Has F1 become boring?

[tommy2k8]

Am I the only one on here (all my friends say it too) that, after the first few laps, now, F1 is boring?

Touring Cars is better, a lot better.

F1 has changed the rules too much, and I was really looking forward to Bahrain, after all the hype about the drivers!

[Retro Formula 1]

ITV is better than BBC?
Touring cars are better than F1?

Are you and your friends on the right forum?

[V12]

Depends what you define as "boring".

I find soaps, reality TV shows, and shows with Z-list celebrities arsing about on an ice rink or in a ballroom to be mind-numbingly boring, but a large chunk of the population seems to disagree with me going on TV ratings.

The only things boring about F1 are the politics, the number of tyre manufacturers and the rate of engine development. IMO of course.

[steveaki13]

I never use the word Boring.

Sometimes if I am talking to someone about F1 they will say its very Boring.
I always say its a Uneventful rather than Boring

As I don't see 24 drivers racing at up to 200 mph as boring.

[jens]

People have been complaining about the boringness of F1 since forever.

[Langdale Forest]

Last year was an improvement over 2008, but refuelling was very exiting, remember what happend to Raikkonen in the pit lane last year?

Now things are boring again.

[e2mtt]

It's always been boring - if your idea of exciting racing involves lots of banging wheels & rubbing fenders, or 2 lap sprints to the finish, or weekly handicapping of cars to achieve closer finishes, or running whole laps without ever lifting off the throttle, or even whole races consisting of nothing but highlight clips.

[BTCC2]

Touring Cars is better, a lot better.

:D Obviously!

[CNR]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-1258164/Blame-teams-bore-Bahrain-F1-supremo-Bernie-Ecclestone-begs-real-racing.html


'The teams know this but they won’t do anything about it because each team look after their own interests, trying to win.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-1258164/Blame-teams-bore-Bahrain-F1-supremo-Bernie-Ecclestone-begs-real-racing.html#ixzz0iI33z0DG (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-1258164/Blame-teams-bore-Bahrain-F1-supremo-Bernie-Ecclestone-begs-real-racing.html#ixzz0iI33z0DG)

[e2mtt]

Apparently Bernie isn't too bright. He thinks the teams should volountarily make their cars easier to overtake? He long ago forgot what racing was, he judges only on what makes him the most money.

[ArrowsFA1]

I agree with Bernie entirely here:

Ecclestone said: ‘It is basically the same problem we have had for the last few years, with cars not being able to get close to the one in front to create more overtaking.
That's the issue F1 has to resolve. Fiddling around with tyres, pit stops, points etc etc do nothing to alter the fact that the cars can't race closely together.

[AJP]

Even Mark Webber is snoozing off...and I totally agree

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/f1-is-boring-says-webber-20100316-qc1t.html

[Sulland]

F1 need to get back racing on the track again.

In my opinion the fueling ban is the way to go, but the variety of tires need to be better to give the teams flex to make the stragegy. Maybe 4 different compounds from super soft to hard. Where you could go the full race distance on hard tires. Cut the two way radio comms, and leve the planning to the driver. Then the brains of Alain Prost would have to start working again !

Many times in the last few years the GP2 races have been more fun to watch, and that is not how it should be.
The difference btw the teams is too big, and that makes a bad starting point for an exiting race.

FIA need to give much less engineering freedom for the teams, so they even out.
Standard front and rear wings, standard diffuser, that all are made to improve the possibility to do close racing.

The tracks also need to be improved to give option for overtaking. Sack Tilke and use drivers or Ex drivers to design them !

Make F1 cars 2,0 meters wide again, so they look as the top class !

[Mark]

Even Mark Webber is snoozing off...and I totally agree

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/motorsport/f1-is-boring-says-webber-20100316-qc1t.html


With a ban on refueling this season and pitstops limited to one a race, drivers reacted by producing an unbroken procession for fear of ruining tyres by pushing too hard or attempting to overtake.

Hmm..

[AJP]

the most exciting part of the race was watching Fernando weave his way over the line at the finish .....

[tommy2k8]

Personally, I can't wait for BTCC 2010!

[turismo6]

Are pitstops limited to one a race?

[V12]

'The teams know this but they won’t do anything about it because each team look after their own interests, trying to win.


Ummm....isn't that their job, Bernie?


FIA need to give much less engineering freedom for the teams, so they even out.

That is what the FIA have been doing! Or working towards. A field of evenly matched cars means there is likely to be less overtaking.

[AndyRAC]

I hope they keep the refueling ban. However, change the tyre regs/rules so you don't have to use both sets of tyres. At the moment, most are doing the same strategy.

[Mark]

Are pitstops limited to one a race?

No!

But the tyre regs mean you must make *at least* one stop.

[BeansBeansBeans]

Due to refuelling and thr subsequent sprint-stop-sprint-stop strategies the drivers simply aren't used to having to overtake their rivals on track whilst looking after their cars. It's something they're going to have to learn.

[markabilly]

f1 has been getting more and more boring....just when it seems it could not get anymore boring, it does....too much big money and hi-tech, with engineers running the race and not drivers....why not just get rid of the drivers and go full computer driven from the pits??

and now teams have figured out that it is just as important to block cars from passing with areo designs and DD as it is to go fast, it will be even more so.

So the areo problems are becoming even more so.....

[BeansBeansBeans]

why not just get rid of the drivers and go full computer driven from the pits??

Many engineers would favour that approach. Steve Matchett for one.

[Saint Devote]

I dont see where this race boring. The nonsense is now being taken up and is preading like wildfire with Coulthard weighing in.

What race did people watch?

There was a good battle between Glock and Kovaleinen and of course between two old adversaries Hamilton and Rosberg. They were close for laps and pushing each other. Both made errors and Lewis prevailed.

What about Alonso's pursuit of Vettel? Does that not count? Or is this no longer F1? It was resolved in a typical F1 fashion and then Vettel drove magnificently to finish fourth, while Fernando and Massa - a great comeback outqualifying ALONSO [!!!] gave Ferrari a one-two.

The handling of the cars by all drivers through the new and difficult section was just so beautiful.

This was F1, it is grand prix racing and it is not supposed to a game of kick-about. It is the chess game of racing and ALL drivers are pretty good to be there.

I thought watching Bruno complete his first race was so emotional and it really made me sad when I thought how proud his uncle Ayrton would have been!

Or maybe I am a real dinosaur with the last remaining F1 soul? I love this sport deeply. I was nurtured on it. I have been to many grands prix especially during my youth and love both Italy and Monaco.

I understand this sport and as far as I am concerned it was a good grand prix and I would take on David Coulthard - who once many years ago said "who cares about F1 history".

Well I do David - and we share the same names. Because anyone that forgets their history will never understand who they are. And YOU, may well speak with far more credibilty than me, but I have 36 seasons behind me and a knowledge and love of racing history that makes as a fan credible too.

Bahrain was great hard fought grand prix. Gritty, tough and brutal just like the desert that I love so very much.

And so appropriate - a Ferrari won with the best driver iin the world driving. Fangio must surely be smiling down from heaven with Ayrton and Jimmy right be his side! :-]]

I am sure Albert Park will be just as good - and as usual the Aussies will put on another great event.

[Mark]

"It is basically the same problem we have had for the last few years about downforce and cars not being able to get close to the one in front to create more overtaking.
"The teams know this but they won't do anything about it because each team looks after its own interests: trying to win. - Ecclestone.


Exactly right, teams are there to win. It's the job of the governing body to set down rules to make sure this doesn't happen. They've been talking about this for decades, why isn't it solved?!

[Retro Formula 1]

That's the problem. With one tire manufacturer, there is no option to be innovative.

If we had another manufacturer, we might get a tyre thats 2 seconds quicker a lap but lasts 15 laps so you can have blitz drives while others would play the long game with one stop.

F1 is too homogenised.

[ShiftingGears]

I did not find it boring - however, I think the rules take out some of the dynamics of the racing, and as a result it wasn't as eventful as it probably would've been.

[ArrowsFA1]

Exactly right, teams are there to win. It's the job of the governing body to set down rules to make sure this doesn't happen. They've been talking about this for decades, why isn't it solved?!
DC's been rather outspoken about the role of the FIA:


I hope Max Mosley, watching from his ivory tower after relinquishing his post as president of Formula One’s governing body last autumn, enjoyed the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.
Revs limited to 18,000rpm, the ban on in-race refuelling, standardised gearboxes and engines, a single tyre supplier; all initiatives introduced during his tenure at the FIA, all of which appear to have done little for the show if Bahrain is anything to go on.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/7450600/David-Coulthard-Max-Mosleys-Formula-One-legacy-has-left-us-with-soporific-spectacle.html

[V12]

It's actually nice that DC has become probably the first person within the F1 paddock to speak out against the standardisation of gearboxes, engines and tyres, and the rev limit and so on.

It really shouldn't be rocket science, the more variables you remove, the less chance for things to get mixed up come race day.

[turismo6]

Most people seem to be blaming Max Mosley,I can't help think that Honda and Toyota's spending is what brought standardised gearboxes and engines.

[aryan]

There is no issue with no-refuling. Refuling was only introduced in F1 16 years ago and we had lots of interesting races before that.

The issue is the huge amount of downforce that the cars create, and the turbulent air that they leave behind. This was partially worked around using pit-passing in the refuling years, but that was more of a band aid rather than curing the problem.

2009's regulations of course were supposed to bring down downforce, but we all know that clever engineers had nearly clawed back all that downforce by the end of the season.

Something radical needs to happen to significantly (by which I mean at least an order of ten) bring down downforce, and lessen the dirty air that cars create behind them. I'm not against running with no rear spoiler. Sure it would make the cars look 'weird' by modern standards, but so what? We'll all get used to them, as we all got used to 'ugly' 2009 cars.

[V12]

2009's regulations of course were supposed to bring down downforce, but we all know that clever engineers had nearly clawed back all that downforce by the end of the season.

Something radical needs to happen to significantly (by which I mean at least an order of ten) bring down downforce, and lessen the dirty air that cars create behind them. I'm not against running with no rear spoiler. Sure it would make the cars look 'weird' by modern standards, but so what? We'll all get used to them, as we all got used to 'ugly' 2009 cars.

That's what I'm saying - the slight downforce reductions just lead to a never-ending game of cat and mouse between the designers and rulemakers and downforce levels will stay pretty much constant over a period of time, because the designers and engineers quite rightly do their job, which is to make their cars go faster, to win motor races.

The people in charge either need to let go of this obsession with downforce, trailing wake and overtaking, and just let things evolve, or grab the bull by the horns and draft some radical regulations that pretty much eliminate all over-body downforce generating devices (and apply the same to GP2, F3 etc) and let the designers cope with that. I'd be perfectly happy with either of these outcomes, but half-arsed measures rarely achieve anything.

[I am evil Homer]

The last few seasons only appeared to be interesting thanks to some 'strange' (and i'm being generous) decisions by the FIA over certain incidents to avoid one driver or another walking away with the title earlier. It was artificial.

Last season was freakish due to a technical interpreation of the rules that gave one team a head start the others couldn't catch up, quite aside from Mac and Ferrari producing absolute stinkers for cars.

So in summary it's not more or less boring that ever.

[Daniel]

Personally, I can't wait for BTCC 2010!

Me too. I had problems sleeping last night and this would have helped

[race aficionado]

I agree with Bernie entirely here:

That's the issue F1 has to resolve. Fiddling around with tyres, pit stops, points etc etc do nothing to alter the fact that the cars can't race closely together.

That's probably why I'm getting hooked to NASCAR.
The only reason I followed NASCAR was to follow Juan Pablo and now all that close racing (yes, round and round in circles, I know . . . .)-but very close racing at very fast speeds, is exciting.

I still watch F1 but by recording it and fast forwarding it.

I will continue watching F1 because like all of you, we know it can get better and I love the sport.
:s mokin:

[ArrowsFA1]

That's probably why I'm getting hooked to NASCAR.
The only reason I followed NASCAR was to follow Juan Pablo and now all that close racing (yes, round and round in circles, I know . . . .)-but very close racing at very fast speeds, is exciting.
And Bristol this weekend :eek: How about F1 on that track :p :

[gloomyDAY]

That's probably why I'm getting hooked to NASCAR.
The only reason I followed NASCAR was to follow Juan Pablo and now all that close racing (yes, round and round in circles, I know . . . .)-but very close racing at very fast speeds, is exciting.

I still watch F1 but by recording it and fast forwarding it.

I will continue watching F1 because like all of you, we know it can get better and I love the sport.
:s mokin:I hate to admit it, but I've been watching more NASCAR as well. The reg changes remind me of how much fun the sport used to be. I saw the race in Atlanta last weekend and thought that JPM could have won the race if he didn't mess up the last restart!

Bristol will be incredible as always.

Anyway, my point is that F1 might want to take a few notes from NASCAR. Someone once mentioned here on the forums that F1 is getting worse because of its NASCARification, but apparently the Americans have got the marketing side down pretty well. I only think that attendance is down because of the recession and viewing numbers were down because of the silly rules that are now being repealed.

[V12]

I hate to admit it, but I've been watching more NASCAR as well. The reg changes remind me of how much fun the sport used to be. I saw the race in Atlanta last weekend and thought that JPM could have won the race if he didn't mess up the last restart!

Bristol will be incredible as always.

Anyway, my point is that F1 might want to take a few notes from NASCAR. Someone once mentioned here on the forums that F1 is getting worse because of its NASCARification, but apparently the Americans have got the marketing side down pretty well. I only think that attendance is down because of the recession and viewing numbers were down because of the silly rules that are now being repealed.

Don't get me wrong, NASCAR does do some things very well - the entry lists are open, with no "selection process" and no requirement to contest the entire season, allowing for interesting "one-offs". It's also nice to see whacking great big numbers on the sides of the cars compared to the ones in F1 that you need a microscope to see.

For all that though, it's still not for me, I made an effort to watch the Daytona 500 and still couldn't get into it. All the cars look identical with only the manufacturer badges, and fake grill and light decals to differentiate between them, and the close pack racing is nice when it happens now and again but when it happens all the time...well it would be like eating fillet steak every day, it's good but when it becomes the norm it aint special anymore. The first 199 laps of the race (or however many minus 1) become irrelevant. Then you add all the crap like yellow flags thrown for no reason other than to bunch the field up, and so on, zzzzzzzzzzz.

Still NASCAR is very good at what it does and while I don't like it I can respect it. I wish F1 would stop trying to be all things to all people for the sake of Bernie's wallet and stick to what it (used to be) good at.

[Daniel]

Don't get me wrong, NASCAR does do some things very well - the entry lists are open, with no "selection process" and no requirement to contest the entire season, allowing for interesting "one-offs". It's also nice to see whacking great big numbers on the sides of the cars compared to the ones in F1 that you need a microscope to see.

For all that though, it's still not for me, I made an effort to watch the Daytona 500 and still couldn't get into it. All the cars look identical with only the manufacturer badges, and fake grill and light decals to differentiate between them, and the close pack racing is nice when it happens now and again but when it happens all the time...well it would be like eating fillet steak every day, it's good but when it becomes the norm it aint special anymore. The first 199 laps of the race (or however many minus 1) become irrelevant. Then you add all the crap like yellow flags thrown for no reason other than to bunch the field up, and so on, zzzzzzzzzzz.

Still NASCAR is very good at what it does and while I don't like it I can respect it. I wish F1 would stop trying to be all things to all people for the sake of Bernie's wallet and stick to what it (used to be) good at.
So you're saying that F1 is better because it's **** more often than NASCAR?

[Volky34]

Exactly the same track, same conditions, no pits for fuel and check this out!!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFfzNN5z2X8&feature=related

There's a fundamental problem and it's called the side effects of technology :) So much downforce, so fragile cars, so routine races......

[Mia 01]

With this new regulation F1 is going straight down the drain for the new fans.

Where can we watch MS or other drivers skill with this regulaion?

[Mark]

You don't need to get rid of rear wings. Simply mandate that they must be made of a single element and must be entirely flat.

[Jag_Warrior]

I don't think this raced lived up to the pre-season media hype or certain fan expectations, but it was still better than watching paint dry... barely. :p :

Jokes aside, my hope is that the teams will figure out how to manage their tires and still race (pretty much) full out in the races to come.