The 2022 Formula 1 season is set to be the longest ever, with 23 grands prix scheduled on this year’s calendar – one more than in 2021.
A brand new race in Miami will join returning rounds of Australia, Canada, Japan and Singapore alongside staples of the world championship that have been mainstays of the series for many seasons.But with so many races – and the proposed expansion of F1’s new ‘sprint’ format to six rounds in 2022 – the demand on fans’ time to commit to following every single lap of the season has never been greater than it has before this year.
After the creation of the world championship saw around eight races a season in the 1950s, the F1 calendar expanded dramatically in the seventies with a high mark of 17 rounds in the 1977 season. Over the next twenty years, F1 would generally race between 15-17 times a season, until the new millennium saw the calendar reach 18 rounds for the first time in 2004.
Entering the 2010s, the season expanded to 19 and even 20 races in a year. Ever since Liberty Media assumed ownership of the sport, there has only been one season that has included fewer than 20 races – the heavily pandemic-compromised 2020 season.
Despite the continued impacts of covid on the logistics of traveling across the globe in 2021, Formula 1 still managed to produce a 22 race season last year – the longest ever by frequency of races.
But how many of the 23 planned races do you intend to watch in 2022? Let us know by voting in the polls below.
Please count not only the races you plan to watch live but those you intend to watch either on-demand, recorded or through highlights broadcast in your region.
How many Formula 1 Grands Prix do you intend to watch this season (live or highlights)?
- I do not intend to watch any grands prix this season (5%)
- 1-7 (2%)
- 8-14 (3%)
- 15-22 (16%)
- All 23 (75%)
Total Voters: 315
Loading ...How many proposed sprint races do you intend to watch this season (live or highlights)?
- I do not intend to watch any sprint races this season (19%)
- 1 (0%)
- 2 (2%)
- 3 (8%)
- 4 (2%)
- 5 (1%)
- All 6 (68%)
Total Voters: 305
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Debates and polls
- Will Alonso win a world championship title with Aston Martin?
- How long should Red Bull give Ricciardo to prove he’s not lost his touch?
- Were stewards right to penalise Alonso over his driving before Russell’s crash?
- Are Williams right to bench Sargeant so Albon can race after crash?
- Is the FIA right to make ten seconds the new standard for penalties?
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
9th January 2022, 12:53
I’d watch 40 races if they did away with the stupid off weeks. (Can you imagine suggesting off weeks in football, where the best teams do 60+ matches in competition easily?)
Will Wood (@willwood)
9th January 2022, 13:00
@proesterchen It’s always interesting to me how, in North America, you have such a huge disparity between the four major sports.
NBA (basketball) – 82 games a season
NHL (ice hockey) – 82 games a season
MLB (baseball) – 162 games a season
And then there’s the NFL (American football), which has only just expanded from 16 to 17 game seasons this year.
But despite having by far the fewest games of the season, the NFL is easily the biggest, most lucrative sport in terms of revenue.
Naturally, it would be physically impossible to add many more games to the NFL season due to how brutal on the players it is just to play, but it does go to show that more is not always… more.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
9th January 2022, 13:05
You could think of the NFL as a 22 week schedule, 21 of which come uninterrupted (on the league level), one after the other, with no off weeks.
Will Wood (@willwood)
9th January 2022, 13:10
@proesterchen Absolutely. It also makes the NFL’s off-season seem gigantic in comparison to other sports like soccer and F1.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
9th January 2022, 13:29
I’m not sure that’s something to emulate for anyone else.
Indycar sure never seemed to benefit from their NFL-phobia-induced short schedule and complete drop-off in already rather limited public interest during their long off-season.
Nascar also continued to suffer in ratings AFAIK when they went to deprecate their season for a fancy contrived playoff format that then directly competed with the NFL which people in the US just plainly care more for.
skydiverian (@skydiverian)
12th January 2022, 5:32
@willwood the NFL is very different. Having called the US home for the last 3 NFL seasons it’s basically impossible to avoid, 3 of the 4 main networks have games every Sunday (and ABC via ESPN has the Monday night games). Essentially it’s impossible to avoid – to the point that they’ve experimented with the London games to show them at 9am Eastern Time for 4 straight games on a Sunday, which runs from 9am through to midnight in terms of TV coverage.
Because of it’s dominance in mind-share there’s essentially nothing else on TV during the NFL season, other than marathon re-runs on cable and non-sport on the main OTA channels. That and Saturdays aren’t much better with the College Football season overlapping the NFL season.
That said, it’s basically impossible to watch all of the games of the same team, unless you live in the city that one is based in. Since St Louis lost the Rams we usually get either Green Bay or Kansas City games, but even then we don’t get all of those games on TV (and since the Rams are dead here thanks to the manner in which they left, we miss a fair few of those games as well).
The playoffs will be different since every game will be on over the air TV – and I’ll probably watch all of them because of that.
As for F1, it’s gone too far with too many races. Over the years I’ve made a point of watching qualifying and the race. When I called the UK home and before Sky took over, I’d watch qualifying and the race and pass on practice. 16-17 weekends with around 5-6 hours of TV time including pre and post-race (so around 100 hours per year). We’re nearly have 50% more races and now have 1-2 hours for the 6 sprint races. It’s an extra 50 hours I’d need to keep up. But the year isn’t any longer.
I’ll probably watch F1 the way I watch Indycar, just by sticking to the races. It’s just too much otherwise.
JackL
9th January 2022, 15:04
@WillWood that’s what Liberty alluded to when they bought F1. The NFL turns every game into a massive occasion. Some of them are almost a festival, especially Patriot games during the height of the Brady era. It was a mix of burning man and a Man U game in the early noughties. Absolutely electric. That contributes to NFL’s massive appeal and sales. In terms of product, the NBA is significantly better, but because their marketing isnt as good as the NFL’s (though it is catching up), you dont see the same revenues.
There is definitely a limit to how many races in a season are optimal, and i think its in the 20-25 range, but more than that is the way each race is marketed, and Liberty are making big strides in that area.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
9th January 2022, 15:55
And there is college football and college basketball live on national tv.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
9th January 2022, 18:06
I agree that NFL is a good comparison to F1. I am more into college football which has an even longer off-season than the NFL. I actually miss it. With F1 you get through the holidays and back to work and there it is already. I don’t ever miss it by the time it starts. It is easier now to just watch a race when you have the time though. They are always on.
ajaya
10th January 2022, 4:36
NFL, MLB or NBA , NHL cannot be compared to F1..
in all the above, stadiums are all fixed and have dedicated staff.. teams/players come play and go..
also most is played all within one country… (and may be canada)
the difference in logistics of the sports is day and night..
and in F1 the whole of the team down to the pit crew to the mechanic who puts the spark plug in the car has to be in top notch shape (mentally and physically)
there really is no comparision of above sports with F1
Leroy (@g-funk)
9th January 2022, 18:07
@willwood Absolutely correct. As a North American, I can say that for leagues with 82+ games, people very rarely watch all of them. Even the players don’t play in all of them. And usually the games before the All Star break (usually at the half way point) don’t really mean anything except for stats. It isn’t really until after the All Star break that teams start to get serious about their playoff pushes. So when you look at the NFL, with its relatively short season, you see that each game matters much more and there is much more pressure to succeed. Adding more games dilutes that pressure to be great every single week. And that is part of the attraction of F1 for me. It is a pressure cooker in all sorts of ways. One of those ways is the pressure to succeed every race. If you have a bad weekend, it could end your championship hopes right then and there. How do the different drivers and teams react to that? That is part of the interest in watching sports at the highest level, how they can overcome the pressure that would make you or I crumble.
Clearly, as we’ve seen with Naomi Osaka and others this year, we need to be much much more respectful when they are struggling with that pressure and provide the right resources for mental resilience, but that doesn’t mean we can’t continue to watch and marvel at those who thrive under those scenarios.
My other reason for not watching all the races is because of the sports washing aspect that wasn’t brought up in your intro to the poll. I won’t be watching several races next year because I don’t believe in legitimizing through sports washing regimes with active policies that I believe are contrary to basic human rights.
Khürt Williams (@khurtwilliams)
12th January 2022, 4:14
But it takes two hours of TV commercials to play a 60 minute game.
jhg103 (@joshgeake)
9th January 2022, 12:54
No, simply because I’ve generally got better things to do at 1pm on a Sunday.
Whoever still thinks that the middle of the day across Europe is a good time needs to rethink, especially when it’s the primetime slot races that always get enormous viewing figures. It’s not magic.
bosyber (@bosyber)
9th January 2022, 13:00
Something like that for me too @joshgeake, though mainly interaction with family/wife that causes that too. Last year not really always having it fixed in my mind (ie. with so much more variation, it has not been important enough to me I guess) when exactly the races start means for trips I didn’t put a lot of effort to make sure we’d be home before/travel away after them, and so I didn’t watch a few races already. I technically watched the Spa GP start time, but switched off to cook before it was clear whether there would be a race (with the sort of worst of both worlds, ‘technically yes, but no not really’ one that happened therefore luckily being only a thing I had to read about and not endure ;)
altitude2k
9th January 2022, 13:23
Yeah agreed. I probably watch half the races these days. The rest of the time I’m just watching live feeds (if at all) because I’m out of the house.
amian
9th January 2022, 14:04
@joshgeake
“Whoever still thinks that the middle of the day across Europe is a good time needs to rethink”
If you think you are the target demographic, you need to rethink too ;)
But that’s a very interesting subject.
When I was a teenager in the 90s, 14:00 for an F1 race was the lastest that I could still comfortably watch it. My family (as most others) would come back from church at around 11 or 12, eat dinner, and I could impose my will on the family to watch an F1 race, because everybody was in a siesta mood resting.
Past 16:00 it was time for going out, having guests, and in the evening I wouldn’t be able to hold onto the remote since everybody wanted to watch sth that not only I enjoyed.
To watch a Sunday IndyCar race at 20:00 or 22:00 was a real struggle!
I would indeed be different with multiple TVs at home, but even as an obsessed motorsport fan back then, having F1 races in the evening would not at all be favourable to me. And it’s no different today.
11:11:11
9th January 2022, 15:46
I’m in Canada in the Eastern time zone, and it’s great. Most races go live from in the 8am to noon range, which is ideal for me because it leaves the rest of Sunday to do real-life things.
Daver (@dmeehan)
9th January 2022, 18:04
I’m in California, and most of the races have already happened by the time I wake up. So I end up watching the races on DVR on a Sunday morning. The Australian Grand Prix was watchable late on Saturday night.
David (@nvherman)
9th January 2022, 14:12
Who said anything about watching them live?
Sky+ records all sessions for me, and then I watch them in the evening after my children are in bed.
I tend not to bother watching the Practice sessions, but watch every Qualifying and Race.
I stay away from news sites and social media to avoid spoilers.
PS. 14:00CET/CEST is still the best time for races to start: sorry to those from the RoW, but F1 is still very much a UK/European sport, no matter how many Middle Eastern rounds there are.
I do however enjoy Australia, Japan and Brazil, but notice that these are still scheduled for 14:00 local time, and I just live with the time difference
jhg103 (@joshgeake)
9th January 2022, 14:39
Totally agree – I rarely watch them live because several other more important things happen at 1pm UK time on a Sunday. F1 will never win that battle.
The problem with not watching the races live is it’s nearly impossible to not get the result before you can catch up!
Sihrtogg (@sihrtogg)
9th January 2022, 15:14
That is the challenge indeed. I tend to kill two birds with one stone and enjoy a screenless Sunday every race weekend, that is until I catch up with the race late at night when the Channel 4 Highlights become available on demand.
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
10th January 2022, 2:40
@nvherman Lucky for me, most races start at 9pm local time! :)
BasCB (@bascb)
9th January 2022, 16:17
I must say that since I got the F1TV to stream the races, I have actually started watching more regularly, be it far more often at different times, with a delay of say 1-4 hours after the start (at times only half an hour) of the race and watching qualifying more often than not on saturday evening (I did watch the sprint weekend qualifying sessions live, since they were already in the evening) @joshgeake.
I do agree that the constantly changing times nowadays makes it hard to even remember exactly when a race starts as Anon mentions. But for me the main point is that watching it with some delay, as you and @nvherman mention, makes it far easier to parse together with normal social / family life.
falken (@falken)
9th January 2022, 12:58
If its not live on FTA then I will have to watch on delay. Often this means Monday evening for Sunday races.
Stupid Sky.
bosyber (@bosyber)
9th January 2022, 13:01
I have found that I don’t really enjoy watching most races delayed, so end up going for a highlights only more often @falken
petebaldwin (@)
9th January 2022, 14:25
I’m the same – if I don’t watch the race live, I have to watch the highlights programme live instead. Otherwise, I can’t stay off the fast-forward button and get through the race in 5 minutes.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
9th January 2022, 18:12
This is exactly why I prefer them delayed. I sit and think about how it would have been to actually waste my time on this 20 lap safety car period. Well except for that last accelerated for Verstappen safety car.
David BR (@david-br)
9th January 2022, 14:26
@bosyber Nor me. I prefer trying to catch bits of the live race if I’m busy or watch highlights, rather than do that thing about ‘pretending’ it hasn’t happened yet.
Steveetienne
9th January 2022, 14:44
Simply watch it on a live stream for free.
David BR (@david-br)
9th January 2022, 15:15
@falken Depends where you live in the world maybe, and your budget, but the F1 TV subscription was really worth it for me in terms of cost/value. The only irritant is that they still don’t have a smart tv app.
Steveetienne
9th January 2022, 23:44
Using a VPN & a website such as Totalsportek you can watch every race for free.
dot_com (@dot_com)
10th January 2022, 12:55
Oh, you mean steal it and push up the costs for everyone else? Gotcha.
Paul Stilwell (@stillyp)
9th January 2022, 13:11
I really really want to watch all races this year, as I have tried to do so since 1992. I am finding my interest waning a little now though. Too many erratic moments last year has knocked my passion in the sport. I want to watch all of them but might find I just don’t bother the odd weekend if it the sport continues the way it ended last year. For me this is a ‘we’ll see how it plays out’ year. And by ‘it’ I mean the way it is governed.
Antz (@antznz)
10th January 2022, 1:19
@stillyp I had watched all races since 2000 until recently. I’ve switched to watching highlights and I’m very glad I have. I watch some full races still but I don’t feel that I’m missing much and I’m far less bothered by the drama that triggers me when I’m watching live. Too often these days I feel like I’ve wasted so much time watching races live.
If there were still only 16 races a year, I would watch them all but now I’m not expecting to see more than 8. I may change my mind if there is consistent stewarding and the new generation of cars permit better on track action but after years of disappointment, I am rather skeptical.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
9th January 2022, 13:14
For the Grands Prix, yes, I will watch all 23.
For the sprints… I don’t know. I don’t like the format and want them scrapped, so feel that I should miss them on principle because Ross Brawn only measures success on money gained, but it is so difficult to miss any F1 that has an effect on the championship, as the sprints unfortunately do. I will end up deciding whether or not I will watch each one probably five minutes before they start.
https://f1frogblog.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/sprint-races/
RandomMallard
9th January 2022, 13:30
@f1frog Happy to see you did start that blog in the end! Thanks for the link, and best of luck with it
F1 frog (@f1frog)
9th January 2022, 14:26
Thanks for encouraging me to do it, and to everyone else who sent kind replies after my long driver rankings. From now on, I will put my long essays and reports on there, and put a link in the appropriate article on racefans rather than posting them straight onto this comments section.
RandomMallard
9th January 2022, 15:33
@f1frog Great idea. Like Jazz, I too have bookmarked it to have as some regular reading. It might get me into BTCC a bit more as well. I’ve watched a couple of races before, but never truly gotten into it.
Jazz (@jazz)
9th January 2022, 14:54
Nice artice Frog, appreciate the effort. I’ve bookmarked it to read regularly.
MagicBoy (@magicboy)
9th January 2022, 13:16
I’m done with F1. Not missed a race since 1987. It turned into entertainment and ceased to be motorsport in Abu Dhabi.
amian
9th January 2022, 13:43
@magicboy
I get you. The way they just let Hamilton overtake Verstappen outside the track was disgusting.
But I got thru it :)
Jeffrey Powell
9th January 2022, 15:33
They let the positions stay because Max went for a move which was not sustainable with Lewis still on the track in other words he forced Lewis off. Had the track been twice as wide allowing Lewis to stay on Max would not have had to come to a virtual halt to make the outside of the corner this is what allowed Lewis to come back on the track a long way ahead, the stewards saw this perhaps you didn’t.
erikje
9th January 2022, 16:17
He passed and stayed on track. Lewis cut the corner. 5s penalty at least for normal drivers. But for Lewis.. Nothing. Not even investigating and then look at the noise around Brazil… Hypocrisy
Davethechicken
9th January 2022, 20:48
I get why you are confused erijke.
You have only seen rulings like Brasil when Max went 5 car widths off to defend.
When he doesn’t leave one car width but doesn’t leave the track it seems weird to you.
The fact is they didn’t apply the rules when Max defended in Brazil. They did apply them in Abu Dhabi.
Maybe watching old races would help you understand ?
Bradders (@bradders)
9th January 2022, 23:05
Let. It. Go.
Tim (@tungdil12)
9th January 2022, 16:43
Lewis could just have made the switchback. But max was so far back that he (and probably everyone besides max) didnt anticipate the move. The Lunge from max was borderline and that made it worldclass for me. If that was ricardo back in the days everybody would celebrate him.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
9th January 2022, 18:15
That was a rule they had just created for Max. They couldn’t just switch back to calling it out the next race.
David (@nvherman)
9th January 2022, 14:16
@magicboy Oh behave.
So Hamilton didn’t win: grow up! I have spent most years since 1989 when I first started watching having the drivers I support not win, or more often, drivers who I find spectacularly irritating (this is mostly Schumacher and Hamilton, and Vettel when he was at Red Bull) winning year after year.
After all the bad luck Verstappen had last season, Hamilton was lucky to be anywhere near a chance at victory. Mercedes screwed up on strategy, and caused that loss.
Invisiblekid (@invisiblekid)
9th January 2022, 14:31
This is the trouble with having an issue with Abu Dhabi. It makes you out to be complaining that Lewis didn’t win. Not everyone cares that Lewis didn’t win, but does care about why.
Is it an overreaction to give up on F1, yeah probably. If Lewis (The one who it’s effected the most) can grow up and carry on, so can a fan……but then a fan isn’t being paid tens of millions to move on.
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
9th January 2022, 18:17
It’s not really an overreaction. F1 has been going from mostly a sport 30 years ago to something akin to WWE wrestling now. I think Abu Dhabi was the dividing line for a lot of people. It was just so blatant even from my neutral spectator position.
Davethechicken
9th January 2022, 22:13
Tend to agree. I am also neutral in the LH MV battles. But if we even looked at the average number of red flags per season Masi vs Whiting, the difference is huge.
drmouse (@drmouse)
10th January 2022, 11:17
@invisiblekid I’m with @darryn, unless there is movement to ensure this kind of debacle doesn’t happen again (and the right kind of movement, not just confirming that the RD is allowed to throw the rulebook out of the window whenever he wants and ensuring the fans “understand”), F1 has confirmed that it is no longer a sport in my eyes. As I want to watch motorsport, not a made-for-TV motor-racing reality gameshow, it makes no sense for me to continue to watch the races. I may continue to follow the technical competition from news articles etc, but see no point in watching racing where the race director gets to choose which rules apply when and which driver gets to win.
Tim (@tungdil12)
9th January 2022, 16:43
+1
anon
9th January 2022, 22:04
@nvherman it is interesting that your automatic assumption is to assume that poster must be a Hamilton fan and attack them on that basis, as if it has not crossed your mind that it is possible to object to the way that things were handled in Abu Dhabi and to also not be a Hamilton fan.
MacLeod (@macleod)
10th January 2022, 7:59
I completly agree with you.
drmouse (@drmouse)
10th January 2022, 11:21
It is not about who won and who didn’t anymore. It is about the very integrity of the sport we love, which has been damaged over the course of the season, and demolished by both Masi’s decision and the stewards’ interpretation of the rules after it.
petebaldwin (@)
9th January 2022, 14:27
You’re not done with F1 otherwise a month after Abu Dhabi, you wouldn’t be posting in here about F1….
Steveetienne
9th January 2022, 14:46
I bet you do. If you had truly given up on F1 you wouldn’t be here commenting.
drmouse (@drmouse)
9th January 2022, 16:25
I’ve watched all but a handful of Grand Prix live for nearly 2 decades, and a large number of qualifying and passive sessions. It has taken a serious reason, like a wedding or illness, for me to miss any. Heck, I even watched the full Grand Prix weekend while on honeymoon.
However, I’m with you here. As things stand, without a solid announcement that something will change to stop a farce like AD happening again, I won’t be watching a single race this year.
I’m really hoping I hear some positive news before the season starts, but I’m not holding my breath.
Sham (@sham)
9th January 2022, 16:43
I’ve not watched anything since Brazil. For the sake of my family’s eardrums, I’m glad I didn’t see Abu Dhabi. First time I’ve not seen televised races since the very early 80s. I followed them on the radio instead – but will not attend a race, nor pay to watch live until I’m happy that F1 is a fair sporting contest.
I do need to follow the races to be able to judge that, and I do still love the technical aspect.
I can’t stop following, but I will absolutely not pay another penny towards it until there is no risk of the race director and stewards ignoring or failing to apply their own rules for the sake of a close championship, or for the show. I like Motorsport, not show business.
Gabe
10th January 2022, 0:15
Same. Started following in 1976, watching every race in 1981, but I’m done with this “sport”
HAL
9th January 2022, 13:16
I’ve taken it to watch the F1 races on F1 TV. If that Sunday we are simply staying put at home. I’ll watch it live. If not I’ll watch it in the evening while cooking for instance (which sometime « slightly delay » the supper 😂. So I’ll watch al’ the races, but on my terms :-)
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
9th January 2022, 13:18
I’ve not missed a race live since the start of 1995 yet this year it’s highly likely i’m going to skip a few races because I just don’t want to sacrifice so many weekends to F1, Especially with the double/triple headers we have now.
Weekends, Specifically afternoons are the only time I get to see some of my friends & as the number of races has increased the less time i’ve had to spend with them. It’s just at a point now, Again especially with the double/triple headers that I just no longer feel like I want to sacrifice that many weekends to it.
Not to mention how I do also feel that having so many races has made each feel that bit less special, That bit less of a big event. It’s sort of turning watching into a routine thing rather than something I look forward to as was always the case with 18 or less with 2-3 weeks between them. I also dislike how the increased number of races has massively reduced the penalty for making a mistake or having an off weekend as you have more time to recover which has reduced a bit of the jeopardy for me. And I also dislike how the increased number of races means there’s now more clashes with other categories which makes watching some of the things I used to enjoy watching harder.
.
In terms of the sprints. Don’t like them so won’t engage with them. I just don’t like how they alter the flow/feel of the rest of the weekend or how i feel they devalue…. Or at least make the GP feel that bit less special (As we have seen a race build-up/start & race the day before) & take away some of those unknowns we usually go into a GP with (Tyre wear, Car race performance, How possible overtaking is, How effective DRS is & so on) which I found made the opening stint of the GP quite a bit less interesting.
The plan for me is to Sky+ the Friday action & watch it on Saturday to maintain a more normal feel/flow to the weekend. Would be the first time since I got access to practice sessions that I will miss one live & the first time since 1996 that I missed watching a qualifying session live which I had access to live coverage of.
PeterG
9th January 2022, 13:48
+1 Well said @stefmeister
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
9th January 2022, 22:35
Pretty much the same from me @stefmeister
I’ve already stated I won’t be watching anything on sprint weekends because of the flow of the weekend (and the timing) being completely messed up so that’s 6 I’ll miss completely. Sad really because it’ll be the first time in 50 years I’ll miss the first race.
I’ll probably miss at least 1 or 2 other races – most likely the middle eastern ones in addition as well as the US ones. Way too many races.
If things turn out to be as farcical as some of the races last season I might even stop completely and just follow results on this site.
I’m very interested in how the new cars will perform etc etc and hope that we’ll have a good competitive season, but equally fearful that the entire series is going to end up being unrecognisable as F1.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
9th January 2022, 13:20
Although it may only be one voter thus far, I can’t believe a contributor to this site will not watch a single race OR highlights.
David (@nvherman)
9th January 2022, 14:17
@cairnsfella I know, right? Think they’re on the wrong site
CD (@clipperdael)
9th January 2022, 14:51
Nah I thinks it’s a good enough place to read the odd article and stay up-to-date with F1 even when 99% of the stuff on here is about things I’m not too interested in anymore (F1 and single seaters). It’d be great if the site expaned to rallying and GT racing but I reckon there’s simply not the manpower to do so.
And to answer the question, yeah no I’m done with F1 in its current state.
David (@nvherman)
9th January 2022, 16:59
@clipperdael this site started life as “f1fanatic.co.uk”, and for me, that’s still it’s raison d’etre. I’m only interested in other series if there are ex-Formula 1 drivers involved, or it’s the 24Hrs du Mans.
I have zero interest in feeder series until it becomes clear which drivers will be stepping up to Formula 1: I just don’t have the time available outside of family/work commitments.
F1 still rules, everything else just wants to be F1, but never will be
CD (@clipperdael)
9th January 2022, 17:23
@nvherman Oh yeah I know, I’ve been visiting here since the times this was essentially Keith’s F1 Blog albeit I didn’t bother with an account.
I don’t have the time time either but the choice was pretty simple for me as I vastly prefer other types of motor sports these days. I’m already super excited for the Monte rally for example. Got my WRC+ subscription renewed and ready to go.
F1 on the other hand has been on its way down for me, I just can’t be bothered anymore with these bland tracks, the unnecessary drama, the people involved that think they’re more important than they are, and now a calendar that looks like a work schedule. I guess the sprint races were the straw that broke the camel’s back. It’s pretty clear imo they want to emphasize the show over the sport – fair enough, I wish them all the best but I won’t bother watching that when other series provide better enjoyment for me.
pez2k (@pez2k)
9th January 2022, 17:53
I’ll be reading the news here specifically because I won’t be watching the races.
The sheer amount of competitive sessions requires too much time to watch it all – we’re up to 52 days per year with some form of meaningful F1 competition now. I don’t want to be paying for TV coverage that I don’t get time to watch, and at some point just watching a handful of the remaining free to air races feels like I’m doing it for the sake of it, rather than being able to enjoy a full season.
drmouse (@drmouse)
10th January 2022, 11:26
Unless there are changes to address the ending of the last season, I will go from watching every race and qualifying live last season to watching none at all this season. I want to watch motorsport, not a gameshow. As I can’t see them actually doing so, I voted none.
I’ll still follow on sites like this for the technical aspects, and I still hope that changes are made which will allow me to come back, but as things stand I’m done with the races.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
9th January 2022, 13:23
And whilst I will watch the sprints, that doesn’t mean I prefer the format.
David (@nvherman)
9th January 2022, 14:18
@cairnsfella agreed
nmgn (@nmgn)
9th January 2022, 17:02
I get your statement, but F1 doesnt care what you prefer (aka your morale), it cares for what you watch (aka money)
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
9th January 2022, 23:45
I understand and entirely agree, but was nonetheless just stating the facts.
erikje
9th January 2022, 13:26
All races, if possible life.
But I really dislike the sprintrace.
RandomMallard
9th January 2022, 13:26
I intend to watch all 23, or at the very least follow them live (BBC Live Text for example), but in practice I’ll fall a few short because of other stuff going on.
I’ll probably catch highlights of the sprints, maybe a couple live if I have nothing better to do.
That said, having been an advocate of longer seasons and more races for many years last season changed my mind and I now believe the calendar is too long. The long, drawn out slog of the final few races last season was just really tiring and really made me question my love for the sport a bit. 20 races as a maximum imo.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
9th January 2022, 18:08
I agree with much of this. Last season did to me feel a bit drawn out towards the end. I really think the sweet spot in terms of races is 18-20. Liberty aren’t interested in this number though.
K (@sugoi)
9th January 2022, 13:27
All. Hopefully my 3 yo toddler will join me.
Emma
9th January 2022, 13:27
I intend to attend two races live – Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. Then I’ll probably watch most of the others but only if Masi and the stewards don’t come up with some ridiculous decisions in the early races. If they do, I’ll probably tune out and rely on race reports here and a handful of other sites.
Emma
9th January 2022, 13:29
I will watch the sprints as well even though I don’t like them – simply because they are part of the GP weekend (for better or worse).
David (@nvherman)
9th January 2022, 17:00
Agreed.
David (@nvherman)
9th January 2022, 17:01
If you can, you should really try and get over to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian GP.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
9th January 2022, 13:32
I won’t be watching every GP, Didn’t last year as I think anything above 20 is just too many for a variety of reasons.
And having done the travel from 1997-2007 & knowing how brutal it is, I just feel for all those having to do it. I am honestly so glad i’m not part of that anymore because again I know what it was like at 17/18 & just cannot (And do not) want to image how much worse it feels now as 23.
I also don’t plan to watch any of the sprint races. And with qualifying on Friday for sprint weekends I won’t be able to watch those either so for me sprint weekends will consist of just the Sunday GP (Unless it’s a race I skip of course).
RandomMallard
9th January 2022, 18:31
@gt-racer Implying from your second sentence that you used to work in F1 (which may be wrong), if you don’t mind me asking, which team did you work for, and what role did you have? Of course if you’d rather not say, that’s fine, but I’m looking at potential career paths into F1/motorsport at the moment so I’m just a bit curious.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
9th January 2022, 21:32
RandomMallard,
Indeed. GT-Racer has been a great addition to RaceFans with unrivalled insights about anything related to TV broadcasting in F1. As his avatar suggests and from his previous posts, he worked in FOM and not in F1 teams. As for career paths into F1/motorsport, I suggest you to search your target job in LinkedIn as a lot of F1 staff are using it (I don’t btw) and try to draw a pattern for the required skills from there.
For example : search for Strategy engineers. You’ll find that most of them are having degrees in mathematics/physics or mechanical engineering (majoring) from British universities. They are also skilled in programming (Matlab, C++, Python…). Also Ferrari recruits a lot of engineers that have an engineering degree or PHD from the University of Bologna. It depend on the job you are searching for.
In general if you are targeting a specific field or company. Try to gather as much info as you can with regard to the required skills and the profile they look for. Even if you’re don’t fit into that profile, you have to play the game. There were a lot of articles shared by the folks or in the daily round-up about the journey of some people who made it to F1 : Here is one of them :
https://racer.com/2021/01/08/opinion-i-was-an-american-designer-at-mercedes-f1-needs-to-create-a-path-for-others/
RandomMallard
9th January 2022, 21:47
@tifoso1989 Thank you so much. Yh I can understand that from GT-Racer now (I don’t normally pay too much attention to avatars/profile photos very much, sorry).
Thanks so much for the tips as well. Yh I’ve started using LinkedIn in the last few months, and I am currently looking at potentially doing an aeronautical/aerospace engineering (most likely a masters) degree in the UK, but my options are still open for maths and computer science related degrees as well. I’ve also been experimenting with using Python for data analysis (I believe you replied to my post about it on the round-up a few days ago), which I’m really enjoying. My “dream” career as such would be either an aerodynamic engineer, or a strategist (strategy has always fascinated me).
And I’ve also got to bear in mind that I might not get straight into F1, but at the same time I think I would be very happy to be working in other areas of motorsport as well, particularly sportscars and GT racing.
And once again, thanks for the advice!
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
9th January 2022, 23:06
RandomMallard,
There are some specialized motorsport postgraduate programs in the UK. The Cranfield University master in motorsport engineering is indeed interesting and selective too. Not surprised though as both heads of strategy in Ferrari and Mercedes come from it. There are also the Masters programs of the Motorvehicle University of Emilia-Romagna that aim to prepare students to become professionals in the automotive field.
There are a lot of engineers who made it to F1 that comes from the lower formulas or other series. Another thing is, don’t be so focused on one programming language. Just focus on the data structures, algorithms, problem solving, space and time complexity. Once you grasp those concepts, you’ll become a natural developer and platform independent.
You’re more than welcome ! Good luck :)
RandomMallard
10th January 2022, 0:27
@tifoso1989 I’d actually found that Cranfield course quite recently, and it’s definitely something I’m considering as an option after an initial Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, with the ones I’m looking at generally having a fairly significant focus on racing aerodynamics (as opposed to others that have more of a focus on aircraft).
Yeah I’m mainly using Python in a recreational sense for the data analysis at the moment because I’ve found a really good package called fastf1, which essentially provides the link between your code and the Live Timing API. But I also use a fair amount of C# in my studies (which will hopefully help a move towards C++ down the line), and I want to get a bit more into JavaScript as well, as my previous experiences with JS have been very, very brief. And a fair amount of what we’re taught is general programming theory that can be applied to any language, with C# being the main way we put that into practice
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
10th January 2022, 11:50
RandomMallard,
If you are aiming to develop real time platform independent super fast applications you have to move on from C# which is slower compared to C++ because it uses the common language runtime (CLR) provided by the .NET framework to convert C# code into native code. C++ compiles directly into native code. C++ libraries make direct system calls to the OS. Also C# programs are usually targeted towards the Windows operating system.
If you want to move to C++, learning C language might not be a bad idea because it is very much near to assembly and it is used in embedded system where you need to deal with hardware and protocols. C and C++ are predominantly used in developing embedded systems as well.
From my short experience as a developer myself who learned programming in C and C++ and ended up now programming in the Java ecosystem, I can tell you that the most important thing is to master the different data structures and when/how to use them, algorithms, problem solving, space and time complexity. The rest is just syntax that you can master in 3 months period and sometimes even less.
RandomMallard
10th January 2022, 14:18
@tifoso1989 Once again, thanks so much for the tips! I am definitely thinking of moving into C++, having used C# as a bit of a springboard to initially get familiar with the C family, although it will likely depend on whether I chose to go down a Computer Science route or an Engineering route at degree level, which I haven’t fully decided yet. Do you have any favourite/recommend methods or resources for learning programming, be that new structures or new languages?
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
10th January 2022, 16:53
RandomMallard,
Yeah for sure. The thing is, I can’t post anything about the learning resources because it could be a direct advertising which will send me to the moderation. Same goes for the forums where these resources can be downloaded depending on your country. If you want leave a private message and specify a communication mean (email for example).
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
9th January 2022, 13:35
No I won’t be watching every GP.
And I won’t be watching any of the gimmick races.
#LibertyOut #SportAboveShow #NoToSprintGimmicks
PeterG
9th January 2022, 13:47
I won’t watch all races & won’t be watching any sprints.
I watched the Silverstone sprint last year & part of the Monza one. Didn’t like them so didn’t bother with the Interlagos sprint & also didn’t like not been able to watch the qualifying session live with them on Fridays.
But Liberty won’t listen as they are more American showbiz than actual sport or caring about fans views anyway. Give it a few years & F1 will be more like nascar.
Jere (@jerejj)
9th January 2022, 13:48
All, of course. An unusual poll.
jff
9th January 2022, 17:59
The best part of this poll is to see fanatics (assume they are if commenting on a dedicated F1 site in early January) claiming they won’t watch any races ;)
Denis (@denis1304)
9th January 2022, 14:02
All but one. #boycottsaudiarabia
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
9th January 2022, 14:14
I have been watching F1 since 1994 and I could probably watch the number of races I didn’t watch on one hand. Although sometimes I’d have to watch later rather than live. Thanks to F1TV this has gotten easy enough to not matter.
I do find myself not running into free practices more and more as we get towards the end of the season now, especially on double and triple headers I just don’t have the energy to do that.
Invisiblekid (@invisiblekid)
9th January 2022, 14:40
Certainly won’t be watching all of them live. I have a family who want my attention too and F1 is simply not that important. I’ll watch most of them recorded later tho, except France, easily the worst, dullest circuit that for good measure makes my eyes bleed and head hurt.
Sprint races? pft not really.
Neil (@neilosjames)
9th January 2022, 14:53
My noble intention now is 23 grands prix, zero sprints. But I know what I’m like, and I’m 99% sure I’ll end up watching all of everything.
That said, I still find myself with a less positive view of F1 than I had this time last year, as I feel the ‘show’ side is gradually creeping deeper and deeper into the sport side. Last season ended with one of the worst, negatively impactful stewarding decisions I’ve ever seen (Brazil), followed by two of the most depressing grands prix… don’t recall ever feeling as hollow and dismayed after a race as I did after Saudi and Abu Dhabi.
Right now my love of F1 feels like something midway between an emotion I want to feel and an addiction I (and my free time at weekends) would probably be better off without. I’m hoping it slides back towards the former once the new season gets going, but if it starts feeling more like the latter I guess my intentions may change.
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
9th January 2022, 18:40
@neilosjames I pretty much feel the same way.
I love this sport but i don’t like the direction i feel its going but for as much as i hate where things are heading the 32 year love affair I’ve had with it make it hard to walk away from.
anon
9th January 2022, 22:15
@neilosjames and @stefmeister – sound like the two of you would probably get greater satisfaction by moving towards the sorts of forums that tend to focus on more of the historical aspects of F1, given that the sport and the reporting of it is moving in a direction that suggests they aren’t interested in catering to individuals like yourself.
Neil (@neilosjames)
10th January 2022, 3:52
@anon and leave Racefans to the angry, tribal driver-bashers? Never…
Maisch (@maisch)
9th January 2022, 14:53
F1tv surely enabled me to watch more races. The race timing here in Europe is awful if you have a family life, can rarely watch them live. Morning and evening races are great though. But they are way to many races, so seing all of them just isn’t important enough, theres another one next weekend anyway.
Super Bill
9th January 2022, 15:10
Not many races because I am still disgusted about what happened in Abu Dhabi and I am no longer certain that F1 is even a “sport”
Robbie (@robbie)
9th January 2022, 15:16
I’ll be watching it all as usual.
Coventry Climax
9th January 2022, 15:39
It all depends on whether, when and to what degree the FIA and the Masi-bunch start screwing up again.
Been watching all of it for a very, very long time. Might have missed one, on a very rare occasion. But I lost most of my interest in the last years, so it doesn’t take too much to get me to where I’ll be using my time for other things.
What I don’t understand is ‘fans’ whining about the time of day. Being european, when there was a race in, say, Japan, that would be broadcast at 4 in the morning or so. I didn’t care or rather, I even felt it added to the experience and feel that this was a world-wide thing, and my thing. I just set the alarm and got up in time.
Hans (@hanswesterbeek)
9th January 2022, 15:52
After all the jurying and refereeing jibber jabber I canceled my F1TV & Racefans subscriptions and decided not to watch any F1 in 2022. This was a somewhat emotion decision, taken in the later stages of the Saudi-Ariabian GP. But I intend to stick with it. It’s going to be strange, after missing only one race since 1999, but I did not enjoy this season at all. On some Sundays in 2021 I was frustrated about F1 for a few hours after the race. That’s not ok.
David (@nvherman)
9th January 2022, 17:03
@hanswesterbeek after the closest Formula 1 season for many years, how can you not have enjoyed this season?
Hans (@hanswesterbeek)
10th January 2022, 15:42
As much as I wanted to love this close title-fight, I could not help being distracted and frustrated by the constant discussions about rules, track limits, aggressive or acceptable driving standards, who pushed whom off the track… Every time we were about to see a close, hard but fair fight between Hamilton and Verstappen it was stained by some of these issues. As a result, I was never happy or excited after a race. I always ended up being frustrated.
So, in 2022, I’m going to make bread on Sunday afternoons. Really looking forward to it. PM me if you want to have a sample ;)
Djangles LeVaughn (@royal-spark)
9th January 2022, 15:57
As someone who works evening hours I will miss a few of the late starters. (Thank goodness for DVRs and catch-up TV services!)
However, I think all of us won’t be seeing all 23 races this year as it’s still likely some races will get cancelled and there not being enough time to organise replacement events at such short notice.
Rick
9th January 2022, 15:59
I don’t intend to watch more than 18 max. I do have other things in my life I enjoy. As reference I have seen or been to to every GP since the 80’s.
Matija Majdanac
9th January 2022, 16:02
I would like to watch every race but this 14:00 time is always risky, always some kind of family things happens at that time on Sunday, for me it would be perfect if the races started after 18:00 h. Then i could say right away that i will watch every single one.
Red Andy (@red-andy)
9th January 2022, 16:03
Sad to see so many using a poll about how many GPs you’re going to watch to have yet another whinge about the result in Abu Dhabi. Can’t we have just one comments section where we can do something less toxic to the community, like whingeing about sprint races?
RandomMallard
9th January 2022, 18:34
Ah yes, we can all fall back onto that common ground ;-)
Imre (@f1mre)
9th January 2022, 16:08
I hope I’ll be strong enough (and busy enough) not to watch Sprints. All three Sprints were “meh” last year. Just pointless and they also ruin qualitying.
AndrewT (@andrewt)
9th January 2022, 16:16
I have certain expectations ahead of this season as the new cars MIGHT be a step towards the correct direction that MIGHT allow them following each other closely for a longer amount, which MIGHT help preparing overtakes between machineries on similar strategy, similar tyre age and compound, and similar raw performance. If they manage that, they can hook me for all the races (hell, we might call those one and a half hours “races” again), but if not, I’m not sure I want to live with all the other bullsh_t going on nowadays in F1, although I haven’t missed a single race since 1993.
HUHHII (@huhhii)
9th January 2022, 16:29
I might give a try to few races this year, but overall not excited. The sport has chosen wrong decision with the new regulations (apart from budget cap), and Kimi is missing. There are B-class superstars like Max and Lewis but who could get excited by them when an A-class star à la Kimi is missing?
Hopefully Kimi will give a try to rallycross. Then we’ll have a new pinnacle of motorsport.
Le Jimster (@lejimster82)
9th January 2022, 16:31
If it wasn’t for work I would watch every session live. The next best thing is having an F1TV subscription and having the ability go back and watch these sessions when I get home from work. I’m not a huge fan of Sprint qualifying, but I watched everything last year and plan to once again this year.
This year’s title race has made me more excited to watch the sport than I have been in years. Call it controversial or whatever, but I suspect we have gain a ton of fans last year compared to previous seasons.
playstation361
9th January 2022, 16:36
OMG. Let me wait.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
9th January 2022, 16:51
I for one will most probably watch it all, live if possible and multi-screen, replay onboards of starts and most interesting moments, watch the Tech Talks, Jolyon Palmer’s Analysis, and probably even Drive to Survive too actually.
Despite all the flak the sport often got it has still not destroyed my love for it, and I’ve waited so long for this new formula that I’m quite excited. Hopefully it’s a close(r) competition.
Qeki (@qeki)
9th January 2022, 17:12
For a F1 point of view I want to watch them all. For the first time Finland changed the tv operator (it has been the same since late 80s early 90s, of course in some point they put it behind a pay wall). For the driver point of view there is only one driver from my childhood (Alonso – Minardi, early Renault) who is on the grid this year. I don’t know how I feel when Alonso retires. Will I lost intrest? I don’t know. Will I watch any races after Alonso retires? I don’t know.
I like Leclerc, Ricciardo and Bottas but that’s about it. I don’t know why but in my head Lewis is still that wonder-kid from 07 who challenged Alonso, Raikkonen and the others. I have to give him credit for winning 7 titles. Max is kinda same. I remember vividly he coming at the age of 16 to F1 and looked like he belonged on the grid from the day he started. Yes he made some errors but still.
I don’t know if I’m going to watch races in this year because of the price going up like crazy and if I’m not going to watch it would be the first year since I remember watching races in preschool that I won’t be following F1. Strange but everything comes to an end at some point.
HUHHII (@huhhii)
9th January 2022, 17:23
@qeki Looks like Viaplay will continue with the same faces CMore had. I’ve been watching F1 by not-so-legal ways for years and now that Kimi has retired I can’t find a sensible reason subscribing to Viaplay. It’ll the be the same stuff than CMore, but even more expensive.
Simon
9th January 2022, 17:23
For the first year since I started watching F1 in 1981, will probably miss some qualifying and races live this year – sprint races included.
Ciaran (@ciaran)
9th January 2022, 17:36
Logistically it’s tougher than ever to watch every F1 race live – schedules only get busier, more races, etc. But it’s never been easier to catch up – the highlight videos on Youtube are excellent for figuring out if the race is worth watching in full!
Rob
9th January 2022, 17:38
I want to want to watch them.
But given the events of the 2021 finale I just don’t know what is the point.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
9th January 2022, 17:59
I will probably end up watching most races unless I am on holiday or away for another reason. I usually end up missing one or two each season. Then I am usually watching the C4 replays in the U.K. As the calendar expands that 1 or 2 a season may well become 2 or 3.
I am not that invested in the sprint races to be honest. The only one I watched all the way through this year was Silverstone. I can usually devote a few hours on one day at the weekends to F1, but not two races in two days.
As I have always said, I would prefer less races. If they are going to add more sprints as well then they really ought to keep it down to no more than 20 weekends. Tbh though I think us long-term fans are whistling in the wind over this. Liberty are never going to go back on their business plan which is based on more races. 😕
Nooma341 (@nooma341)
9th January 2022, 19:09
I’ve been watching F1 since I was little when F1 was on my TV on the CBC in Canada. Nelson Piquet was my favourite driver, for one because he was winning a lot at the time, and second because of the way Murray Walker used to say his name (weird I know)! Although I’ve missed races for a period of my life in my 20s, I’ve been regularly watching all F1 races since Jacques Villeneuve came to the scene. I have very rarely missed one
About seven years ago my disabled mother-in-law came to live with us. Every Sunday morning she’d come up while I watched F1. At first it was background noise for her (surfing the net while I watched). Over time, she got really into it. She watched while Vettel (her favourite driver), driving for Ferrari, had his tussle with Hamilton at Baku. It’s was a high drama soap opera with cars! She loved it! She loves the older drivers and was excited to see Alonso come back! This past year, we watched nervously as the season developed race by race.
I have come to enjoy this bonding time with my mother-in-law. We haven’t missed a qualifying session or race save for one… When I got to attend the Montreal race in person a few years ago.
We look forward to seeing how the new cars work out. Who will have the advantage? We don’t know! It’s just good fun to talk about!
If for no other reason than spending time with my mother-in-law, I will not miss one qualifying session, one sprint race, or one single race this year.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
9th January 2022, 19:21
I have to vote no on both because I don’t have a television. I don’t want a television.
I will listen to most if not all of the races on Radio 5 whilst monitoring lap times etc on my PC.
Two years ago on holiday I had the opportunity to watch a race on the telly where I was staying.
I turned it off after perhaps a dozen laps as I couldn’t stand another second of of the screeching howling dimwit that was commentating.
I am not the right person to ask am I? ;)
NeverElectric
9th January 2022, 20:10
Probably not.
I’m still disillusioned with Abu Dhabi, frankly, so I’m not doing any of the things I do in December – Jan – Feb: getting psyched up by watching the previous season’s races, devouring online and on-tv analyses, that sort of thing.
Having watched F1 since about 1994, I have to say I’m starting to wonder just how much of it has been real sport, and how much has been fixed in the same way Abu Dhabi was.
And so….I’ll likely log onto this site on Monday mornings (Down Under time, so Sunday evening in Europe) to catch up with the news from the race weekend, but I really do not see myself staying up as I’ve been, watching races at 1am or 2am, sometimes driving to work with the mobile phone app relaying the race live, and so on. It’s been quite deflating.
The F1 TV subscription is now cancelled anyway, and no plans to renew it, so it will have to be this site and the occasional BBC Sport website visit, as I slowly wean myself off an obsession that I’ve had for 28 years.
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
9th January 2022, 20:18
I will watch the races whenever I can, but I’m not entirely enthusiastic about sprints. They completely ruin the tension going into the weekend, diminishing the value of the qualifying. I might watch the first one to see how the new cars look in that format but I doubt it will change my mind drastically.
As for the “right” numbers, the season with 20 races starting in March and ending in November would be ideal for me. Add a non-championship race before Christmas or shortly before the New Year in some really unorthodox conditions (say in Canada or a Scandinavian country) to entertain the fans in the meantime and we might be getting to the right balance between entertainment and the sporting value.
Postreader
9th January 2022, 20:32
If I’m able to find the time to watch them all, yeah.
But I’ll regard it more as, say, the new season of a TV show rather than a sport, and wonder what new shenanigans will be cooked up this time for the sake of entertainment.
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
9th January 2022, 22:09
That’s interesting that 5% of voters don’t watch F1. They are just interested in reading about it I suppose. But if you have any interest in F1 it seems silly to skip all next year’s races. The rules and team changes will make next year very exciting.
dot_com (@dot_com)
10th January 2022, 13:03
That 5% might be those people who say “I’ll never watch F1 again” at the end of every season, when they don’t like something that happened in the previous season.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
9th January 2022, 22:57
It might be trickier to watch all of the races live but I’ll give it my best shot! I don’t care to watch the sprints live but I’ll record them and watch them when I get up the next day. Hard to justify interrupting my sleep at 2am for a half hour!
stefano (@alfa145)
9th January 2022, 23:43
of course I will watch every race and the stupid pointless sprints, but they are way too many nonetheless
Tristan (@skipgamer)
9th January 2022, 23:57
Odd poll, I’ll watch as many as I have the time for… Knowing how many that will be ahead of time is a bit strange. I’m actually surprised for how many people F1 is such an activity they can set aside guaranteed time for.
ajata
10th January 2022, 4:37
i pay for that crappy F1 app.. sure as hell i will be watching all!
GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian)
10th January 2022, 6:37
What is the point in watching the “races” if the FIA hand the Championship to their chosen one?
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
10th January 2022, 8:20
I’ll watched them all live including qualifications. Maybe a couple practices too, especially 2nd FP. The real performance dashboard from AWS is getting better to represent qualy.
F1 schedule was very late at night in asia anyway. It never get in the way with family event here.
Aapje (@aapje)
10th January 2022, 9:33
A bit strange for the poll to equate watching it live with watching the highlights, the latter only being 5-10 minutes.
I’ll personally watch each race live if I’m not doing sports, the latter being a higher priority. I plan my sports around the weather, so if the weather is best while the race/sprint/qualy is happening, then I won’t watch live, but I’ll watch the highlights (or rarely the full race if it was extremely highly rated).
Dan Rooke (@geekzilla9000)
10th January 2022, 10:06
The missus and I build our weekends around F1 so we’ll be watching all the races live.
To be honest, with the change of regulations, and a few driver line-up changes – we’re both mega excited about the season (as are most on this forum I suspect).
I completely see how the events of the last race have spoilt things for some and caused concerned over the future of the sport (including me to be honest) but I have faith that the backlash and post season analysis will result in positive changes as far as rules and governance are concerned in order to preserve the sporting aspect.
We’ll also watch all the Sprint Races live, even though we’ll also whining about how they do little to add to the sport and cheapen the actual Sunday “main event” race!
The truth is I just love watching F1, I lose sleep over it, and I get so anxious during some races that I sometimes reflect that I haven’t at all enjoyed it at all because I was wincing at the screen throughout!!! But that’s the same for any good sporting event, it incites passion and emotional engagement.
Kyle S
10th January 2022, 11:16
No. I’ll avoid:
Monaco
Dutch
Russian
Saudi
Olivier
10th January 2022, 12:12
23 races? No way. Perhaps 7. Maybe 5. I’ll catch the highlights for the rest.
dot_com (@dot_com)
10th January 2022, 12:59
I imagine I will watch them all, because I’m a sucker and I’ve watched every race since 1998. I don’t always watch them live now, since moving to the US and having kids it’s really hard to carve out that much family time for a motor race. F1TV has been great – if I miss the race I know I can watch it later in the day (just spend the day avoiding social media!)
G
10th January 2022, 13:33
Before last season I didn’t watch any of the previous precessions except for the end of the 2016 season. At last there is a bit of competition again after the dull, one sided hybrid era. Good riddance to it, and I hope there is never an era like it again that which guarantees a driver multiple titles by just coasting around unchallenged.
Bleu (@bleu)
10th January 2022, 15:54
I’m going to watch. Depends on other activities whether I’m able to watch everything live but at least I’ll try my best to do result hiding in those cases.
Cristian Ingles (@doctorlovesexy)
10th January 2022, 17:14
I’m going to watch all of them like all these years. I’m a vascular surgeon and even when I’m on call on Sundays I watch the races ( although I missed last Brazil GP thanks to a ruptured aneurysm).
I don’t care about last year drama, it’s a new season with new cars and I’d bet that everybody on this site that pays 1 pound a month are going to watch almost every race.
Seppo (@helava)
10th January 2022, 18:19
I know it’s a silly comment to leave on a site like racefans, but I’m not going to be watching F1 *at all* going forward any more. Not only was Abu Dhabi a farcical and disgraceful end to the season, the way that the FIA and *everyone else* has handled it has been grotesque and disrespectful to the concept that F1 is a sport *at all*. Michael Masi needed to be sacked, and there needed to be a serious and genuine and open discussion about what happened, why, and how to repair the damage done to the sport. Instead, we got a statement that the discussion *was the thing* that was damaging the sport’s reputation, which was the nail in the coffin for me. I’ve been an ardent F1 supporter since the Senna/Prost days. I LOVE the technology that goes into it, and was super excited about the 2022 rules and the new cars. But all of that depends on the racing actually *mattering*, and after 2021, it simply doesn’t. I’ve loved F1 most of my life, but I’m done with it. Thanks, Masi.
MichaelN
10th January 2022, 20:10
I’ll probably watch the races at Spa-Francorchamps and Suzuka (if they get to race there), but will stick to the highlights for the rest as I have for the past several seasons. F1 rarely provides two full hours of entertainment, so the race highlights and the ‘best onboards’ video released a day later are often the best way to see what F1’s up to. Plus the timing of most races is horrendous for Western-Europe as it lays claim to the entire Sunday afternoon.
Steven Williamson (@scubaboy)
11th January 2022, 5:37
I will not watch ANY 2022 races if the FIA doesn’t deal with Masi to my satisfaction. I think that’s why Hamilton is silent, he’s waiting to see what they do about Masi.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
11th January 2022, 22:13
I am a racing fan.
I will watch all f1 races and quite a few sprint races.
In the off season I watch replays of endurance races.
Le Mans I try to watch live.
There certainly exists to many races. I mostly watch NBA highlights. But for Olympics I watched all national team basketball matches.
Probably 25 races thus is a fair maximum. My wife appreciates weekends without F1.