Ignorance of most US pop. about F1

The problem is that the questions went from difficult to very easy with no in between.They should have asked
something like how many cars start in F1 race or name
3 teams and three drivers

 

No mate, this would be the Aussie V8 series (Ford v. Holden) so of course the answers are Bruce, and Bruce, respectively.

Cheers
Kevin

 

Heck, I must be lucky!

Just picked up the new "Forza" magazine and there it is ... "Massive Changes To Shake Up F1!"

"The critics and Ecclestone complain that F1 is boring to watch."

Who would have thunk it?

The article is really a great overview of F1 in my opinion ... I lost interest in F1 some years back as it seemed to have become almost exciting as NASCAR or The Indianapolis 500.

I, personally prefer the old CANAM or more recent ALM series to modern F1.


Wax:

Thanks for the information regarding two-headed snakes. If a two-headed snake appears one time in ten thousand, then one is twice as likely to find a two-headed snake than to see the leader of a F1 race to be overtaken on the track.

Best wishes

 

US racing needs big flashy banners, lots of turns on a short oval so the cars pass the grandstand a lot (short attention span of beer-swilling tailgaters).

US racing for the most part is about short bursts of brutal power. no style, little technology, and even less finesse.

So with piss-poor racing attempts by US manufacturers, they'd rather pretend F1 does not exsist than loose miserably.

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

 

Hi guys!
Here's my .02. I think we are looking at this wrong. Is Indy not the highest attended F1 race on the calender? Granted, it is a multi-national audience that is attending. However, that is true at EVERY F1 race. Every American I have ever chatted with at the race has been very knowledgable. I did see a guy show up with a black leather Dale Earnhart jacket on. He looked like a fish out of water and quickly took it off and tied it around his waist - with the logo to the INSIDE! The s$$$ eating grin on his face the first time he heard an F1 car go by was priceless! The point I am trying to make is that I believe there are quite a few F1 fans in the USA - and maybe more than I think! NASCAR has umteen races all over the country with American advertisers and American drivers. Sure there will be interest when it is splashed on the screen week after week. Oh, and as far as strategy is concerned, how can you consider strategy when they bunch up the pack under yellow 30 or 40 times during the "race"? There is always some yahwho punting someone into the wall, helmets being thrown at other drivers, pit crews being run over, etc., etc....

I think our US fan base is bigger than you think. We just need to come out of the closet! I have turned several buds into fans and some never even had the desire to watch racing - ANY racing. IMHO, the attraction to a newcomer comes from not just driver ability (the best of the best of the best..), but driver ability in all conditions (rain, heat, cold, untold track charactoristics), and the technical side is just mind boggling! Just mention to someone the 19,000+ revs from a 4-stroke motor and you have set the hook - reel them in!

I saw a great t-shirt last year that said, "Too dumb for the Symphony. Too smart for NASCAR. F1 fan!"

Jim

 

Nice post and some very good points.

A few years ago I took my redneck buddy along to Indy and he had that same grin on his face when the first V-10 zoomed by at 15,000 rpm. He still is a NASCAR fan, but does watch F1 now as well. Still gives me grief over the lack of passing, but hey, he is watching.

 

Well here's a European opinion. Some good points have been made (particularly about the time difference and the oval history in the US), but I think the biggest thing is the lack of US involvement. Look at Spain. No interest in F1, the races weren't even shown on TV until bang! Alonso arrives on the scene with Renault last year and the GP is heaving and with wall-to-wall TV coverage. I might say that Americans like to compete in things they're good at. Isn't that why there is a World Series for a sport only played in the US (don't worry I'm standing well back after that comment)

 

The point about Spain and Alonso is spot on. Unfortunately. I hate chauvinism, but I guess it is part of human nature.

Actually the point about the time difference I beg to differ: Having grown up in Europe I was used to watch the GPs in the middle of my Sundays and it was always a struggle, especially if the weather was good. In the US I can now watch the races along with a nice breakfast and then have the day to do something else. I realize it is a bit too early on the West Coast, but other than that I see the early time as a plus, not a negative anymore.

 

having an american driver wouldn't hurt the ratings or interest levels. but i am not so sure that would do the trick all by itself. i can well remember when mario was our standard bearer and then won the championship, and most of my friends still didn't care about f1. maybe the subtleties are lost on the computer game generation, maybe the lack of parrallel coverage (ie no tie-ins with macdonalds etc) hurts the popularity.

whatever. in the meantime i have been anything but bored by f1 in the last 5 yrs. there may not be much passing, but as long as my man schumi is in front i don't really care !

 

A privateer American team with two American drivers would be unbelievable for F1 in America. I wish I had the capital or resources to raise such capital. I personally know so many capable people here in the states that could easily run and manage the various aspects a F1 team. The only hurdle is money and the fact that the team would have to be based in Europe. Travelling back and fourth between every race would not be practical. So if the team is based in Europe it is not an American team at the heart. Like Toyota (it is supposed to be a Japanese team) based in Cologne... not really Japanese. The only way out is to have more races in North America so it becomes pratical for the team to be based in North America and have American drivers that have a competitive advantage because they have local knowledge of those tracks.

 

This is a really good discussion and I think a lot of good points have been made.

I'll add just a few more. You have to give the fans something to relate to. Bernie hasn't really done that in the US with F1.

NASCAR never really reached the levels of popularity it has in the US until the past few years. I think this is primarily due to the marketing skills of the France family. It is on at "watchable" time, most Americans can relate to the appearance of the cars and it has a very high what I will call "personality quotient"- maybe even higher than F1. If you were in Conover, NC after Dale Earnhardt died you would know what I mean. The strategies employed, IMO, are just as political and just as deep as those in F1- even if the cars employ yesterday's technology. I'm not really a NASCAR fan but I like the fact that is far more unpredictable than F1 and that there are a lot of rivalries and "rubbin".

F1, while my favorite automotive venue, is indeed hard to watch and enjoy in the US- and it has become much more mundane in recent years. And even it has not reached huge levels of popularity until relatively recently.

While Mr. Ecclestone has done a great job of marketing it throughout the World he has done a very poor job of doing so in the US. It has not been widely televised or promoted and if you don't have Speedvision I don't know how you would watch it here (with exception of USGP) even today. Even the US race is on a boring, slow circuit held in a minor midwest city (with all due respect to those of you from Indy) that doesn't have a lot of ancillary attractions. The fact that it's as well attended as it is shows there a much better F1 base here than some might imagine. With a US driver, an LA or Miami race and better advertising I bet it would really take off.

BTW Mr. Gordon is not popular as he is regarded as a "pretty boy" and a whiner. His wins are attributed to luck and a superior car and not his skill. It didn't help that he cheated on his wife. You might even say he's kind of the Juan Pablo or Eddie Irvine of NASCAR.

 

Uh, oh, thanks for that. I had no idea. However I still don't understand it: If he is comparable to Eddie Irvine, well ...need I say more? (Hint: my avatar)

 

Juan Pablo Montoya is an idiot that will one day en up killing someone (hopefully himself) due to his driving. He belongs in NASCAR!!!

 

I'd like to add my own two cents to this.

Firstly, I doubt that many F1 fans in general, irregardless of their nationality, would have been able to ace that quiz.
A lot of F1 viewers don't have an extensive knowledge of F1 trivia, and whilst I will agree that F1 doesn't enjoy a large American fan base, you can still follow F1 without having intimate knowledge of it's history.

The reason why F1 has such a hard time stretching its popularity is very simple: very few sports have 'Global' appeal. A large part of the interest of any sport comes from how strongly it's tied to the viewer's culture and how partinent it is to their upbringing as a society.
F1 began as an Euro-Centric motor sport and all things considered it has done remarkably well to extend as far as it has on the global domain.

If you look at any sport in any given country you will generally find that it has its own reincarnation, a version that belongs uniquely to the nation taking part in it. For instance, one can say that American Football is to the U.S.A what Rugby is to the British and that Aussie Rules Footy is the Australian sibling to both. Knowing this, I can confidently say that American Football will never catch on in Australia. This would be true even if they started playing NFL games on Australian fields, with Australian teams taking part in the league. It will never replace Aussie Rules in the heart of the everyday Joe because it has no ties to the culture here and no place in the 'Sunday morning' anthropology.

America has it's own version of motorsport: Indy, Kart and NASCAR, much like Americans play baseball instead of cricket. While Bernie is doing a fair job in making F1 as internationally appealing as possible, there is no doubt that to a large chunk of Americans F1 is as boring to them as NASCAR is boring to Europeans.
Having grown up as an F1 addicted European (two qualities that are by no means mutually inclusive) that has lived primarily in non European countries, I've pretty much heard all the possible criticisms you can think of when it comes to Formula 1. It has made me realise that if you grow up in an environment where a sport is loved, then you yourself have the best chance at loving that sport too. Keep in mind, there are always exceptions and I'm only speaking in terms of aggregates.

I think that having an American driver or F1 team would certainly help boost the sport's interest, but it is a bandaid solution to an incurable phenomenon. F1 will never replace NASCAR or Kart as the country's chief motorsport.
As an example let's take Australia.
Australia is currently not only enjoying its very own Mark Webber as a promising contender for a Williams seat, but also boasts an Aussie team owner in the lineup. So, in light of this, you would imagine that F1 coverage 'down under' has gone through the roof? You would be wrong.
We still don't get to see practices or qualifying on TV and the average person doesn't watch F1 regularly and they never will. It's not anyone's fault, it's just not in the culture.

If you really want to live in an F1 crazy environment your best bet is to move to Maranello. Just be careful which team you follow

 

Which really pisses me off. I wonder if any Foxtel channels would show them?

 

I agree, it's a real shame since qualifying can be just as tense and exciting as the race itself. Sadly I don't think Foxtel have the licensing rights to broadcast the Formula 1. To my knowledge they have only covered a single race, and even this was years ago.

The new Foxtel Digital has a motor racing channel called 'Fuel' or something, but I don't know wether they show anything Formula 1 related.

 

Strasse,

Your comments are very thought provoking in more ways than why doesn’t the USA watch F1, now I ‘m trying to figure out how I move to Marenello. I won’t even have a “team” problem. LoL

 

LOL, cheers Nick And when you do, let me know if you have a spare room to rent!

 

Very well put.

I agree with all you said. Having grown up in Europe myself and living in the States now I completely agree.

Your thoughts brought back an article in my mind I read a year ago in an Indianapolis (of all!) newspaper: It was an interview with Bernie about the catching on of F1 in the US and its future in the US. And Bernie pretty much had the same thoughts you just wrote down. Regardless of whether we like Bernie or not, but the man is a genius and knows what can be done and what not.

Also I thought your comment about the lack of Aussie interest was stunning. I would have thought you guys are over the moon with Webber, Stoddard and your own GP, but no. Reminded me of a woman from Adelaide I once met and complimented her on the great GP race they used to have. She just waved it off and said she was happy it was gone. Sheesh, I'd be beside myself if F1 would ever have a street race in my hometown...

 

Don't be offended by this, as it is just my attempt to get at why F1 isn't nearly as popular as NASCAR (in America).
NASCAR is American; F1 is not (for example, F1 has too many people speaking with unfamiliar accents i.e. a southern accent is okay; anything else is suspicious; F1's people dress "funny". This means that they don't wear clothes from Walmart, Big R's, K-Mart, Farm and Fleet, etc.). F1 not only doesn't have an American driver, it doesn't have an American team (Bobby Rahal running Ford). F1 doesn't have an American driver that is champion (if we had an F1 driver who was the equivalent of MotoGP's Valentino Rossi, F1 would be popular in America. So, it didn't help that Michael Andretti failed to succeed in F1). F1 is perceived to be crooked "crooked." This means that although fans know that both F1 and NASCAR are "fixed," we understand that it is the France family "fixing" NASCAR, and that's okay {in fact, that's essential}. What we cannot accept is that F1's "fix" is fixed by anyone other than the France family. And finally, until F1 persuades some network to produce the F1 equivalent of The Dukes of Hazzard, Americans just won't be able to relate to F1 racing (and just who would F1 have replacing Daisy Duke in their version of the show?). Yes, this post is somewhat facetious, but it is also reality based. Believe me.

 

During an election year, One guy walks into a bar and says to the other, "I think the biggest problems in America are ignorance and indifference" and the other says "I don't know and I don't give a damn."

 

LOL! THe folks in Phoenix, AZ said the same thing! Merchants complained about street closures, noise, etc.....

It's true, USA F1 fans are rare, but when I walked thru the Houston/Indy airport with my team crew uniform on, it was suprising the responses I received......folks know that horsey now!

15 years ago it would not have merited a second glance.

It helps to win!

On the plane, a BUbba said "if only Ford was in it".....I said, "check out who owns shaguar, when you get back home.."

 

Okay, business / tax break (not sure how this works in Australia) idea. We buy a villa near Marenello in Tuscany. We then rent it out when we are not there and promote it to all the guys to visit Ferrari and all the women to do their "Under the Tuscan Sun" thing (actually not a bad movie, but it is a chick flick).

We then get to “visit” our property tax free and it could just happen to always coincide with Imola. If Dr. Tax is around and sees this maybe he will confirm it for me.

So let’s see, next step goggle for a real estate agent in Tuscany.

 

To some degree fellow FChatter Anthony Ferrari did just that: Bought a house in that area (actually West of Florence to be precise). He ended even up on a British reality TV show ("Buy that house" or something). I think he is trying to sell it again now, for personal reasons.

 

[BEGIN RANT]

1. I am "over the moon." I'm sure many other Australians on this site are too. But regardless, the total number of people in this country who care about F1 is very small; the situation is probably worse here than in the US because this country's meagre population of 20 million (less than New York's metro area) doesn't have sufficient funds to support full-blown open-wheel racing series like IRL/Indy and CART/CHAMP/CCWS (or any other very high cost ventures). Subsequently, this leads to little exposure and thus little interest. About the only racing series "Aussies" are passionate about are V8 Supercars: Basically just stripped and tuned versions of what the country uses for taxi cabs - Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons. Like what has been said about NASCAR in the US, the Holden and Ford driving general population can relate to the series. Races are usually boring and the cars are slow: 250cc Formula E twin engine superkarts are quicker. It's also cringe-inducing when you see one V8 supercar "hero" after another (who get paid $1M / year for driving around in a precession) in one annoying advertisement after another.

2. About Adelaide, most people here don't have a clue about anything which is beyond the borders of South Australia. Don't expect the forward-thinking fast living denizens (haha) of this city commonly known as the underdog of Australian cities (by the rest of the country) to get excited about something so cultured, expensive and technical as Formula One.
They're too busy cheering on the latest Aussie Rules team filled with 20-something beer swilling airheads who can't string a sentence together on TV. On that note, why in God's name must "sport" (actually two thirds taken up by daily interviews of AFL coaches, team managers, various media 'authorities', and team doctors, so we can follow with such keen interest the status of every f*cking player's health.... again, DAILY) occupy 50% of the time meant to be allocated to news? If I had a Microsoft share for every time I heard an update on the "groin injury" of an AFL player on TV, I'd be richer than Bill Gates.

[END RANT]