Why Don't Americans Like F1?

Give the boy a break.

There isn't really an "average" american -- except in marketing studies.

There are yanks who like F1, who like soccer, who like symphonies.

But the mathematical abstraction that marketers go after does seem to be a pretty dim bulb.

It's easier to sell junk to dumb people.

 

I don't know the attendance but it looked less than 50% to me. The first 2 races in 2000 and 2001 definitely had more people and I would say it was a sell out in 2000.
I think one race a year, one American driver, and the fact that most Americans don't drive F cars or Mercedes or Beemers. I also think on track passing would be great. Indy was exciting because of the #1 drivers on the same team trying to catch the #2 drivers. I don't think the U.S. is going to keep a race for next year and that will make F1 even more popular.

 

That may be another thing Bernie doesn't like about Indy --- it can be the largest crowd in the F1 season, and the stands still look half empty on TV. You could fit the entire population of some countries in those stands. I haven't watched, but I don't think NASCAR fills those stands, either.

During the 500, they spent more time showing the pit lane than the stands .... almost more than they showed the race. (Yes, Ashley is a babe.)

 

Really?

How about this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6ofdXDykqw

This was only 8 months ago . . . one guy making 12 on-track passes in a single race.

 

Well, I'm an American and I love F-1.... or at least I used to, untill it became a spec series... at least when everybody had Cosworths back in the 70's Ferrari still had a 12 cyl... Matra too... BRM, and Renault came in with the Turbos... my point being that the engines were different... you could by a cosworth, or you could build your own... same for the car, you could build your own, or buy one from an other team... McLaren, Shadow,March, Ensign, Lotus all sold cars to other entrants.... why cant they do that today? Toyota could actually make some money, same for Renault... anywayI think F-1 IS popular, but it has always appealed to a more sophisticated taste... its kinda like saying why is'nt the food of Joel Robochon as popular as McDonalds??? they are simply two different categorys... NASCAR in my opinion is toally contrived to be a show for the masses... with some racing thrown in for good measure. I think the folks who are actually racing ... beleive its about racing.. but its really a show.... and Formula One is doing the same thing!!!

F-1 has to alow the natural business cycle to happen or else we are gonna end up watching go carts racing at Monaco & Monza in a couple of years!

 

The main reason I watch F1 is that I'm a Ferrari fan, and F1 is where the Ferrari team effort is placed. If Ferrari were to return to sports car racing (say Le Mans prototypes) I'd watch that in lieu of or in addition to F1. If Ferrari were not in F1 I wouldn't bother watching it, for all the good reasons kpl made above.

 

Nascar spoiler, sort of. If you're going to watch it later (this is the age of tivo, after all), skip this post....





Interestingly enough, while today's Nascar race did feature passes for the lead and position, it was decided much like many F1 races - pit stop fuel strategy/economy.

 

True story. I was disappointed Montoya did not get to duke it out with Stewart and/or Gordon(s) at the end. All of NASCARS best road racers were on a different (losing) pit strategy. All we can say was that Montoya was the best of those on his team's strategy. At one point in the race, Stewart caught Montoya and I thought there might be a great battle, but Stewart passed him quickly and drove away. Perhaps at Watkins Glen we will see a battle of the best drivers at the end.

Dave

 

Ferrari made its reputation on sports car racing. I'd like to watch sports car racing, but ALS, with four different classes on track at the same time always looks (to an old rallye driver) like rush hour in the city.

I just can't get enthused about gridlock.

 

Anybody consider when NASCAR "truely" became as popular as it is today? Could it have been when open wheel racing in the USA split into INDY series and CART? Now CHAMP car also... Look back at the car mags of that era. Open wheel racing was as popular if not more popular than NASCAR until then. Once the split---> NASCAR wins by default and as F1 is obviously open wheel racing, it got tossed aside as well. Especially after loosing watkins glen and the AZ F1 races. The race would be better attended IMHO if held at a different location. My vote is MID OHIO!!!!

 

Good point.

INDY + CART + CHAMP.... if we took the best teams/drivers/tracks from each of those and made it one unified American open wheel league it would be great fun to watch.

 

Well, you all make good points, but the truth is, I have never known hardly anyone in my entire life who was ever much into Formula 1, or any type of road racing. Top fuel, pro stock and NASCAR seem to be the only things that turn on the Budwieser crowd. I was the only guy I know who watched Monoco, or any F1 race broadcast on national TV. That goes way back before ground effects, when passing was far more common. Heck, I never knew very many who watched the Indy 500, back before Cart and Champ.

My feeling is that the "average" American is so ignorant of anything technical, that if its not a Chevy small block with a Holley carb, they cant figure it out. Years ago I was invited by a new group of friends, all gearheads but all into V8 Detroit iron, to go up to BIR to watch road racing for the weekend. They drank all night long til 5AM, slept off thier hang over until after 1, then went and hung out down at the mud hole watching the trucks get stuck. Out of a dozen guys, I was the only one standing at the fence. Out of over 5000 people at the race track, very very few were standing at the fence watching anything. Its sure not like seeing fans in europe where EVERYONE in on the fence.

 

So, are you saying that Nascar "is" exciting? Come on.

And as far as passing goes, of course there is more passing in Nascar, the track is so damn wide, and all the passes happen in slow motion. Sure, there may be more passing in Nascar, but the passing in F1 takes 100 times more skill than passing in Nascar. I think that most viewers in the US have no understanding of the level of skill that is required in F1 versus Nascar. And, they probably don't care because there is almost no US representation in F1.

I can't stand watching Nascar, but love to watch F1. Each track is completely different in F1. I could watch 10 different Nascar events, and I wouldn't know the difference between 1 track of the other. They all look the damn same.

The only thing entertaining about Nascar is the movie Talledega Nights.

However, my favorite racing to watch is GT classes. But it doesn't get anywhere near the media coverage of other styles of racing.

 

Good point. In the US, motorsports is almost more of a social event than anything else (an excuse to get drunk and party). Yet in the rest of the world, there is a true passion for motorsports on a different level.