly rules and lack of transparency with decisions. Much better back in the day when Man Utd won everything. Far too much waffle going on.
Tennis, ah yes it’s utterly mind numbing as that dodgy Djokovic fella keeps winning. Again silly rules and was much better back in the day with Sampras winning everything.
Cricket… that’s just glorified rounders innit, with added silly rules.
Rallying, again ridiculous rules, all about the car and tyres, and obv not really a sport at all. Much better back in the day when Tommi Makinen was unbeatable.
I dont watch it, I suspect quite a few posting dont as well
How do you know it's boring if you don't watch it 🤷♂️
Isnt that all just hob-nobbing on corporate expense accounts though?
This is a pretty ill informed comment too, tbf.....nearly half a million people go to Silverstone over the course of the British GP weekend.....do you really think they're all on expense accounts?
How do you know it’s boring if you don’t watch it
Youre right there may have been a dramatic turnaround this year. But last year Verstappen won 86.36% of of races, I'm not interested when there's that level of dominance.
Who is leading the championship this year? How many different winners have there been?
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It is equally as boring working in f1 i can assure you.
Give F2/F3 a go. It’s not as fast as F1, but as the drivers are younger and less risk averse, there’s more daft moves/big crashes/death and injury. Which is all some of you seem to want.
It's demise accelerated when they introduced DRS and the hybrid engines. DRS is an utter joke. Pathetic attempt at manufacturing overtaking. As for the engines, they're awful. The old v8 and V10s (and the V12s) were always spectacular even if the racing was a bit dull.
Even as a kid I never understood the fascination with F1.
Really don't care how many Gs drivers have to endure in a turn.
Rally seems like more of a test of driver skill.
They should bring back something like the Can-Am series. Very few rules or limits.
Now I know where the Wacky Racer cartoon got its ideas.
Rally seems like more of a test of driver skill.
Kind of agree, but not on driver skill, different skillset for a different sport...WRC is much more interesting, from a spectator point of view, as there's just more stuff happening, visually.
It’s not…. It’s cutting edge within the confines of the rules and regulations.
Which are there, in the main, to make sure we have the same number of drivers finish the season, as start it.
a 2000hp, fan assisted, active aero/suspension equipped monster would be incredible, but would kill anyone that tried to drive it fast. (Along with anyone unfortunate enough to be in its way when it crashed)
Redbull did a project in Gran Turismo, a restriction free racing car, then had Vettel try and lap the Nurburgring GP track with it, he couldn’t keep it on the track (I know it’s a sim, but still)
Touring car was where it was at, Volvo estates, Laguna’s and other car shapes you could recognise from the real world all leaning on each other through the corners, without worrying a wheel was going to fall off. Proper elbows out racing.
F1 has always been tedious.
" We need more shit driving on worn-out tyres"
I could just stream my dashcam if you want that kind of thing
BTCC can be a great thing to go and see especially at a circuit like Knockhill up until 4 wheel drive Audi or Seat diesels had their day. The TWR Volvo estates ,BMW M3, Ford Mondeos were all great to watch and their sound but can't come anywhere near watching a F1 cornering standing eye level at Silverstone
The technological feats that F1 achieve are staggering, what the cars and drivers do defy comprehension. And that’s the rub, it’s so otherworldly that unless you are fortunate enough to get that view at that moment it’s lost through watching it on a screen. It’s impossible to relate too. The tracks and cars have no real world reference points to convey how incredible they are. But that’s not racing, it’s a demonstration of how technologically fantastic they are.
With a touring car, it’s the right shape and size, it still had a real world scale to it, it was relatable and so much more tangable. Add to that the ability to lean on each others doors three abreast through corners and it was magical and took your breath away.
a 2000hp, fan assisted, active aero/suspension equipped monster would be incredible, but would kill anyone that tried to drive it fast. (Along with anyone unfortunate enough to be in its way when it crashed)
Yeah, but I, and many others would watch that! Who doesn't like watching cars crash?
Used to go to Arena Essex as a kid and used to sit up on the banks with a couple of mates when we were older. That was great fun!
It's just traffic.
Who doesn’t like watching cars crash?
Into crowds of fans/marshalls? I’ll pass, thanks.
Interesting thread with comments on many sports.
The fact is though that the people doing all these sports are incredibly talented and make it look easy.
F1s downfall imo is that the technology has made it dull as the cars are so highly developed that a driver can’t make much difference.
Im sure they are already at a point where a computer can lap a track quicker than a human. Not sure they can do that in a rally car yet ?
Rallying has got more dull to watch though in recent years with increased downforce and very trick differentials etc. I’d rather watch 1970/80/90s rally cars than the latest ones!
F1s downfall imo is that the technology has made it dull as the cars are so highly developed that a driver can’t make much difference.
The technology has made it look dull to the casual observer, to use F1 as an example... the amount of sheer concentration 100% of the time, just to be competetive, requires a certain high skill, but that goes for any sport I guess, but F1 races last a long time, so there's a mental endurance test in there as well as having a good car.
Apart from onboard camera work the IOM TT is fairly dull to watch & doesn't involve much if any overtaking* but it's great fun to be there in person, I imagine a F1 event is much the same.
* I do know why
On the subject of elite sport, I found it quite amusing that the Oxford V's cambridge boat race competitors were warned to try not to get into the water on account of the high levels of pollution and disease in the river.
What I like about F1 is the politics.
Sainz knocked out of his seat, had appendicitis, returns dicks all over their "number 1" driver. Danny Ricardo returns to do here haw... Tsunoda the number two dicks all over him.
I don't think it's that bad. Rallye on the other hand. So boring, like downhill mountain biking and time trials, so boring, shouldn't have to watch the times to see who is winning. Hard pass.
After the first corner F1 is often pretty boring, these days I only watch recorded highlights anyway and even then I fast forward through large chunks of it (and sometimes don't bother if I hear the result first). For me it was a bit more watchable when Brits have been in winning cars as was slightly more invested.
What they should do, as a demonstration of AI, is have a fast car driven as around as a drone, with a computer driver, hogging the best line.
Remember TCR, the poor relation to Scalectrix. That, but in real life.
That’d be awesome. 👍
Into crowds of fans/marshalls? I’ll pass, thanks.
I suspect there are ways that are just as safe as today's safety standards have raised the sport too, but allows unpredictability of results into the equation.
It doesn't have to be a binary choice of "dominant car and driver travels the world winning the majority of races" or "mass death".
What I like about F1 is the politics.
Probably indicative of the difference between those into the sport and myself, who apart from the few years between Schumacher's dominance and Hamiltons, hasn't really watched the racing. And not just the politics, but also the technological developments, circuits and so on. Whereas I just wanted to watch people go really ******* fast and not know in advance who was going to win the championship, or even the race in question a lot of the time.
It's all subjective.
Someone said once, can’t remember who ‘F1 is high speed chess’.
It’s an endurance race, like any endurance race it’s going to lack thrills and spills.
It’s changed in recent years with Netflix and overhyped, I can see why people would be disappointed when they actually watch a race.
There’s almost always been a dominant team, it’s just extra dull if there’s a clear number 1, like the Schumacher Ferrari era and now the Verstappen RedBull era.
To some extent Mercedes dominance was Dull, but Ferrari put up a fight and the Rosberg/Hamilton fight kept it interesting.
Im sure they are already at a point where a computer can lap a track quicker than a human. Not sure they can do that in a rally car yet ?
You'd be wrong then - there was the Roboracer attempt a few years back, and a new autonomous series kicks off in Abu Dhabi later this month. Expect slow times, many failures and strange car behaviour.
On the other hand I reckon you could build a machine to play darts pretty well - but plenty of people still seem to get excited about watching it.
As an oldie (watched GP's when they raced at Brands Hatch!) I just think it's sad that F1 has become so bad for reasons stated many times. Obviously don't want to go back to drivers dying on a regular basis etc but please, make it exciting again.
The minute you say to anyone you like cars, they automatically ask 'F1?' It's so ingrained as what people who are not interested in racing think of in the first instance.
I get my fix of real racing by going to Goodwood there days, proper cars and more overtaking than ten seasons of F1...
Professionalism in sport is inevitable when money through sponsorship and TV rights are achievable. But professionalism bring reliability and consistency. And predictability is what kills sport as a spectacle. Let's face it, definitively knowing who is the fastest runner this year or who makes the fastest car is a complete irrelevance to the world keeping on turning. None of it actually really matters. People watch (rather than participate) in sport for entertainment. A good film needs twists and turns and "I didn't see that coming" moments and so does sport.
I'm not sure F1 is any worse than any heavily professionalised sports. Looking back to the 60s and 70s, the big teams such as Ferrari could be challenged by upstart oiks putting together a car in little more than a shed. Teams went bust mid season or could only get one car to the grid. Drivers made ends meet by driving more that one division/series simultaneously in a single season. The shed engineers might not be able to reliably challenge week in week out but on their day they could pull out a shocker with a bit of luck and moments of brilliance.
Professional sport as an entertainment product has been diminished by its own financial success.
I just think it’s sad that F1 has become so bad for reasons stated many times.
I think modern 'professionalised' F1 started in the late '80's and really got going in the 1990's era of Williams and Maclaren domination. Once you've self-corporatised the other teams have no option but to join in, and heralded the death of the 'garagista' era which is perhaps a shame as there's little opportunity for the "upstart team" to shake things up - Red Bull being the last gasp of this I reckon.
There are always specific complaints that you can make at any sport once you're over-familiar enough with it, but the complaints about F1 being - in no particular order - overtaking is difficult, tracks are unsuitable, technical rules are unfathomable, tyres (last too long, don't last long enough, whatever) and refuelling - to name just a few have been going on since the evolution of the sport in the 50's. Go back and read any edition of Autosport or Motorsport from back then, and only the names have changed. That's the nature of the beast; it's like complaining that the TDF would be perfect if they just got rid of the bikes and ran.
I think it either appeals or it doesn't, I don't think it should necessarily change just becasue there's a chorus of "It's boring" from stage right from folks who've otherwise no interest in the thing
a new autonomous series kicks off in Abu Dhabi later this month. Expect slow times, many failures and strange car behaviour.
That actually sounds more interesting 😀
I dont watch it, I suspect quite a few posting dont as well
Everyone who described it as 70 laps... yesterday's race was 53! FWIW I don't watch it as I don't have Sky. It can be pretty dull, but so can lots of sports. I do follow the overall results and watch highlights (usually online).
It doesn’t have to be a binary choice of “dominant car and driver travels the world winning the majority of races” or “mass death”.
But then you are planning to invent rules to stop one team dominating and making TV better (which has been done before and no doubt will again) - that upset the "true fans" because it is being dumbed down for the masses. Similar issues happen in cycling and other sports. The constructors championship can actually be more interesting than the individual drivers, especially if you ignore whichever team is dominant at the moment.
If you think F1 is dull - have you ever watched a marathon?
F1s downfall imo is that the technology has made it dull as the cars are so highly developed that a driver can’t make much difference.
And yet Max is consistently ahead of Perez.
I will say though, once you've developed a cost-cap. the vast reams of technical regulations seem on the face of it superfluous. If the tech. regs. are there to stop wealthy teams from spending gazillions to exploit teeny variations of specification through endless testing - then the limit on how much you can spend does that equally well.
If it was up to me, I'd make the technical specs one page (or as close as it can be) and let them have at it
OP - what is your sport of choice - you know, just so we can tear it apart and laugh at it!? 🙂
I think of it more as a soap opera than anything - if you follow it for a few years and see the politics going on behind the scenes, there's a lot of drama running through each season, even if individual races are often pretty uneventful.
Ideas like opening up the rules for more technical freedom sound good on paper, but that's why the sport go so expensive and has been dominated by a handful of teams/technical directors. Thirty years ago, the big teams had a fraction of the resources they have now, if you look at the front wing of the 1994 Williams, it's extremely simple compared to modern designs.
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If you want closer racing, you will need to highly restrict the aero, but then it will basically become a spec series like Indycar.
I think F1 would be better if they stopped pit stops under the safety car and got rid of DRS.
Don't have Sky so only watch the recorded highlights, if its dull there always the fast forward and you don't have to watch the RedBull cheerleaders club.
I have no interest in football and its worse since womens football got it rightfully status as there's twice as much football. I just avoid watching it. All media playing devices have an off button you just have to use it.
Don't winge on here just do something that you don't consider boring.
edit- change of plan, staying out of this thread for my mental health