What an absolute shame this is. Of course the F1 tribe will do as much spin doctoring as they can to try make it look fantastic, and in a way it is, but only in a very superficial sense. The true fact of the matter is that F1 is a total bore-fest and an exciting and close title chase is not enough to sway that opinion. The math for this weekend is extremely simple, it's all been worked out for us. If Rosberg gets on the podium its his. If he doesn't, then Hamilton needs to be a fair bit ahead. That part is cool because both drivers polarise the fan base, maybe not quite to the vitriolic levels of a US Presidential race but still split nonetheless. However, there be a problem. The excitment is downed by the boredom. There is an abundance of ideas being thrown around on how to fix it, not helped by the erratic thought patterns of Bernie Ecclestone whose latest brain wave is to change it from one race into two short sprints. Maybe it's more likely that as he continues to lose his marbles it is also affecting his attention span and the shorter races would give him time to rest in between. And let's not discuss the one-time-only-thank-goodness change to qualifying.... But back to the multitude of ideas. Bigger tyres, changing the aero, increasing the horsepower, making the cars more dangerous, upping the speeds - it goes on. I personally think the best idea would be to remove half the technology and make the brand ambassadors actually drive again. You know, get them to stop posing with their watches and suits and remembering what it is like to pilot a race machine completely under their own control. The teams and manufacturers would be highly against that idea of course as technology is what they are about. They want to create the best rolling computer possible and get the most efficient operator to control it. And that is an important point. When young aggressive drivers like Verstappen are told over the radio to not try pass Rosberg you know there is a problem with the system. Driving is disappearing and operators are taking over the seats. Boy, could you imagine in days past trying to tell Senna, Prost, Schumacher not to pass?!? So the technology is never going to be removed. And that has me split because I love the fact that F1 has always been a development category, and their creations are still being passed down to us regular car drivers via our road machinery, but it now I feel it needs to stop and go back a cog or two. However, therein lies another problem, if you stop the technology development it becomes a lesser category and those below it could quickly catch up - maybe even slip by - and F1 is a business after all, and you don't go handing your opposition easy advantages to take over your market share. Seems it's not such an easy fix after all then. There's another issue with the entity by the way - yes we know it and we hate it - the buying of seats. It's always going to be this way now, only those that can raise the funding will be seen on the circuits in those cars. But that's another long winded topic for another day. Back to the main point though, and that is F1 this weekend will give us something to watch because it's exciting when a title race comes down to the last weekend of the season. Every category wants that, it happens with Indycar a lot, Supercars as well, and even Nascar goes to the final round - oh wait, sorry, ditch the Nascar comparison, that's a fake 'chase' to a title. But F1 like many others even if the actual racing is completely mind-numbing is giving us what we want. And I really hate them for that. Sooty |
AuthorCraig a.k.a Sooty, is opinionated, polarising, and never afraid to share his thoughts. Occasionally he even says something smart. Archives
December 2017
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