[Michal]

I am watching F1 since 2006 when I was 11. Very quickly I became obsessed from that sport and never imagined missing a race and even missed school sometimes to watch free practice. I watched other series as well like GP2, WTCC, DTM etc. Many people know my love for Ferrari (and F1 of course) and Grand Prix Sundays were always F1-dominated.

During the seasons which followed there were many drivers and teams fighting for the championships, high and low points, better or worse races entertainment and result-wise. But despite that I loved every one of them! Some more than others of course, but overall was finding F1 as beautiful.

2006’s Schumacher versus Alonso title fight, titanic scrap between McLarens and Ferraris the following year, epic drama at Interlagos capping off eventful 2008, the most competitive field pace-wise ever in 2009 followed by one of the most incredible championship campaigns in 2010 when momentum swung back and forth. Then came 2011 in which new ingreditiens saved the sport from Vettel’s 2002-like boredom into exciting stuff on the track, while 2012 was a mixture of beautiful 2010 title fight and 2011 racing action, for me best season ever.

And that’s it. They introduced high-degrading Pirellis in 2011 as well as DRS. The tyres were initially praised as creating good racing, the rear wing system was less well-received but still do not appear to took the fun off the sport for significant majority. However from 2013 I started to find F1 less and less exciting, my passion diminishing by the weeks. So I thought what is wrong? And I found some answers. Simply one – F1 is becoming ever-so artificial.
As I mentioned above moving onto fragile tyres and overtaking aid was always going to damage some part of F1 purity. It was always going to be a very thin line. And I believe that it got crossed in 2013. Let’s take a look what changed in F1 since the end of 2012.
Pirelli became more aggressive. Too aggressive, very few people liked seeing drivers letting others go to not damage their tyres. It wasn’t a familiar sight in 2011 and 2012. Other striking aspect for me, which wasn’t popular in the media, is that 2013-style Pirellis were a lottery. It haven’t mattered whether a driver pushed or not, they had virtually no control over the tyres. And think about delaminations. Button said that while 2011 and 2012 tyres were forcing drivers to back off, they can manage them e.g. saving them early, attack later on. It no longer appeared to be the case. Also the construction became very sensitive, forcing drivers more than ever to avoid lock-ups.

They doubled DRS zones, which can only be a bad thing, destroying beautiful overtaking spots (like T1 at Interlagos). They introduced double points. Those stupid ads on tracks. Do not forget about such propolsals as standing regards, success ballast, two races, strange penalty systems, GP weekend revamp and so on.

Then came 2014 regulations. These new engines are very impressive, no doubt about that. But should F1 became ecologic? No. Like Villeneuve said, these cars are looking as if they are asleep and you can’t feel whether driver is pushing or not, really frustrating for me. Not to mention how expensive F1 became and how equal the revenue is shared. One team is already gone, the other is performing like GP2, a few others are struggling to survive or threatening to exit because costs are killing them. The technical regulations are so restrictive that we see stale pecking order on race-by-race basis. Mercedes should have been caught, instead they are still ahead. Add Mercedes domination and team-formation and you have a perfect ingredients to stop following F1. It’s really hard to find positives.

F1 stepped into very tricky territory introducing Pirelli and DRS. Initially it looked a great solution as we witnessed two of the best seasons racing-wise in 2011 and 2012. However they couldn’t resist doing it more and more. But it’s not the most troublesome thing. They can always do better tyres and ditch (restrict) DRS, it shouldn’t be an impossible task to do if only fans say only this. The thing I am very unhappy about is promoting fuel-efficient technology along with reducing downforce to promote engines in tough economical situation. F1 went into very dangerous ground and is suffering from it. And it can’t find an exit from it. The result is what you are looking at – endless talks about improving the show. I don’t remember such meetings before 2014 so it’s telling. My passion goes lower and lower everytime I see ever-so stupid ideas. I never expected this would happen so early. And I don’t think I am the only one.

[GreenSpyder]

I agree with a lot of what you say…..

DRS was supposed to alleviate boredom by increasing passing, much like “Push-To-Pass” in other series. However, it only enables more powerful cars to pass near the end of straightaways (Mercedes advantage, as if they needed more).

I’ve witnessed engine changes from V10s to V8s to V6s during my watch. Turbos have been banned, and reintroduced. Tires went from slicks to grooved and back to slicks. Traction Control was allowed, banned, reintroduced and banned again. Mercedes, Honda and Ford left, now Mercedes and Honda are back. Many changes in the rules make for a slower, stronger car to promote safety. Tracks have introduced chicanes mid-straightaways and decreased banking to make them slower and safer. The sport has been watered down so much since the 1980’s that it’s hardly the same.

Driver standards have changed. James Hunt (1976 World Champ) used to show up before a race, hungover, or still drink, smoking a joint and bending a Japanese flag girl over a stack of tires just prior to jumping into his car late for the pace lap. He stole lit cigarettes from spectators before he started his post-race victory speeches. Now, Kimi looks like a boy scout by comparison.

Still, look at the changes introduced into NASCAR and Indy racing. They are nothing like their roots either. NASCAR has become a restrictor plate, carbeurated spec car spectacle, and Indy put fenders around the rear wheels (NO LONGER open-wheel), that is provided you can tolerate watching cars circle all afternoon. Even American NFL football is a shadow of it’s 1980 former self.

Get used to it, because very shortly you’re going to be the guy saying “I remember when….”

[Phil Norman]

I agree as well. As people have pointed out elsewhere the introduction of DRS is no substitute for cars being able to follow each other closely and overtake unaided. Surely it cannot be beyond the wit of the current crop of rule makers and designers to make this happen most of the time?

The current design of the tyres and the fuel saving don’t help. I would prefer to see either more durable tyres, with perhaps still the requirement to use more than one compound, or a choice of more than one manufacturer. I always thought this worked reasonably well. F1 cars should never be in the business of fuel saving either. I can understand having an engine design that pushes the boundaries and sets standards for future road car design but why combine it with fuel saving? I think there should be a limited tank capacity but not fuel saving.

I think the general spectacle of F1 is very important. It needs to be competitive. This weekend’s race at Silverstone was exciting because there was more than one manufacturer in the battle for the lead. This needs to be the case all the time. If people are new to F1 and they happen to turn on, they need to see battles between teams. This might encourage them to watch again and become regulars. Without these sort of races they won’t. As a fan myself I have seen some really mediocre races in the last two or three seasons. This might explain why viewing figures are falling. This of course and the fact that F1 is slowly moving away from free to air tv. This trend must not continue if F1 is going to attract new supporters.

[Phil Norman]

A point I missed as well. The idea of changing the race weekend format with short sprint races or other ideas like this is never going to be a substitute for better car design and sensible understandable rules. Or less rules. This kind of change would just be a gimmick which would soon be dropped.

[Michal]

The general spectacle is super important aspect. Better races = more people = more money = better cars etc. Not only we have very poor competitiveness at the moment but also these cars are so lazy to watch, you don’t feel the speed like you did before V6 era.

I read today that in 2014 they pushed media off the grid to make space for VIP’s children. I don’t even want to comment on that one. Maybe I am somewhat mistaken however I believe they are trying to make F1 exclusive and ‘for themselves’ very much in the last couple of years. I am getting very sick when I see it happening, I want F1 to be for everyone like football. People want sheer excitement not seeing one engine lasting seven races which is of course a tremendous achievement, but brings virtually no emotions to the fans.

[Author]

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