Modern Formula 1 is artificial - Jacques Villeneuve

To me, F1 died on May 1st, 1994.

Apart from a few spurts of excitement, F1 is nothing more than a a big parade and fashion show.

 

That's ironic, coming from Jacques. He is a WDC thanks to some "artificial" attributes to his Williams car in '97.

 

True

Many things are in 2014

 

Thank you!

 

Well, he's got a point.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

It's about that time of year for a bitter JV quote.

 

LOL!!!!

I'll give him credit! At Least JV doesn't have hairs on his tongue. When we had the student uprising here in Quebec a few years back, JV basically said: "STFU and go back to class!!!".

 

I think Jaques career was artificial.

 

I was a huge fan of JV when he first entered the sport but by the time BAR came into being I'd already started wondering what was really going on with him. IMHO, he loves stirring up nonsense in the media and even though there is at times something worthwhile in his commentary, this another example of flawed logic.

"I'm a purist and I love the sport. I loved the 60s and 70s, when the fans even enjoyed the races where only four cars finished and they were two laps apart."
We all know that this statement is absurd and under no circumstances would anyone pay attention to the sport today if it were true. Everything evolves. Sports evolve, audiences evolve. F1 was a gentleman's pursuit in the 60's, and it's big business today. I certainly agree that business tends to tarnish the purity of many pursuits, but I don't see how anyone could seriously believe that F1 could be reverse engineered to such a fantastical degree

 

. . . and they used to be older, drank, smoke, and not in such great shape

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4WiJeG_PBo]Jacques Villeneuve - Accepterais Tu (Music Video) - YouTube[/ame]

 

true, but...

I think this isn't just an F1 thing, look at the shambles NASCAR has become in the name of "the show"; obviously sports (not just racing but traditional sports too) need to adapt to the times of technology and miniscule attention spans. I just don't think corrupting the integrity of the sport is the way to do it.

 

Not too many hairs on his head either.

 

You might end up liking this next season on the track...

 

Makes for lower maintenance.

 

+100 Well said !

F1 was alive and well from the 50's, 60's, and into the 70's. Then it became a marketing vehicle for tobacoo and aclohol. (Genius) And still maintained skill and competition.

Then the 90's happened, corporate greed and technology sort of washed out the racing.

 

Wow talk about waxing nostalgic . . . I've been following F1 pretty passionately since 1974 and about the only thing I can say for certain is that I can not wait for the new season to begin.

 

+1,000....

 

I completely agree although I'm not old enough to have been watching since 1974

 

I agree with JV. DRS is the equivalent of rendering the lead horse in the Kentucky Derby lame on the backstretch/

 

It's as if they keep trying to see how much we'll take before we quit.

As if DRS wasn't enough of an abomination, now we have double points for certain races.

 

Where JV is delusional . . . IMHO . . . is that one can not reverse engineer the sport's metamorphosis.

There are conflicting forces at work here . . . the desire to push the technological envelope, and the desire to see close wheel to wheel racing where driver skill is paramount. F1 has done a pretty damn good job at delivering on both of those counts for several decades, even though they are in fact contradictory.

I'm no fan of DRS, but in a world where diffusers and use of the airflow underneath a car make for who wins and who loses, it certainly has tried to lessen, to some degree, the importance of aero in the total equation. Is it the ultimate answer, no . . . but until someone devises a better marriage between the march of technical progress while retaining cars devoid of driver aid and capable of wheel to wheel combat, DRS is better than nothing.

I've been following F1 long enough to empathize with those who feel the sport has died but I don't see it that way. Is it perfect? I think the past is made perfect in our minds. LOL, would anyone today tolerate a handful of cars finishing laps apart? Seriously? F1 . . . motor racing in general . . . was once a gentleman's pursuit. Today, it's television and big business, driven by marketing . . .

The motor sport media lap up everything JV says because everything he says is ridiculous.
The conversation keeping memories of the past alive is great, but I think it's unfortunate to discount the sport wholesale. I certainly would not underestimate the likes of Alonso, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Hamilton, Vettel, Hulkenberg, etc.

 

JV is spot on.

I would love to see the cars go back to where they are relying on mechanical grip over aerodynamics. Get rid of all of the wings, and make the tires a fraction of the width they are now. Let's see a modern interpretation of the Jimmy Clark era cars........