The WWFication of F1

Until I read your thread, I was feeling decent about myself, let alone my favorite driver.

Actually you are correct. We all want our heros to be more perfect than we are, not gonna happen.

 

I think part of the problem is that all the teams now employ scores of PR hacks who train the drivers on the proper politically-correct responses that will not offend sponsors. How many interviews do you see, at least in American racing, where the drivers seem more intent on naming all of the team's sponsors than in actually answering the question they are asked? Kimi says a few off-the-cuff remarks and the press goes wild. Alonso speaks his mind and controversy erupts. I remember back in the day when drivers actually spoke their minds and that was that. I think the sport is simply hyper-sensitized to suppressing potentially offensive comments from the sponsors' ears.

Where is James Hunt when you need him??

 

+1 or Emmo for that matter, remember the Michigan 500 one year when he dropped out of the race and Sam Posey asked him, what was the matter Emmo? His Reply, "My Goodyears were **** all day".

How about Drivers like Graham Hill, James Hunt, and Gilles Villeneuve. Ah the days.

Funny as how Bernie Eccelstone one year compared CART (in its glory years) to WWF Wrestling and F1 to Heavyweight Championship Boxing.

 

the former gov of minnesota once said" when you take a dollar it stops being sport and starts being entertaiment. the more dollars you take the more entertaining you must be"

 

I didn't think anyone could f-up F1 more than Balestre....but I was wrong

 

My vote for post of the year! Well said.

Pete

 

+1, how I miss that crazy bastard over Mosley.

 

Couldnt agree more!! And Hunt was a man who enjoyed racing and its awesome to his pictures after a race, driving suit unzipped and hoisting a cold one. None of that bravado exists anymore anywhere in this coldly corporate sport. Its gone.

 

Do you honestly think that Kimi wouldn't be doing the same thing if he was allowed?

 

But turning this around, do you honestly think that James H. would NOT be doing the same thing now, allowed or not?

 

With the amount of money at stake, invested etc, JH would either get on board or be bounced. The drivers are the marketed faces and hero's. They are stuck between team owners and the sponsors and the adoring public who think they are something they probably arent. Its not a perfect situation at all.
Certainly the drivers take the bait offered in terms of endorsements and all the restrictions or expectations that come. They tie themselves up as well to get the $$$.
Hunt had fun with it because it was allowed I suppose. Now its just race, podium, promotion, practice and hope and pray your performance keeps you in that very monied loop, if you are so lucky. Welcome to the entertainment...oops I mean racing industry

 

Exactly. He would probably have been bounced out by now. Most contemporary accounts say that he did not much care about the racing anyway. And it would seem that his owner was pretty lenient - much more so than anybody today would hardly believe.

And here lies exactly the difference between the classic sport of the past and what we have today.

WWF? Well, I guess F1 doesnt have the steroids, but it sure is starting to look like a promotional show more than a sport.

 

+1

 

I think the top brass realize that the racing alone won't cut it as far as attracting fans so instead they turn it into a circus. I'm sure it's working.

 

By the topic I thought it was about it being fixed. Whew !

As soon as the John Player paint was dry , the game changed.

Possibly before that with the Auto-Union and Mercedes cars.

 

+1

+1

PS: On a somewhat related note I just read an (older as in 2006) article about Bernie having bought an Auto Union F1 car. It is supposed to be the most valuable racecar in the world (whatever that means exactly). However some people claim it is a replica, if not to say a forgery. At any rate, clever Bernie got it FIA approved as a historic race car. After all what are friends for...