Is F1 a sport?

What do you mean by "sport"? Is the question whether F1 drivers have to be in physical shape to do their job? The answer is yes and hardly worth a dissertation. Just do a little research on how fit today's drivers are. Michael Schumacher being the prime example. The man is a fit from head to toe, cardiovascular and muscular.

Or is your question geared towards a more philosophical approach whether a motorsport can be considered a sport like athletes competing in the Olympics? That might be a bit harder to answer since it really is more of a team sport and since the equipment used has a lot of effect on the outcome. I'd still say yes as nobody questions whether bobsled racing or yacht competitions are sports.

I suggest you elaborate a bit more about your idea and go ahead with setting up a poll. I'm sure you'll get plenty of feedback on here.

 

Tiger woods (who many consider the best athlete ever) said after hearing about Schumacher's retirement that he thinks schumacher is the greatest athelte ever!

and yes I consider driving a sport. My definition of a sport is when some one can definitively be named a winner i.e. no judging.

 

Uhh, nice little stab at a lot of the Olympic competitions. Me likey!

 

Its true though And the whole Ice skating fiasco a few years ago proved that if theres a human element to it thers a flaw that no longer makes it a difinitive sport (to me). If there are specific rules and ways to score points (baseball, football etc) there is no error in who won, and thus is a sport.

rant over

 

Alonso's statement were made out of frustration at the apparent injustice done to him with the Monza ruling. Especially since it came shortly after the whole mass damper decision fiasco and all that in a situation where every point counts and where seemingly the whole world wants MS to go out as champion.

Alonso has a point though: There is way too much chance to fiddle with the results and the rules to make one team/car/driver come out on top. Last year the situation was reversed and the non changing of tires rule was designed to break the Ferrari/MS domination and it did. That's not to say that this was totally unfair, Ferrari was free to choose another tire supplier. Just as Renault is allowed to continue racing without the mass damper. But the reality is of course that at this point it is too late to change the whole car, just like last year Ferrari couldn't just switch to Michelin and make up the difference.

So in a way things are somewhat less sportive and more like politics and you're damned right that Ecclestone is primarily in the business of making money. And you don't have viewership if the winner of series is predetermined or if the champion is announced halfway through the season. That's why Bernie is quite happy with his alter ego Mad Max fiddling with the rules. The interesting question is: All this fiddling with the rules turns fans off. So at some point there is a "break even" between winning and loosing viewership through manipulation. I think F1 is headed for that point fast.

The obvious manipulation favoring one team over another is nothing new in motor racing. I'm sure the NASCAR experts on here can tell you a thing or two about it. Same thing happened in Le Mans racing for years and is basically the reason why I neither want to watch that series nor can I take really serious. This year it was ultimately ridiculous by handing Audi the victory on a silver platter with the way the wrote the refueling/tank rule. It was clear at the start of the race that a Diesel powered car would win this hands down.

F1 was more competitive in the past (at least that's my perception of it) and I think with the advancing commercialization of the sport the manipulation/politics factor is increasing. It is now no longer a gentlemen's sport where the best man wins, but rather a platform for the world's car manufacturers to duke it out. So much $$$ is at stake, that every way to get an advantage is being used. And the result are some strange and rather dirty rulings against one team or another. Last year it hit Ferrari, this year Renault, who knows maybe next year it will be against BMW if they become too dominant.

Saleenfan: Although you have a point about the subjective judging, it should be clear from my rant above that F1 is by no means non subjective. Rules and their interpretation is one area (mass dampers) and calls by stewarts during practice/qualifying/race are another (Monaco, Hungary, Monza).

 

Is F1 still a sport? IMO No!

It is a budget and technological war among car manufacturers, and the drivers are more and more mere 'ingredients' in this war.

The differences between the best and the worst cars on the grid cannot allow a fair competition.

It's not the best driver that win, it's the one with the best car.
No different from horse racing really!

 

Saleenfan: Although you have a point about the subjective judging, it should be clear from my rant above that F1 is by no means non subjective. Rules and their interpretation is one area (mass dampers) and calls by stewarts during practice/qualifying/race are another (Monaco, Hungary, Monza).

This maybe true but there are difinitive rules layed out that lay out what is legal and what isnt. And im done with this because this could go on for hours and hours and frankly i dont feel like arguing somthing as pointless as this.
as the old saying goes arguing online is like Arguing with a woman you can never win.

Agree to disagree?

edited is that better?

 

after posting that i noticed how bad taste that was and has since been changed (apollogies to anyone offended).

 

Don't the Olympics have drug (and gender) testing?

Pushing the rules is part of every sport.

I'm not sure how a poll will resolve the issue. A bee will still be able to sting you, even if the people vote it a fly.

"There are only three real sports: bullfighting, mountain climbing, and auto racing" -- attributed to Hemingway (although nobody can track down the source)

 

I appreciate your edit. Thanks.

 

Letsee......... Would F1 survive without Ferrari ? Not a chance in hell, not with the way the 'sport' is constructed now.

Are the drivers athletes ? Absolutely.

Is F1 racing a sport ?
Define 'sport' please.
It is a sport that he with the most money, best R&D, and best drivers, usually wins. Look at all the 'top' drivers that have left top teams for more money have done, so driving is a part of it, but not as big a part of it as you think it is.

Williams lost BMW powerplants and has gone backwards.

Is it a sport like other pro sports where an acquisition or two can turn the team TOTALLY around ? Not unless that acquisition is 500 million dollars AND the top technical people. (see: Toyota)

I remember a time when Gerard Ducarouge, Gordon Murray, Patrick Head, and even Ron Dennis could do no wrong.

Motorsports were a great sport - 40 years ago. It changed drastically from 1968 to 1971.

Motorsports were a great sport when you could build something in your garage, throw it on a flatbed trailer, and go compete (at Indy, Riverside or Daytona, etc.).

Motorsports were a great sport when you could fix your car yourself, or maybe have 'Jerry' from across the street help you out a bit.

Motorsports was great - until television got ahold of it, and sponsors started paying their teams even more money to win.

But guess what ?

It's not just motorsports that fell into this trap - ALL sports has.
Now an athlete is in year-round training, and they have to compete every day for their jobs. There is not much 'off season' anymore, you are constantly working out, looking at tape, playing video for hand-eye coordination. This isn't your father's Green Bay Packers.

 

yup. F1 is a sport for me. everything, from man to machine is taken to the extreme here.

 

ALL motorsports is Business

Just like all the other sports.

It's all about the $$$$ but we love it anyway

 

I think F1 is a sport. In my opinion, a sport is any activity that makes an athlete compete against other athletes and that requires a physical AND mental aspect to overcome in order to win.
So, in F1, racing almost perfectly for 1.5 hours and cornerning at 1.5g's straining not only the neck and body but also the mind seems to show that it is a sport.
Also personally, I do not see golf as a sport b/c it lacks in the physical aspect (I know golfers work out ans such and walking around all day has a toll on the body, but come, has anyone ever seen a golfer really sweat or break down b/c his/her leg is cramping?). Don't get me wrong, I have great respect for golfers, but still.

 

F1 is both a sport and an entertainment business.

F1 drivers are probably in much better physical shape, without the need of chemical additives (in their bodies!), than most any if not all other professional sports. If you look at the winning drivers in most all of motorsports, they are all in pretty good shape.

But have you lately looked at the typical pro baseball player? Steroidial fat rear ends.

 

yea. aside from golf, bowling, snooker, pool...i think it's all entertainment. the players aren't fit. most of them have huge bellies

 

Are my legs too short for these pants
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Definitely.

I also think it is more demanding physically than football or soccer. Whenever I talk about this with someone who is completely clueless, and they say theres no way its a sport because all you do is sit down and push the gas....I just go berserk. Dont get me started. Its a sport, in my opinion the most difficult in the world. To any random clueless speed addict, going 200mph repeatedly for an entire race, and going through all the curves and basically just driving the way they do for 2 hours may seem like balls of fun, and I must agree. But when they actually think about it, going that fast, that hard, that long...takes balls of steel. There may be tons of cars that go that fast, to the point where you think of 200mph as just another common stat, but that doesnt take from the actual speed. 200mph is crazy fast. The length of an NFL football field, past the endzones as well into the green area just before the stands...every second. Just visualize that. Standing in a football stadium, and crossing that entire field in the time it takes you to stand up.

 

Well said. I agree.

 

F1 IS a 'sport', but the percentage of the 'sport angle' is nothing like it used to be. But no sport is.

 

thats like saying racing for the Word Record speed (in any class) at the bonneville salt flats isn't a sport (they compete against others, and its competitive)

 

Short and to the point:

F1 = Business first; sport (motorsport) second.

Carol

 

hahaha, true, true!