Verstappen title win would have “feel-good” factor – Ricciardo

RaceFans Round-up

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In the round-up: Daniel Ricciardo says he isn’t rooting for either world championship contenders, but suspects one would be a more popular winner.

In brief

Verstappen would be popular champion – Ricciardo

Ricciardo, who was Max Verstappen’s team mate at Red Bull between 2016 and 2018, suspects he would be a more popular world champion this year than Lewis Hamilton, who has won the last four titles in a row.

“I think just kind of ‘may the best man win’,” said Ricciardo when asked whether he had a preference between either of the title contenders.

“The rivalry they’ve had this year has been pretty awesome, as a fan. I think they’ve left it all out there. So from that point of view, I think they are where they are, I think it’s fair at the moment in terms of they are nip-and-tuck. So no preference.

“I think obviously people do like to see like a fresh face, so maybe Max is the more popular vote because it would be a first title for him and it’s something new and exciting for everyone. So that’s always like you’ve got that feel-good story.

Feature: How do Hamilton and Verstappen’s rivals see their championship fight?
“But I think as long as no misfortune is involved, then I think the guy that wins is the one that’s going to deserve it.”

Formula 2 to help teams meet cost of record calendar

After announcing the longest F2 calendar in the 17-year history of the series and its predecessor GP2, CEO Bruno Michel says teams will be given assistance to meet the rising costs they face. While F2 will move from triple to double-header events next year, the number of rounds will almost double from eight to 14.

“A lot of circuits have expressed their interest to have our championship added to their race weekend programme, but for costs reasons, we cannot increase the number of rounds more than we already have,” said Michel. “This calendar will of course induce an increase of our teams’ budgets, but we will support them so that they are able to manage the extra costs.”

Ricciardo’s NASCAR run confirmed

Ricciardo will have his promised run in team CEO Zak Brown’s ex-Dale Earnhardt 1984 Chevrolet Monte Carlo NASCAR at next week’s United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas. Brown promised Ricciardo in the run as a prize for his first podium finish for the team, which he achieved with his victory in the Italian Grand Prix.

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Comment of the day

Is Formula 1’s sprint qualifying format designed for the American market?

I’m from the US. Long events like F1, soccer, rugby don’t play well in the our market.

All of our popular TV sports are short bursts of action – golf, basketball, hockey, football. Even baseball is a new ‘event’ with each pitch.

NASCAR now runs several races broken into ‘stages’ and run at fewer laps with the total equalling the original race distance. The teams stop between stages and then line up and race again with each stage based on the previous result.

US football fans will watch three or four college football games on Saturday and then three or four pro games on Sunday. These are different teams so there’s ‘variety’ to the day. US fans will watch but they want variety and the possibility of ‘action’ all the time.

This is the market Liberty are trying to woo. I’m different. I like bike racing, F1, track and field.
Dale

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On this day in motorsport

Lewis Hamilton couldn’t keep Sebastian Vettel from victory on this day in 2011

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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72 comments on “Verstappen title win would have “feel-good” factor – Ricciardo”

  1. Re: COTD, I don’t know how you can call golf a sport with ‘brief bursts of action’. It’s a sport entirely devoid of action! If the viewing public finds a Grand Prix boring, it’s beyond me how they can get through a golf event.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      17th October 2021, 15:06

      @exediron the same can be said of football. I’ve to tip my hat off to any football player because I fall asleep when I watch them. I don’t know how they manage to stay in the game because they play for a few seconds, then come off the field, and there are breaks and breaks. Occasionally, there’s a decent game like a Superbowl where they score 40-50 points…

      Thank god for soccer ;-)

  2. The irony of American sports is that they always seem to go on forever. Its partly down to the constant stopping of the clock after each incident rather than a running clock in traditional European sports. So saying F1 is too long for Americans is almost a contradiction.
    The sad thing is that the “short bursts of action” is largely due to adverts and how the sports have been forced to adapt to TV, rather than the TV coverage doing justice to the sport.

    1. Maybe American sport works like Test Cricket – you have it on in the background while you do something worthwhile, but when you hear cheers you go watch the replay. It’s a brilliant way to spend 5 days getting things done :)

  3. Re: COTD, also being from the US, my peers complain about the length of games and the constant commercial breaks in other sports. F1 has neither of these issues.
    Ironically, qualifying (of non sprint variety) is the most suited to American audiences by that logic. Perhaps Liberty should have doubled down and had each car go out one by one with commercial breaks in between.

    1. Worrying stuff this US picture. It shows people so disconnected and shallow they cant even hold their attention for more than 30 minutes and the actual performance and achievements of athletes are brought done to a format that fits eating pizza in front of the tv. I personally feel the US culture has already taken the romance out of a lot of societal things, just for the sake of consumerism and capitalism. The future surely isnt bright with Liberty on board

  4. Here is a thought for sprint qualifying.

    Weekend format:
    Run it on Fridays in place of F2. Use reverse championship order / reverse finishing order of the last race as the starting grid. Let it be 33% or 50% of the race distance. Parc ferme doesn’t apply. Run Saturday and Sunday as per regular weekend.

    Championship format:
    For the sprint races, award drivers ‘sprint points’. 20 to 0 sprint points awarded for finishing 1st to 20th with 1 sprint point difference between each finishing position.
    Now after the last sprint race of the championship is concluded, arrange drivers in descending order of the sprint points. To the drivers ranked 1st to 10th, award them 25 to 1 points (equivalent of 1 grand prix race) for the official championship.

    This way, the sprint races do not alter the existing grand prix races. The problem of meaningless FP2 is resolved. Drivers will put effort to overtake and improve their position even after the 1st lap as there are sprint points at stake – for every position – which will eventually lead to an impact on the main championship. Drivers won’t be worried about damage to car as there is enough time to repair the car between Friday and Saturday. And also, the overall impact of all sprint races put together to the championship is equivalent of just 1 race.

    1. @Sumedh The meaningless F2 issue would get resolved merely by axing F2 altogether or swapping QLF & FP2 around.

    2. Reverse grid is utter nonsense.
      Deal with it.

      1. Actually I don’t mind reverse grid.
        Just like karting days, the real cream can actually make up ground with relentless overtaking, which is a real skill which can transcend the equipment. Yes there is luck & there are traps but it still separates the cream from the rest.

      2. We get a reverse grid race with russia, gets voted 10, mmmmm.

  5. I worry whenever I hear ‘American market’

  6. So now the round-up includes a RF tweet merely referring to an earlier article.
    One would almost pay to get ads on this site to see something new :P

    1. Agreed. It’s a really disappointing round up today.

      1) As mentioned by jff, using your own tweet as the post of the day never cuts it and is a practice that really shouldn’t happen. But especially today as:
      2) On this day in motorsport – the result of an F1 race 10 years ago today, rather than mentioning that the more significant event on that day was that we lost Dan Wheldon. I would have thought the 10th anniversary of his loss is far more significant. That he doesn’t get a mention (nor do the many social media posts marking it) in this round up is an insult to his memory.

  7. On the Ricciardo thing I feel it makes sense the audience just would like to see a fresh face and first time winner over an 8th for someone else. Unless you are a fan of the latter of course. But as to who deserves it more I do not agree. I feel Max has been significantly more consistent and far out better than Lewis this year. The only reason the fight is this close is because Max was bumped off twice by Mercedes and had some bad luck in Baku. If Lewis takes it he goes down in history as the luckiest driver of all time. The luck just never seems to end for him.

    1. This year, yes I agree. In 2007, 2012 and 2016 the luck went the other way for Lewis.

      For me, this year Max has been the stand-out best performer, he has come of age in a competitive car. Time for a change.

    2. Cant disagree with you about Max being the better driver so far this year. As to who “deserves” it… the man that wins will “deserve” it! No question! You dont LUCK into a WDC ( and yes! That includes NICO) This lewis “luck” thing is getting old. For every “lucky” lewis scenario you can provide, an unlucky scenario can be provided. I dont think you really believe this nonsense.

      1. @deanr
        True.
        Nico’s championship “win” was an utter robbery.

        1. So I am one of those who always said he didn’t deserve 2016, but you can’t say rosberg doesn’t deserve 2016 without saying hamilton doesn’t deserve 2021, they were both crazy lucky.

          At least rosberg performed better in 2016 than in the previous 2 years, you can’t say this for hamilton’s 2021.

    3. If Lewis takes it he goes down in history as the luckiest driver of all time. The luck just never seems to end for him.

      You were doing so well up until that point until you descended into a dribbling t roll.

      And clearly never watched the sport before 2014 as Lewis was anything but lucky before then. Race leading technical failures were his forte.

  8. Though I personally find a superbowl very difficult to watch and it’s a 4 hours programme filled with ads, shows and a bit of action in-between.

    Maybe F1 should divide a race into seasons and episodes which would be aired on netflix:

    COTA episode 3: A New Stint

  9. Lewis is now the greatest of all time, results speak for themselves. However all champions get beaten by a better one after a while. Conclusion: no driver has stirred up F1 as Verstappen did, he is a God given present to a boring and dying sport. If he wins this championship, more fans will be waiting for the next season.

    1. “dying sport”?
      Just LOL

      1. It was dying until Liberty took it over. It seems to me 10 teams is really the minimum for F1. Unfortunately F1 now has a rule that says new entrants to the sport have to pay compensation to the other teams. F1 isn’t going to grow until they get rid of that rule, or at least modify it so the cost of entering is much more reasonable.

    2. Verstappen is not a champion yet, but also he will get beaten one day.

      1. Even Max said that but wanted his Younger brother is the one beating him and that would the call to move to the states for those indicars.

    3. This is hilariously silly.

  10. For me, it would be an enormous feel good story if Verstappen/Red Bull do win the title. I respect Hamilton/Mercedes for their achievements and aceing the rules every year for so many, very, long, years… but it would be really nice just to see a different face winning the championship, a different team.

    1. @rocketpanda I could almost agree with you if it weren’t for Christian Horner :-( Also, don’t forget who won the four WCC/WDC doubles before Mercedes!

      1. This is an interesting point: ferrari and mclaren, and williams occasionally, were fighting for world titles for a long time, and are historic teams, but then once red bull and mercedes came\came back and became strong enough, ferrari and mclaren now have to settle to fight for 3rd? Red bull and mercedes seem to be the strongest teams, when they participate, mercedes were really strong in the 50s too.

  11. Re CotD I don’t buy it. I doubt 6 SQs are going to sway the US market, but a second race there, and even an American driver, might. That F1 in the US market has always been relatively weak is not new, so I don’t think it has to do with attention span. I just think Americans are very American-centric. The world revolves around them (I’m generalizing I know), and so their own Indycar and NASCAR means ‘what do we need with that foreign series when we have our own ‘better’ series?’

    1. I don’t even think a charismatic American driver would help in the long term. I think it would be like the Tour de France and Armstrong. Popular during the drivers reign and then back to normal. Nascar is probably the 15th or 20th popular sport in the US. Even behind high school football in some areas. F1 will always be a niche of a niche.

  12. I can’t really remember a driver so disliked by his contemporaries.
    I mean, Barrichello said very nasty things about Schumacher, but after their career were closed and when Michael cound’t reply anymore (so classy, rubinho).
    Nowadays, nobody in F1 seem to be able to hide their h@t3 towards Hamilton, Danny Ric being no exception.
    This guy’s success really must have made other people going mad.

    1. So true. The elites of the sport are not appreciated in their time by everyone. Rivalries prevent appreciation by some and that’s understandable but In 10 years Lewis will be revered by all except the delusional. What he has achieved is phenomenal and the record books do not lie.

      1. Really? Wow. Maybe you two have some quotes? I can’t say I have heard/read anything that could be categorized as anywhere near ‘h@t3’ towards LH by any current drivers, including DR above.

        1. You’re really insinuating Hamilton is underappreciated and gets more hate than other drivers? Hoo boy, let me first introduce you to SkyF1 who usually forget there are any other drivers on the grid and Sebastian Vettel that’s had mud slung at him before, during and after winning four championships. Like I get you guys support Hamilton and that’s wonderful but your biases are showing. Also it’s got to be said supporting another driver, or wanting someone else to win, DOES NOT mean they don’t like him or hate him?

      2. The championships of Lewis will always been linked to the dominant Mercedes (except for his first championship in a McLaren). Fangio, Schumacher and other greats are multiple champions in many different makes of cars which were not always dominant.

        1. The same Fangio who would switch cars mid season just to ensure he was in the best car? It never ceases to amaze me when psuedo fans like yourself try to invoke the names of drivers from the past to make a point– only to reveal you know nothing about that driver or the era they raced in.

          1. Yes, was a different era, the best drivers were able to change every season, now it’s no longer that easy, see alonso, who could’ve had schumacher’s, hamilton’s titles for his ability and has only 2.

    2. Its the unfairness of the success because of the dominance of the car that triggers it. How would you feel as any of the other drivers. I bet the all have thought somewhere in time ‘just give me that Merc and I will show them’.

      1. That’s complete speculation. It could well be that Hamilton in a Red Bull would have even won more races than in a Mercedes. And it’s always about the car. Do you really think Max in an Alpine or an Aston would be challenging Lewis this year?

        1. That’s a hyperbole, we’re not talking about winning in those cars, but across the hybrid era there’s been a big difference on average between mercedes and red bull or even ferrari, just check the wins per car to see.

        2. You honestly cant believe that Lewis would have won a single WDC in a RedBull. I dont buy it.

  13. I wouldn’t mind Max winning, he’s raised his game and wouldn’t wuss out of defending his title like Nico did. And I’d like to see the number 1 back on an F1 car, and Lewis getting stuck in to winning his title back, as I suspect he would.

    But I’d like to see Horner lose even more…

    1. Don’t like Horner also but he’s a zillion times preferable to Wolff

    2. Yes, there doesn’t seem to be any goodwill left at anyone (except Marko and Dietrich) to cheer for Horner. I lost my respect completely at the time of the Renault troubles. Unacceptable childish behavior which would have me fire him, no doubt. Wolff however is falling through the cracks this year as well. Both seem partially gifted managers that certainly do not deserve the role they have and we I feel that their teams won despite Christians and Totos efforts instead of due to their efforts.

  14. Overwhelming disagree. Max is incredibly unlikeable. The way he drives is pathetic. A fast child, with no wheel to wheel skills. His driving fits better inside a video game than on track. F1 would be worse if he won.

    1. Why don’t you tell us how you really feel ;-)

    2. You need help I think…. Can you phone someone?

      1. “person has opinon I disagree with, they must be mentally unsound and need professional help”

        Shut up.

        1. The term used these days by those who wish to alienate those that disagree is “common sense”. You know you are dealing with a jerk if they use this term. Food for thought. :-)

    3. I agree that Max is unlikable, not the kind of guy I’d go for some beers with. But the cranemaster is beyond contempt. The kind I wouldn’t share a timezone with.

      1. Cranemaster? What? Since when was that a nickname for literally any driver on the grid?

        1. Europe 2007!

    4. Except to the Dutch. He really is unlikable.

      1. is likeable a must have to be an WC ? I think Lewis is likeable by some people and other people doesn’t like him but still he is an WC.

        1. True as many team bosses have said through history: they are all bastar, every single one of them. Make no mistake. Otherwise they would never get to a F1 seat. It is a prerequisite.

  15. Lewis is trying to do something never done before – 8 WDCs. It will be fantastic to watch this happen. Many drivers get a first championship, but 8, that’s a record we may never see again.

    1. What the record really shows is that Mercedes was able to build a dominant car for 8 seasons on row.

      1. And hire the world’s best driver to drive it.

        1. That’s not hard when you have the best car, is it? Anyone would drive for you.

          1. Lewis was hired by MB, he didn’t choose them. MB has a saying, “The best or nothing”, applies to drivers too. Throughout F1’s history, from Fangio, Clark, Senna, Schumacher, Stewart, Prost, Lauda, the best drivers had the best cars and the best cars had the best drivers. And it will always be that way.

  16. The statistics show Hamilton is best driver of the current generation and also all time. no matter what RICCARDO THINKS..see the following as everyone here knows..
    100 wins
    101 pole positions
    7WDC titles
    the likes of RICCARDO or even VESTERPEN may never reach or match this record. TRUTH IS it will take at least 5 to 10 years for anyone to come close or beat this statistic. popularity is not a statistic or a yardstick in sport. Its the results that count.
    have a look at this website for F1 statistics for yourselves.
    https://www.statsf1.com/en/statistiques/pilote.aspx

    1. Statistics alone don’t make a driver better, many didn’t think schumacher was the best of all time before hamilton got these stats, because driver can die at their peak (senna, ascari, clark), they can never get a proper car (alonso) and so on.

      1. Statistics don’t create themselves ..they are a result or record of events archived through certain actions by individuals as the case may be.
        FOR instance Vesterpen has 29 DNFs in 8yrs a 21.48 percent of his career while Hamilton has 27 retirements , 9.75 percent in 15 yrs he has been in F1…
        think about that.

    2. Useless stats that are 90% an achievement of the car. And I certainly do hope Max or whomever never gets close to that record. Lewis can keep it forever. Please. I wouldnt be able to handle another processional dull decade with the same car winning over and over and over and over and over.

      1. just go watch something else . leave f1 ..if that’s how you feel.
        you need to appreciate the F 1 car does not drive itself. There are drivers driving similar cars but with vastly different results.. its called talent and natural ability..

  17. Don’t like Horner also but he’s a zillion times preferable to Wolff

    1. Absolutely, except I like horner.

  18. The best drivers achieve the best their cars are capable of achieving. Luck, talent, being gifted, cheating, win at all cost can only take u soo far. Making the rignt choice as a driver to join a team at a certain time is almost a gamble at best. But im sure drivers are given alot more information about the teams before they sign on. Lewis made the right choice when people thought it was the worst. Now that he has raked up soo many titles etc people are dismissing his achievements as pure luck. With statements he has talent but is not a hard worker. Any 1 can win in that car. He was groomed… Etc. the bar keeps moving for lewis. But i guess being the best its expected.

    1. You know me? I’m the same person who thought Sainz would rebuild Ferrari, and you saw my comment as brilliant. Well, guess where Ferrari have gone? They’re not there. Maybe next year or if only Sainz can fight hard.
      Now, thoughts on what happened at Silverstone and Monza? Racing Incident 100%!

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