Is it just me of is F1 less enjoyable than it is in the late 90s to 2001?

It is not as fun as it used to be. Technology is not necessarily good in every way.

Loved the V-10s.

 

950hp for the mercedes, more downforce/less drag. More weight though, but full slicks.

Of course, stick full slicks on the 2004 cars and they'd be much faster again...

 

The engines sound ****. Especially the Honda, which permanently sounded as if someone chucked all the parts in the block and hoped they would magically assemble themselves. Like a bunch of spanners in a washing machine.

Is it more loud than a 360 CS/capristo etc? Yes. But not by much. Porsche Supercup was about as loud, if not louder.

 

I'm just saying the lap times, qualifying or race aren't even close. I know they make some good power. A Ferrari F2004 would run circles around a Merc even stopping for fuel in the race.

 

absolutely sh*t honda engines, yes

maybe my concentration was on Merc & ferrari engines. Agree not by much. hehe

 

+1

 

Wow! Now there's a contrarian view around here! Good for you!

FWIW, I'm pretty much with you - I'll struggle to get up in the middle of the night to watch it. It remains the pinnacle of the sport.

Again, it seems to be some kind of 'badge of honor' to post here how miserable it all is. Don't like it? Don't watch it. Don't comment on how miserable it is. Simple.

Sure, we're all agreed they sound like ****, particularly the Honda, but it is what it is. I recall when Renault debuted their first turbo - How we all laughed at how quiet it was! "That's no race car engine" we joked....... But as Dr Ulrich once noted, "noise is just wasted energy".

I realize many don't follow it for the engineering excellence, but to me anyway that's a large part of its appeal. And what they're now doing with very limited fuel & the ERS systems is truly pushing the envelope.

I too remain a fan!

Cheers,
Ian

 

A genuine question to all of those who keep posting week in and week out about how c:censored:ap F1 is now, how boring the races are, and s:censored:t the cars sound today:

If F1 is so bloody rubbish now, why are you still watching it?

 

F-1 as a whole is not as fun or interesting as it was in the past - 10 + years or more ago. I would say that the absolute pinnacle of the sport was 1985 - 1995... sadly Ferrari was not winning but the cars were amazing to look at, sounded fearsome, and the drivers were pretty good ... Senna, Prost, Schumacher, Piquet, Mansell, etc...


today its still something to watch, but no where as interesting technically - at least to me.

as for attending an actual GP - its totally worthless unless you spend $$$$$$$$$$ and do paddock club or get sponsor passes. Having a grand stand seat is pretty much worthless to me. you only see the cars from afar.. never see the drivers in person ... and in total you get 6 hours of running over 3-4 days... and an average race will cost you couple of grand all in.... not worth it.

 

+1

 

Actually, I'm not. I put it on, watch the start, then fast forward until something happens. I have to stop more for wrecks than overtaking and I'm usually done in fifteen minutes and off with the rest of my day.

 

But you're forgetting the part where I'm IN the 360. It's louder from inside.

 

+1

Unless they're miserable, they're not enjoying it is my take......

Pro sports of any kind is meant to bring the spectators at least a little joy, at least to me. But seems F1 isn't F1 unless the 'fans' are miserable. "One team dominates", "it's boring" etc. I genuinely don't get it! Go watch tiddlywinks or something if you don't like it!

Cheers,
Ian

 

For too many, F1 is boring if one team OTHER THAN FERRARI dominates.

That's what I get from the posts on this forum.

 

Possibly. This is (primarily anyway) a Ferrari forum after all.

But, then I suspect we'd still be hearing about how boring it all is! "Ferrari domination is killing the sport" would then be the whine du-jour.

Cheers,
Ian

 

This is the most enjoyable F1 to watch from TV of any season I've followed. I've never watched this many races live.

 

I agree with you, Inwent to my last race in 2013 for the Canadian Grand Prix and not really intereting in attending the current version in person. Montreal does a fantastic job of hosting the race, I have attended 16 Canadian GPs over the years, the sound used to be epic. I watch the races still but for the last few years MotoGP has been much more compelling to watch and attend. Hoping the new regulations in 2017 can shuffle the results a bit, at least so one is not wondering which Mercedes will win this week.

 

No it's not.

First, the cars look like ****.
Second, the cars sound like ****.
Third, rules and regulations are so numerous and complex, it seems they were written by the EU parliament.
Fourth, very few drivers are charismatic.
Fifth, the point system is dumb.

I havent bothered to watch it consistently since Alonso lost the title for Ferrari.

Im glad i got to watch the Prost Senna era, the Schumi-Hill-Villeneuve-Hakkinen era..

 

Bwah, bwah, bwah...

When was the last time they looked 'good'?

Agreed.

The nature of the game.

If we remove the rose-tinteds, when were more than one or two truly 'charismatic'?

Why? I have no problem with awarding points to the top 10 rather than the top 6.

A great era for sure, but it is what it is. Again, don't like it? Don't watch it. This constant whining about it gets really old IMO. Go watch tiddlywinks. You won't be missed.

Cheers,
Ian

 

The cars just look wonky now

 

It is not just you. F1 has become a made-for-TV show instead of a real competition between engineers and drivers. It is no longer interesting to watch except for fans of "reality" TV.

 

Nothing could match a riveting Osella-AGS-Zakspeed skirmish over last DNF. I miss pre qualifying and a 27 car grid. .

 

Wenn F1 turned into a parade of high downforce cars unable to overtake each other.

I think I stopped watching reguarly somewhere near the end of the Schumi at Ferrari era. Some races were just incredibly boring back then.

F1 seems more lively now, more overtaking for instance, at least that's my impression.

 

I get joy out of it, but nothing like I use to. In years past, I'd never miss a race live. Now, there's next to no chance I'm getting up early, and often I will do something else while the race is on instead of being glued to my TV.

When I first started watching F1, I was attracted to the cars looking and sounding like they were on the edge most of the race. It was a 90 minute sprint and the cars looked exotic and purposeful. Now, it's a 90 minute fuel/tiring saving exercise and the cars look comical. Meh.



Mark

 

I liked that era too.

Plenty of entries, pre-qualifs, then qualifs.

If I remember rightly, once 36 cars were entered in one GP.

Some cars we had never heard of before, or since ...