Just curious. I started watching F1 back when DTS started airing (so during Hamilton’s domination). It was fun, even though results were often predictable (HAM-BOT-VER).
Then there was this awesome season when Max got his 1st WDC title. It was the most fun I ever had with any sport ever.
But now? I still watch races, but, I won’t lie, it’s getting less and less exciting. I noticed that F1 is no longer a huge talking-point in my friend’s group, as there is just less going on. Max has so huuuge advantage, that it feels like all that sport magic is gone.
What are your thoughts on this? Are you still watching races every rawe ceek? Do you still feel engaged in F1 community?
If all you care about is who wins, then yes it’s boring. But you’re totally ignoring the fact that there are 19 other places. Today was a good race. Leclerc was happy being second, Norris was happy being fourth, Hamilton was whining and received an extra penalty.
Yeah, everything from P2 back is great, at least there are some great battles to watch. A few years ago it seemed like a lot of races were just parades with no overtaking because of dirty air.
I’m loving it. Ignoring Max, every race is different. Basically anyone can finish at any place, even though there are definitely trends. Hulkenberg and Norris suddenly being up in the top 5, Albon in the points. Then you have the constant fight between Aston, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Perez. There’s plenty of good racing, you just shouldn’t care too much about who wins (since that’s almost a given).
Idk about putting Perez in there, he’s mostly just been fighting his own qualifying pace and ability to overtake in what is far and away the fastest car on the grid. I mean he has now missed Q3 5 out of 9 races. Even hard core Perez fans have to admit he’s bottling it
He has been in the past few races. Before that he was challenging Max. Last weekend he was again battling in the Mercedes/Ferrari/Aston area. That’s where I’d expect him to be the rest of the season. In a good weekend he can easily beat them, and maybe even keep Max honest. But in a worse weekend he’ll be fighting for a podium just like those teams I mentioned.
Just my opinion but that undersells how much Perez is bottling it. If he hadn’t failed so badly at qualy he wouldn’t be fighting for podiums he would be taking a gentle Sunday stroll, somewhere between Max and P3. He’s shown he is capable of it, but he’s objectively performing way below his capability across more than half the season so far
The front of the field has not been exciting this year. I feel like the mid-pack battle has been one of the best I remember in years.
I also love seeing Hamilton struggle with a car and Russell put pressure on him. I’m not a Hamilton fan at all but I have to say he has had some tremendous drives this year.
Alonso’s performance this year has also been very exciting to watch.
This season is pretty damn exciting if you exclude Max imo. With Checos form being nowhere at the moment, P2 is a free for all. I find the battle between Merc, AM and Ferrari super entertaining, and the same goes for the rest of the grid, especially with McLaren and Alpine trying to find their rhythm.
Yeah, F1.5 is pretty nice this season!
I am! I don’t need to watch the leaders to enjoy the race. So much always going on in the mid field too.
Max winning and Merc not doing well?
No, I’m not enjoying it at all. I’ve stopped getting up early to watch things like FP and sometimes qualy.
It’s back to the status quo. It’s been like this forever. Senna, Prost, Mansell, D. Hill, Schumi, Vettel, Ham and now Max. It was the worst during the Mansell years, when Williams Renault had that active suspension magic going on. I remember races where the 2 Williams drivers where not seconds but literally minutes away from the 3rd place.
'21 really was a crazy season. Looking back the dumbest decision F1 made was firing Massi. Massi allowed it to happen. Massi created the circumstances and environment for such a very entertaining season.
Massi was the real architect for all that engagement. It was crazy. It was magnificent. We got spoiled and dumb people who couldn’t live with the loss of their favourite team/driver brigaded for his head. And got their way.
And what do we have now, without Massi?
all this talk about F1 being stale, without magic, predictable.
Yup.
Sometimes you really should be careful about what you’re wishing for.
I’ve been watching F1 since 2014, if I was easily bored by dominance I would have stopped watching years ago.
This, but since 1990. 4 notable dominant periods since then (Schuey, Seb, Lewis & now Max), but I’ve never stopped enjoying it. The dominance never lasts forever. Focus on the midfield & there’s always entertainment to be had.
I’m watching F1 since the early 90s. I got to enjoy the golden Senna/Prost years before back to back Schumacher - Hamilton - Verstappen reigns. I, for one, welcome our new VER overlord.
I think it’s an exciting season so far, as long as you ignore Max a bit. Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston Martin competing. Drivers and teams up and down the field struggling sometimes and excelling other times. Clear rules, which sometimes seem a bit silly but remove a lot of the arbitrary stewarding which I hated. Haas and Williams scoring points.
Then again watching Max is also exciting. It’s Schumacher levels of dominance as he goes for every bit of pace on every race and every lap. Watching Max is watching a master athlete in his prime. That qualifying lap in Monaco was * chefs kiss *
I screamed when Max pulled out that lap. I really wanted Alonso to have poll, and I’m not a huge Max fan, but he earned it. No one can ever say Max just “had a good car” because it is clear as day he’s a generational talent and extremely hard working at racing and doesn’t rest on his laurels for a moment, every GP.
The little details of him holding back while overtaking to get a bit more DRS. He is meticulous in his driving. I quite like it! But I’m hyping Albon up every race hoping for good Williams results as well.
Albon is one of the reasons I’m liking this season. He’s obviously not in the fast car anymore, but he’s getting great results and he seems happy.
It’s only boring if you focus on the top three, the rest of the grid is were the fun happens.
Although I’m happy Max is doing well and that it isn’t another season of Mercedes Wins again lol, it’s boring when one team is so far ahead of the competition. Wish it was more like motoGP were you have several drivers fighting for the world title.
The domination of Red Bull/Max is definitely making me walk away from each race feeling disappointed/bored but I keep reminding myself every time that this season has been full of excitement other than 1st.
Because of the 2022 rule change, F1 has not had racing this physically close in a long time. Being able to be in and around each other and have proper battles, take different lines over/under etc and all that racecraft is fantastic to see. Thats what I love to see in motorsport. And while yes, Max is off in the distance, the rest of the field are often fantastic to watch. The 5 car battle in Austria last year would not have been seen in anything but the wet or 1st lap previously (unless you go back 30-40 years).
I’ve slipped out of following it for a number of reasons:
- The season was decided as soon as we saw how fast and reliable RB are.
- In the UK you either have to choose between watching F1 on tv or eating, or find streams
- The racing just isn’t that great with the new cars, still mostly basic DRS passes.
- the sprint race format isn’t worth it and makes it harder to keep track of what’s going on if you aren’t able to watch live.
Another UK fan… I totally agree with this take.
Looks like you’ve tripled posted. This is the 2nd comment
Get an VPN & F1TV… I’m in the UK but I refuse to give a penny to Murdoch & the channel 4 coverage is compromised of course.
Getting F1TV has completely revolutionised my F1 watching. Being able to watch easily, with time shift if needed, & no streaming stress. The commentary is even better imho (though you can choose the Sky feed if you miss Martin & Crofty). The pundits are better too. And you can watch any in car view at any time. It’s worth every penny.
Overall I have lost interest. After the title was stolen from Lewis I was pretty bitter. I have been watching for about 15 years (American) and this year is just incredibly boring. This is by far the most dominant car I have ever seen and no one can challenge Max, not even his teammate. At least when Lewis was winning all the time he had a competent teammate to challenge every weekend.
title was stolen from Lewis
This is like listening to a trump supporter; it gets more pathetic every time
This is by far the most dominant car I have ever seen
W11, FW11 and FW18 have entered the chat and did donuts on your eyeballs
Will you categorize the premier league as boring considering that man City is winning almost everytime. No because the other games are interesting and the fight for other positions is close. Think of F1 in a similar way. Just because the guy who wins is fixed doesn’t mean that there isn’t merit in who finishes in thr other positions
This is his second season dominating. Before that, Merc was untouchable for about 6 years. Nobody complained about that, so I’m a bit surprised that this is popping up so much this season.
But if you want to watch races where there are a lot of contenders for the win, F1 is not for you to be honest. F1 was meant as a constructors championship, and it still is. That means that the battle is mostly “who can build the best car” and less “who is the fastest driver”. If you want to watch close racing, there are lots of other options. Indycar is a very nice series with spec-cars and therefore a lot of different winners. But if you are watching F1 with that expectation, it’s going to be a tough one.
Nobody complained about that, so I’m a bit surprised that this is popping up so much this season.
You’re joking, lying, or you’ve no idea what you’re on about. Plenty of people moaned plenty about Mercedes’ crazy dominance. We moaned when they did an illegal tyre test, but got a slap on the wrist and kept the gains. We moaned when they just spent boatloads and threw money and people at the car. We moaned all the time. If the winner is completely predictable, barring breakdowns/crashes, it’s a big black mark on a race. That’s been the way even before Mercedes when Vettel was just smashing races weekend after weekend.
