Max Verstappen 2025 World Champion?

People are excited and entertained by Max but it isn't because he is entertaining or an entertainer?

You make it seem like "driver" is such an important thing for the world. I would agree if you are talking about long haul truckers delivery our food I guess. Nothing will change the world less than the outcome of this F1 season. There is some oncologist buried in a lab somewhere that no one has ever heard of who is doing more for the world than any F1 driver.

That doesn't mean that being an F1 driver isn't important for the world. We need our entertainment and our inspiration. Piastri has not been inspiring or entertaining in the second half of the season. Max has, and he always is - that's why people like him.

 

@singletrack Sport is and always has been entertainment, no question about that. It's also a business. Now days all sports are first and foremost a business. It's about making money and that often comes at the cost of integrity of the sport and even at the cost of the entertainment of the sport and the fans are the ones that suffer. Paid subscriptions on multiple different viewing programs just to see the sport is a huge a problem across sports. F1 is part of that problem, they recently signed an exclusive with Apple TV. Huge L.

I think what @william was referring to was all the extra flash and glamour forced in F1, and/or the manipulation for the spectacle. Year one of the Vegas GP was a prime example of F1 turning into a circus for "entertainment" purposes rather than focusing on the actual race. Showing celebrities and girlfriends 25 a races. Hours of pre race show and jabbering about the same topics over and over. This is the entertainment they add all in the goal for longer viewership and more profits.

What irks me is how much the folks running F1 manipulate the actual racing/championship to for lack of a better word, script a championship. 2021 was some of the most obvious and blatant manipulation from F1/FIA that I can remember, but it did make for perhaps the most exciting season ever. Perhaps this manipulation and corruption has been going on forever, but I might have been too naive to see it. With my eyes open, I can't help question things. There is no doubt in my mind that F1 and Sports in general wish push a narrative about a given driver or athlete to capitalize on that golden egg. Lewis Hamilton is the best example in F1. A British driver who is by far the most popular driver in the biggest F1 demographic (Britain) who gets promoted on the worlds largest F1 broadcast (British Sky Sport). It's a cash cow. There are plenty of cases that suggest F1/FIA protected his advantage and they certain pushed the narrative of him being the GOAT. He lived in the best cars his whole career and the rules protected his advantage. Turns out the idea that you're watching the best ever, it sells tickets and brings in huge viewership. We same thing in other sports. Lebron James might be the best example ever. They have pushed the narrative of him being the best player ever pretty much since he joined the NBA. And people have bought into it. Anyone that has actually watched full games/seasons of both Michael Jordan and Lebron James, you'll know it isnt even close. Now we have Patrick Mahomes being pushed as the next GOAT and there are plenty of examples of the Cheif's getting help from the NFL/officiating. It's a corrupt world.

The shift of Sports being entertainment because the best players/drivers and teams doing the best job and winning was much more organic. The actual sport have changed, often filled with gimmicks. Nascar has the Playoffs to the knockout system and the stupid "Stages". It's garbage gimmicks and it's unwatchable. NBA have all but took defense out of the game to inflate scoring. They don't enforce the rules of the game, everyone travels so badly to pretend these players are soooo skilled. Flops and bad calls all day. But the average team scores 120+ points a night and a player scoring 30 in a night is easy. F1 has DRS and Sprint races. Restrict the amount of tires, fuel and scrap exciting V10s for lame V6's in cars that get managed for 90% of the race. Fundamentally the actual entertainment which is the cars and racing is pretty poor in F1. Qualifying is by far the most exciting part of an F1 weekend. Monaco is unbearable and has been for years. The fact that the cars are quieter than the feeder series is pathetic. Viewing F1 live should be a visceral experience and a lot of that comes from the noise. The V6 era just doesn't have that.

Meh, I could go on and on.

 

+1
I couldn't say it better. They have turned a mechanical sport into a Grand Opera !!

These days, I prefer to go to watch amateur races, or national series which are low-key, far more affordable, and provide thrills without razzmatazz. Back to the grassroots !!

 

Post of the day!

 

I agree with all of that. I would also point out that youth sports have become a big business in the US and it is really ruining it for kids - which is far worse in my opinion as a former youth coach of multiple team sports.

I too dislike that and have posted about it before as well. Like, I really don't care how hot Leclerc's girlfriend is to be honest.

Honestly not a expert on the manipulation. I think F1 has always been shady. I mean look at Ecclestone and the way in which he purchased the rights for F1 from his buddy, and dungeon BDSM hero, Mad Max Mosley. LOL.

I like the Lebron example. I hate that dude...he's so fake and self-absorbed. Jordan was a beast - the reason I played basketball as a kid.

The chief's thing is definitely super weird. I don't follow the NFL super closely anymore, but it has been bad enough to make me believe there is something there.

Nascar is a great example. I was watching it casually, because I appreciate all racing, but when they changed the format, it made it so pointless and weird to me. One of my old racing coaches did this comparison on facebook one time of how Jimmy Johnson would have fared years ago with different rules and it was so funny. Dude went to Indycar and got absolutely spanked. Compare him to someone who can actually wheel it, and they can drive in multiple disciplines. Kyle Larson for example - although he crashed out of the 500, he showed real speed in the car during practice.

Yah, in the past I posted a lot about the racing in F1. I've just kind of accepted it now. It is a sport driven by engineering. I'm interested in it because I'm a lifelong Ferrari fan. DRS does suck, but it is also true that there would be virtually no passing without it. But then again, the passing is contrived as a result and now we have DRS trains. So there is always a cost to these "solutions".

Indycar obliterates F1 in terms of actual racing. The driving style to make the Dallara go fast is also far more entertaining. Although this year was crazy because Palou destroyed everyone. I actually used to race against Kirkwood in F4. I think he won every race that year. LOL. That dude is legit and probably the best American driver in many years. I'm hoping he gets closer to Palou next year. Ganassi is just a better team than Andretti. But, to your point, they added hybrid to the Dallara. Did it improve the racing? No. Did it decrease reliability? Yes. Did it make the cars heavier and worse to drive? Yes. Do the fans like it? No. So stupid.

Totally agree on the noise and spectacle of the engines. Again, they took away from the entertainment of the sport. Indycars sound better - wut!? Don't even get me started on deleting the grid girls? WTF...they still have them in motogp; why do we get stiffed? No pun intended.

Same.

 

In that case, we largely agree.

But I don't think there is anyone to blame for Piastri's performance but himself. He's just looked ordinary the second half of the season and not deserving of being world champion.

 

Such a good point! I remember kids playing sports because they loved the sport, they loved the game. The good ones keep moving up because they want to make it to the big leagues and win a championship. The scouts and even the media would pick up on these young talents in college or the jr ranks or in F2 or F3, whatever... and they would silently recruit them and sign them and we would get have an idea who are the top prospects before they go pro and we would follow along and see if they can actual perform in the big leagues. I feel it isn't like that anymore.

Kids are already thinking about the money and the fame and that's their goal over winning. Building a brand is more important to young athletes/drivers than actually winning. It's insane.

Team management and the leagues themselves are looking for the next hot ticket that they can market and capitalize on. Do they have the looks and the attitude and just enough talent that they can get away making them the face of their future?

Michael Jordan, Michael Schumacher, Wayne Gretzky, Ken Griffey Jr, Joe Montana, whoever you want to name. They earned their contracts and endorsements and the frame and their brand based on how they performed. Their popularity wasn't based on the league or media saying they are great, they were great first. But these young kids now days are given huge money before ever playing their first game or driving their first race and it doesn't promote any kind of work ethic. Look at Zion Williamson. Huge promise, gets all the money and he's a wash because he doesn't care.

In my memory, this started with Kobe Bryant in 1996, being signed right out of high school. At least it was based off his talents and he proved he was a super star that deserved it. Though, immediately teams started signing kids out of high school and giving them big contracts. Remember Kwame Brown? Naturally it's gone through every other sport too, including F1. Max is that lightning in a bottle, but they're trying the same thing with Kimi Antonelli. Very limited experience, Toto tries promoting him as the next best thing, that he will be a future champion, blah blah blah. His first go in an F1 session and he wrecks the car within 10 minutes. I would love to see the great ones rise to the top because they simply are great and not because the sport or the media says so.

Again, I ramble on.

 

/\/\/\ It seems appropriate to mention that one Lewis Hamilton was on the cover of Autoweek in 1998, as he was anointed as a future F1 star.

 

you guys are on the wrong thread- 2026 F1 we'll be watching historical replays

 

that's the year he was signed to his McLaren development contract

(was he on the cover of Autoweek, or Autosport? Autosport seems more likely)

 

Autoweek...I never was a subscriber/buyer of Autosport.