Why do you support the team that you do?

[93VTEC]

Do you support the team, because of the manufacturer, or the driver.? Why?

See there isn't a single lad on the current grid that stands above the rest to me. For some perhaps their loyalty is based on nationality. Perhaps you drive the car of one of the manufacturers and like their philosophy, or simply their cars.

I'd just like to get a general view of the reasons for supporting a driver or a manufacturer.

I support Honda, because I like their passion and dedication to motorsports, I like the philosophy and I love their cars. As a manufacturer Honda is committed to making inherently environmentally unfriendly (cars) as environmentally friendly as possible. Honda simply refuses to make an engine bigger than 6 cylinders, as a matter of fact, they keep trying to make them smaller more fuel efficient and even completely carbon fuel free.

Personally I could never support a team like Ferrari. Sure they make nice cars, but they are overpriced, unfriendly to the regular Joe and the environment. So If I can never own one, and I know that it isn't good for the general good, I don't care for their driver. Why would you support a team like that. On top of it all, they still use tobacco money to run their team. IMHO completely wrong in this day and age.

[ottostreet]

well, i started watching f1 at the start of the 1999 season, and right from day 1, i supported mika hakkinen & the mclaren team. when hakkinen retired, i had no reason to switch as his heir apparent raikkonen took over his seat and appeared to have even more raw talent than mika did. my feelings of pride in "my boys" at mclaren grew over the years. i loved the cars, the fact that mclaren existed solely to go racing, and push the boundaries of what a car can do. this is basically the exact opposite of your opinion, as i dont like honda at all any more, since they started being all eco-friendly and stuff, since that isnt what this sport is about at all. however, this year im in a dilemma. ferrari have to me for years been "the enemy", yet my driver has gone and joined them and apparently is a lot happier there. mclaren have gone and got themselves a very talented, but unlikeable set of drivers, and my feelings of them being "family" are dying. they are not the "west mclaren mercedes" team that i started off supporting any more, so really, im having no real problems changing over to ferrari, as they are no longer the same ferrari team that existed in 99/00, if you know what i mean. i suppose what im trying to say is i dont really support any one team. i support drivers, and individual teams at individual times that suit me. for instance, i liked sauber, and i now like bmw as they didnt fundamentally change the team, just added on to it, while toro roso are not quite as likeable as minardi. so in other words, i supported the west mclaren mercedes team of 1999-2006, and i support ferrari from 2007-whenever i feel that they are not the same ferrari any more.

[jens]

Probably many or at least some can't understand, why am I supporting Toyota (what? who?). As some acquiantances and friends have asked me: "Why on earth Toyota? They are losers!" Btw, I haven't noticed anyone else walking around with a Toyota cap. :

1) For some reason I have always liked Toyota as a car manufacturer and I really don't know an exact answer to that phenomenon. I also supported them in WRC. Such likings come from early youth and are often inexplicable. Maybe their nice logo? : Maybe that they are the leading Japanese car manufacturer, who has led Japan to the top of world car manufacturers? (and I like Japanese. Why? - that's another story...)

2) I liked to see them building up a team from zero - what can they do and how much time will it take to make it to the top? That's a lot more interesting variant than buying another team, who has previosly been at least a midfielder. Also newcomers have always been sympathetic to me. Also with their huge budget I hoped at the beginning that as the trio of Ferrari, McLaren and Williams has been a major force in F1 for two decades, and always seeing only them at the top became a bit boring, then Toyota (Renault was another hope at that time) may create some change at the top, although that hope is gradually disappearing... After scoring 2 points in 3 races I remember that many people liked Toyota for their passion and "Japanese attitude" for doing silently their thing and already beating several more experienced "overhyped" teams (Jaguar, BAR) - they were expected to have a great future. I'm only one of the very few, who hasn't let them down since them...

3) And of course Trulli. In 2002-2004 I had some kind of "passive" support for Toyota - about the same as the likes of Prost, Arrows, Sauber, Jaguar, etc. "Underdogs" have always been sympathetic to me and it's nice to see them doing well and creating some mess at the top. But yeah - wherever Trulli drives, that team automatically rises to top for me. When Jarno leaves the team, then probably Toyota wouldn't be the same for me any more...

I'm tired at the moment and therefore I'm skipping telling my memoires about Trulli, Ferrari, etc at the moment.

[Ian McC]

Don't support teams, just drivers though I have found it a little difficult to deal with Kimi in red

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I've always liked McLaren over Ferrari. Maybe because Ferrarri had a German driver and Mclaren had a Brit. So I like to think I go for the nationality of the teams drivers.

Out of the teams with brits I want Honda to win. I admire them as the only Japanese manufacture that designs cars with a soul.

[jas123f1]

The question is - which one you support more a team or a driver you like. For me it's a driver (and the team who supports "my" driver). That's easy for me, so when Kimi went to Ferrari - so did I and it was even easier because I like Massa too.

[Gannex]

For me, I support the team not the driver. My team is Williams and usually I support our driver unless he isn't pulling his weight. Like Juan Pablo Montoya, for example. He didn't work hard for Williams and blamed us when things didn't go well. I could never support him after that. But Mark Webber I will always root for, because he was a professional, hard-working Williams driver. I have a totally team-centric view of the sport, I suppose, except when it comes to people like Michael Schumacher, who transcend team loyalties and even national loyalties. I revere him, as one of the F1 greats.

[Rollo]

I like to watch people who have come up through the ranks finally make it: Mika, Alonso, Lewis Hamilton.
I like watching drivers with actual personality:
Mansell, Hill, Eddie Irvine.
I like supreme masters at their work who go about it cooly:
Prost, Kimi, Pierluigi Martini

And I actively dislike people who use their cars as weapons:
Senna & Schumacher.

I also like cheering on teams with no hope at all:
Minardi, Ligier, Super Aguri Best Friends.

[call_me_andrew]

I support the manufacturers. But since Ford and Cosworth are gone, I just support whoever can help my fantasy racing.

And if I could, I'd replace all the drivers with robots.

[Hawkmoon]

For me, the driver is immaterial. The team is the only thing that is important. I have supported Ferrari for nearly 20 years and through them I have supported about a dozen different drivers. When a driver leaves Ferrari, I no longer support him. Which is why a was glad Schumi retired a Ferrari driver as he was a special case.