F1 is arrogant but they have the best drivers, the highest tech, are the fastest cars around a road course, they race all over the world and have audience viewing numbers that trump all other racing combined by a large margin. Almost every driver aspires to race in F1 and Formula one's history is unparalleled. I can see why they're a little cocky.
The F1 World Championship is simply the biggest show on earth. Only the Olympic Games and the World Football Cup overtake it in terns of audience, but they are held every 4 years only. F1 organises races in 20 different countries over 5 continents every year! Each race is broadcasted in 185 countries to be watched by 850 millions of TV viewers. F1 race team spend between $60m and $500 millions per year. Circuits pay from $40 millions to $80 millions just to host one race!
Another gobsmacking statistic (courtesy of Wikipedia). "The cumulative television audience was calculated to be 54 billion for the 2001 season"
With all due respect to drivers in F-1 and NASCAR, the main difference is if an F-1 driver isn't fast he's out, even if he brings money to the table. On the other hand NASCAR drivers may compete for decades without a prayer of winning and still make millions selling their t-shirts, hats and trinkets. The money made in concessions alone in NASCAR far outweighs prize money with the top drivers pulling in $20+m annually whereas the prize money for winning Jimmy Johnson's championship is $1m. Of course, winning fuels trinket sales but a guy like Michael Waltrip can do 500+ races before winning his first and still make tens of millions in sales. This further explains the proliferation of driver/owners. BHW
One of the big draws to F1 is the incredible variety of designs that the teams come up with to meet a very strict set of guidelines. NASCAR needs to go back to its old days of "real" stock car racing.
I agree there. If nascar were not ovals except maybe a couple races a year it would be far more interesting. I think people attending the race find an oval track more enjoyable because they can view the cars pretty much at all times during the race. As for people viewing at home, no idea and I just don't get it.
This thread takes me back to the time when drivers just drove. If the F1 schedule had an open weekend, then the drivers drove in another form of racing. Guys like Clark, Brabham, Stewart, etc. drove because they had to. There was no really big sponsor money. Same with Indy car. Andretti, Foyt they were fixtures and winners at Daytona and other NASCAR venues. Drivers today are specialized. They train in a particular type or style of racing, and their career follows that path. I am a huge F1 fan. But here in the US, there is no true feeder system for that type of driving. Karting is not at a level as it is in Europe or South America. That's why the good ol' boys ramp up a Ford or Chevy, take it to the local oval and start racing.
Agree there sir. Some good points. I can use personal experience as a guide as I drove late model dirt track racers right alongside some nascar guys. It took me all of one prior season driving a modified to become good enough to drive a late model (800bhp nascar motors) the following season. I even won a couple races and placed AHEAD of Ken Schrader on one occasion. Seriously, it's not that difficult if a yoyo like me can pick it up that quickly. That being said, I would not get within 100 miles of even wanting to get into an F1 car. They are terrifying.
I just quoted figures I found in Tom Bower's book "No Angel. The Secret Life of Bernie Ecclestone" released this year. There are whole chapters about the importance of F1, and it has been analysed in details by financial experts to assess Ecclestone's fortune and also to satisfy the banks who have invested in it. TV ratings are supposed to be officials. TV rights is mostly where F1 and Ecclestone get their income. Wikipedia's figures are already a few years old. The teams' budget are supposed to be secret, but when Mosley tried to cap them, some figures came out. Toyota was the team that spent most in one year: $500 millions. Ferrari budget is year in, year out about $400 millions. With Briatore at the helm, Renault was alleged to have a budget 1/4 of Toyota. It delivered 2 world championship, which says a lot for the quality of the management. McLaren is reputed to spend $300 millions. At the bottom, HRT survived with $60 millions in 2010.
I think we fall into a trap when we equate cost with value or with importance when it comes to a sport.
Can't have a driver born and raised in Italy as the best American driver. For me, Dan Gurney was the best American driver.
If you have driven an 800 hp racecar, then you could try a F1 car. The ones offered as "rentals" are all toned down somewhat from pure race performance (primarily for engine longevity) and they show you the ropes as you move along. It is good to have a healthy respect, they are monsters, but they can be driven and enjoyed without too much worry. The real trick with a F1 is to learn to trust the ground effect in turns. That takes time, but can be learned at much lower rates with simpler equipment.
Allow me to commit blasphemy on F-Chat..... Why do F1 fans continually brag about the technology of F1 when every impressive technology is banned?!? The cars are CF and light of course but that's not technology any more, that's just expensive. Traction control? Banned. Active suspension? Banned Ground Effects? Banned (I agree with that one) Turbos? Banned. Any technology that might help the driver in any way? hey, let's ban that too. The technology in many passenger cars is more impressive. Call it anti-reverse-upsidedown-inverse snobbery, but Rally Cars are leaded the way in technology and those guys have to drive under wide variety of conditions, not just on nice smooth tarmac. Oh my, flame suit on, tell me why I'm wrong here. But don't -just- flame me... really, tell me how I'm wrong here.
All those banned technologies were F1 innovations at some point. The technological sophistication of F1 is best shown by how many new solutions are devised DESPITE the restrictions
Race Day - NASCAR Driver => Learn a new song on the banjo with the family on the porch => Keystone Light and a bucket of chicken for a snack => Quick read-through of "PHO NETICS 4 Dummys" in case you have an INT ER VIEW => Get to the track => Squeeze into you Big&Tall mens Sparco suit => Get in the car => Start it => Put it in first gear => Shift through the gears (one time) to get on the track => Step on the gas when the green flag waves => Find pick a buddy and stick your nose as close to their butt as possible or vice-versa NOTE: Kind of like shower time in D-Block => Drive in a big left turn until someone tells you your tires need a changin => Come in to the pits and get new tires => Go back on the track => Repeat until someone tells you it's over => Get paid Race Day - F1 Driver => Wake up => Light breakfast => Ride bike or jog 5-10 miles to warm up cardio => Analyze telemetry data and car setup from qualifying => Team strategy meeting => Go through track analysis, braking markers, apex points, exit strategies, fuel calculations etc. Memorize every inch of the track / run through entire race in your head. => Warm up lap / check tire temps / monitor check all systems / optimize car for start => Time start when lights go out / rush into first turn / be aggressive but not reckless => Accelerate out assuming you don't crash => At 180+MPH with cars all around you monitor/adjust wing angle, KERS, differential settings - oh and shift/brake etc. - BOTH left and right and between 12-18 DIFFERENT turns => Listen to and adjust things based on input from team and positioning of other cars as well as constantly making adjustments based on fuel burning off. => Manage to do all this for the entire race => Repeat again the following weekend.... completely different track = usually in a different country. Seriously?? F1 is the pinnacle of Motorsport - always has been - always will be. The only people who think it's "snobby" are the monosyllabic hooples that NASCAR caters to in America who watch it because it's something they can do and not trip the alarms on their home-detention ankle bracelets, the cars look just like the one Junior and daddy both drive to the parole hearings and it's a pretty sure thing if you watch it long enough a crash will happen which is the most exciting thing in the sport. Cheers
NOPE! Not even close. Traction control? Yeah right. Buick introduced MaxTrac in production cars in ~1970. Formula one didn't get it for another 2 decades. Active suspension? Played around with since the 1950s. Made F1 in 1982. Heck it was in production cars as early at 1978. (although my Dad's old Packard had something that you might could call a predecessor to active suspension.) Ground Effects? First used in cars in 1961 -- Didn't make it to F1 till 1978. Turbos? Oh please. They've had turbos for over 100 years. Think WWII fighters. I'll ask the question again. Why do F1 fans continually brag about the technology in the series when it is simply not true?
