F1 Fans - Fickle or Fair?

This thread is inspired by the strong criticism of Felipe Massa following his lacklustre performance in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. It seems that one poor performance is all it takes to turn a potential World Champion into a chump, even if they qualified on pole just a day earlier.

Are F1 fans fickle? Should drivers at the pinnacle of the sport expect to be strongly criticised when they don’t deliver the goods? Does the old maxim of “You’re only as good as your last race” still apply?

What are your thoughts?

Considering how much most of these guys are paid, I would say that expectations of them are rightly sky high. When you are being paid that much and have that much depending on you, having an off day is no excuse.

I would answer "fickle".

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Originally Posted by BeansBeansBeans

This thread is inspired by the strong criticism of Felipe Massa following his lacklustre performance in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. It seems that one poor performance is all it takes to turn a potential World Champion into a chump, even if they qualified on pole just a day earlier.

Are F1 fans fickle? Should drivers at the pinnacle of the sport expect to be strongly criticised when they don’t deliver the goods? Does the old maxim of “You’re only as good as your last race” still apply?

What are your thoughts?

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I think that anyone who goes off on one about a driver (or a team or car) on the basis of one performance isn't a true F1 enthusiast — I prefer that word to 'fan'. I also find the very strong allegiances some people have to particular drivers bizarre. Personally, I watch all forms of motorsport for the races themselves, rather than because I follow one particular driver or team in each series. I get much more enjoyment out of them that way than I would if I was constantly rooting for Kimi Raikkonen, or Sebastian Loeb, or whoever.

The other thing I'd say is that it doesn't matter what F1 drivers get paid. By that reckoning, I ought to be working half as hard as someone who gets paid twice as much as I do.

By and large F1 fans stick by the drivers they support or like through thick and thin. Fickle fans are likely to have no more than a passing interest in F1 and tend to support whoever is doing well at that particular time.

Should drivers be criticised when they don't deliver? That's difficult to answer without referring to specifics, and without covering ground that is being covered in other threads.

I think we're both fair and fickle - we call it as we see it, though fans who have favourite drivers are certainly more fickle! :P

'You're only as good as your last race' is very true in F1 because its a cut-throat business, but you should be prepared to give drivers the benefit of the doubt - this seems to be the case with Nico Rosberg.

People easily remember the great feats of Gilles Villeneuve yet many forget that he was nicknamed 'Air Canada' in his rookie year because of his habit of crashing and going airborne.

The thing with Massa is that it took him an extraordinarily few years to get to where he is and quite naturally at this moment in time it has been difficult not to describe Massa as 'inconsistent' and 'erratic'.

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Originally Posted by ArrowsFA1

By and large F1 fans stick by the drivers they support or like through thick and thin. Fickle fans are likely to have no more than a passing interest in F1 and tend to support whoever is doing well at that particular time.

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I'd disagree with that. I don't support a particular driver or team, yet I'd consider myself to have much more than a passing interest in F1. Nor would I say I was fickle.

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Originally Posted by BeansBeansBeans

I'd disagree with that. I don't support a particular driver or team, yet I'd consider myself to have much more than a passing interest in F1. Nor would I say I was fickle.

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Perhaps I didn't word it well!

By and large regular F1 fans, if they support a driver at all, stick by the drivers they support through thick and thin. Those who have a mere passing interest in the sport are likely to be more fickle and tend to support whoever is doing well at that particular time.

But we are talking about the criticism of drivers here, and fans of those drivers are likely to defend 'their' man, whether the criticism is justified or not.

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Originally Posted by ArrowsFA1

Perhaps I didn't word it well!

By and large regular F1 fans, if they support a driver at all, stick by the drivers they support through thick and thin. Those who have a mere passing interest in the sport are likely to be more fickle and tend to support whoever is doing well at that particular time.

But we are talking about the criticism of drivers here, and fans of those drivers are likely to defend 'their' man, whether the criticism is justified or not.

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Very good point.
Couldn't put it any better.

Not every fan* have strong opinions about all the drivers, i'm not that bothered by midfield and backwards, same with new drivers. I'm not a fair weather fan, but reserve the right to be fickle. :)

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Originally Posted by BeansBeansBeans

Does the old maxim of “You’re only as good as your last race” still apply?

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Yep, alas it tends to be so...

I would say a mixture of both.

Speaking generally I would say that the Tifosi are the most fickle fans. But when you see how devoted to the team they are, you can hardly blame them. They just want their team to win.

I wish I was fickle right now, It would be much nicer supporting a team other than Williams right now.

Fickle, definitely fickle.
But thats no different than 95% of fans of any other sport. When one of the fundamental principles on which all sports are built is competition - almost forcing people to take sides - it's hardly surprising.

Did Massa mess-up? Yup.
But his intentions were good (overtake!) and no one other than him suffered.

Both, I think. Its the same with any sport.

Also, many of you are appearing to write off Massa despite the fact there is still 15-something more races this season. Okay, he stuffed up and drove a dismal race, but I'm damn sure he'll work hard not to stuff up like this again. Give him a chance, he's still bloody quick.

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Originally Posted by BDunnell

I think that anyone who goes off on one about a driver (or a team or car) on the basis of one performance isn't a true F1 enthusiast

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It's not just one performance, it's his whole career. I vividly remember him taking himself and his team-mate out in Monaco 2005, and lots of these stupid mistakes have happened during his career.

Expectations had risen on Massa after he showed he was quick (we always knew that) and appeared to have improved in terms of reliability. The incident in Malaysia proved the opposite, that he still makes mistakes under pressure, and thus I think he never will be WDC even if he wins a couple of times while he has a good car.

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Originally Posted by aryan

I vividly remember him taking himself and his team-mate out in Monaco 2005

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Not too vividly obviously, because it was Villeneuve who took Massa out. Not the other way round.