Boring!

[race aficionado]

subdued???
I stand corrected!





mokin:

[BDunnell]

Here is why I think most f1 fans are nuts. IF YOU WANT ENTERTAINMENT...... ummm duhh, I am not being paid to watch this dreck ya know.

It is really simple. Go find some videotape of f1 races in the late 70's and early 80's. Watch Arnoux and Villeneuve's epic battle at Dijon. Watch the cars sliding and powering through the corners at Monaco. Then watch today's f1. I can tell you that you will not know they were the same sport. F1 is so antiseptic, that when two cars get side by side, the announcers have an orgasm.

F1 is overpriced, and it underdelivers. The cars and drivers and teams are the pinnacle of motorsport, the courses are safe, the facilities are wonderful, and I almost always flip around to see what is on other channels when Iam watching f1. Why? because nothing happens. I have been a racing fan for 35 plus years, going back to my first Canadian GP when I was 6 at Mosport. I have worked in racing as a volunteer for roadracing for years. I have watched enough racing to understand that f1 is just not that exciting. I enjoy watching qualifiying more than the actual races now because I know I will see all the cars and I will see an end at some point. F1 races just are a snore after 5 laps. When an exciting pit strategy is the way to get around someone, there is a problem.

For those of you who think f1 is the only way to go, god help you, you really have brainwashed yourselves. F1 is ok, can have moments, is the pinnacle of racing technology, but entertaining? Well, no, not really. I don't need to see a pass every lap, but it would be nice to see battles for the lead. I cant remember the last time there was a serious duel for the lead, and if there was one last year, I doubt there was two.

I agree with every word you say, but isn't the manner in which F1 has developed unavoidable to an extent because of the way in which it has become a global business, something I'm sure you don't disagree with? I equate the relative dullness of F1 with corporate blandness.

In addition, I can't help but feel that you are looking at the past through rose-tinted spectacles. I am younger than you, but even so I have spoken to plenty of people who have been F1 enthusiasts for a long time, and they all say that there have been dull races for as long as they remember. It doesn't make it any more disappointing that there are no longer the furious battles of a 1967 Italian GP or a 1979 French GP (by the way, I do find it sad that many younger F1 fans, and also many younger F1 drivers, don't have a clue why I'm referring to those races), but, as Denis Jenkinson wrote after the latter, "All races cannot be good, but you should watch all the races so that when one is good you don't miss it".

[e2mtt]

I thought the start of Sundays race was quite exciting, and the Massa vs. Hamilton was a great tussle. As jarrambide said above, for every exciting race in any year, there were many more dull ones.

2 race engines, having to qualify on race load fuel (knockouts are cool though), and having to run 2 different tire compounds every race are all gimmicks that HURT the show.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

2-race engines turns the event into an endurance, and that really spoils the show.

[BDunnell]

2-race engines turns the event into an endurance, and that really spoils the show.

Does it now, though? I haven't thought about it in the course of watching the first two races of 2007. The teams seem to have adapted to the rule quite well now, to the extent where the races don't seem like reliability runs.

[race aficionado]

. . . . but, as Denis Jenkinson wrote after the latter, "All races cannot be good, but you should watch all the races so that when one is good you don't miss it".

Every race I watch - and this from a fan that has lost his fave racer from the F1 roster - I get excited by just watching the spectacle of those wonderful looking cars. There is something about the F1 circus that attracts me and I am just waiting for a great race to happen everytime I'm watching one.
Granted, it doesn't happen everytime and not often but In the not so many years that I have been watching, I have been witness to some fantastic races and they appear out of nowhere like when it rains, or a crazy fan walks across the track and causes a mess up in the racing order or there is a great come from behind or a great fight for the front . . . .
heck, if TV directors allowed us we would witness some mid pack battles that would have us all cheering but we never get to witness . . .

It eventually happens and if you wait, you will again witness an event that will lighten up all the racing forums everywhere with excited fan chatter.

Can't wait.

mokin:

[wedge]

In addition, I can't help but feel that you are looking at the past through rose-tinted spectacles. I am younger than you, but even so I have spoken to plenty of people who have been F1 enthusiasts for a long time, and they all say that there have been dull races for as long as they remember. It doesn't make it any more disappointing that there are no longer the furious battles of a 1967 Italian GP or a 1979 French GP (by the way, I do find it sad that many younger F1 fans, and also many younger F1 drivers, don't have a clue why I'm referring to those races), but, as Denis Jenkinson wrote after the latter, "All races cannot be good, but you should watch all the races so that when one is good you don't miss it".

Were there anymore great races in '79 or was it only at Dijon?

Also most people's access to visual history are documentaries, DVDs, videos, youtube. Full re-run/repeats of past races are rarely shown in its entirety.

We have selective memory and want to remember the good things in life.

Murray Walker mentions that Mansell and Senna were the drivers most talked about and yet most people would rather forget/not mention that Prost demolished the opposition and when he won a particular race. That concept still applies when people mention the good ol' days of F1.

2-race engines turns the event into an endurance, and that really spoils the show.

We had the same problem when refuelling was banned. Cars would suddenly slow down during the latter stages of the race because the drivers were afraid they would run out of fuel. But hey, that didn't stop the 1980s from being a golden era!

[ShiftingGears]

Were there anymore great races in '79 or was it only at Dijon?

Also most people's access to visual history are documentaries, DVDs, videos, youtube. Full re-run/repeats of past races are rarely shown in its entirety.

We have selective memory and want to remember the good things in life.

Murray Walker mentions that Mansell and Senna were the drivers most talked about and yet most people would rather forget/not mention that Prost demolished the opposition and when he won a particular race. That concept still applies when people mention the good ol' days of F1.

Off the top of my head there were still very memorable moments from 1979, at Watkins Glen Villeneuve grabbed pole position by 9 seconds! At Zandvoort he passed Alan Jones around the outside of Tarzankurve, and later suffered a tyre puncture, and drove back around the circuit on three wheels, refusing to concede defeat. Also, I think theres still the whole Kyalami race from '79 on youtube.

And about Alain, no doubt the man was a genius, but it was Senna and Mansell that tended to do the most spectacular things, like passing drivers for position around the outside of the Peraltada, for instance. Alain was unspectacular in comparison. Brilliant, but unspectacular.

[tinchote]

Off the top of my head there were still very memorable moments from 1979, at Watkins Glen Villeneuve grabbed pole position by 9 seconds!

I have no idea where you got that from. In his whole career, JV got two pole positions: at Long Beach 79, by 0.061 seconds; and at Imola 81, by .706. Curiously, in both cases 2nd in the grid was Reutemann.

At Watkins Glen 79, JV started 3rd.

[rickos]

Please promise me that you will never post on this forum again Do not try and compare F1, cricket & "soccer" to NFL and NBA. It's very insulting.


The best way to spice up F1 is to make the track wet before the race , or for Bridgestone to make a tyre that falls apart after 5 laps.

How 'bout "soccer" and darts - enough to give an F1 fan cardiac arrest! And it's all fun and games until someone gets one in the eye.

Football is for the NFL, not "kicky-ball" in cute little short-shorts.
mokin: