“Damage” to F1

[_Al_]

It’s been a while since the end of the season. Tempers have had time to settle and a lot of the people who planned to quit the sport and never return are still posting here. The internet has been full of F1 gossip all through the off season. Not normally what you’d consider a bad thing.

So, what is the “damage”? Sure, fans are angry. Many journalists have criticised the FIA, but so what?

Is there really any consequence? Or could they do the same again and reap the rewards?

I posted this to get views and understand it all a little better.

To kick off, some statements of fact from me;

1. Last season was the first season I’ve watched every race. I did this because there were many compelling story lines…
- I expected it to be close between Max and Lewis. I suspected that history would be made either way. LH 8th, or the start of a post LH era. I didn’t much care which, but wanted to see it.
- I wanted to see how Sergio would fare against Max.
- I wanted to see how Daniel R would fare against Lando
- I wanted to see how Carlos would fare against Leclerc

2. I wanted something to invest in, as my usual sources of entertainment had run dry.

3. As the season evolved it delivered on all of the above. It was magical.

4. Spa was borderline offensive. I was depressed for days. Was really looking forward to a great race at a circuit I’d love to drive. I hoped it would mark a one off low point and they’d come back stronger.

5. At the start I wanted to see a new WDC and WCC. As the season evolved and particularly after silverstone I started to fall out of love with that idea. Red Bull and max were becoming hard to stomach.

6. Brazil was a thriller and while the battle on track hardened my opinion that max was fighting too far over the line, I couldn’t help but admit that either man was a worthy champion.

7. The result left me feeling utterly deflated. Like I’d invested so much time and emotional energy following something that was worthless. To my surprise it ruined everything that had come before.

8. I had planned to pay to watch live next year. Won’t do that now.

9. I used to be on the F1 official site several times a day every day, soaking it all up. When I read it after AD and they basically ignored it I felt even more taken for a fool and haven’t opened it since.

10. The FIA statement that there had been a misunderstanding with the fans actually made me angry.

11. I planned to buy a die cast model of the winning car. That idea went in the bin. Likewise a season recap on DVD. I own a couple of bits of F1 related clothing which I now feel embarrassed to wear (that realisation this morning inspired this thread). I certainly won’t be buying any more.

12. Every F1 fan I know is bewildered or angry about what happened.

13. All of them will watch it next year.

14. So will I.


Over to you.. Any lasting damage? Will they even notice?

[GCH]

_Al_ said:

13. All of them will watch it next year.

Personally, it depends entirely on the FIA.
If they put out more gaslighting statements about 'misunderstandings' by fans, continue with their head in the sand hoping it will all go away, leave masi in place, and don't make some real much needed changes as detailed elsewhere by many, then no, I won't watch it next year.
It has f**k all to do with lewis or max. It is the lack of integrity, and indeed, lack of any point in watching it if it can just be manipulated away at the end on a whim with zero regard for the rules, which will mean if it stays at is is I will not invest any more time in it.
I know I am not the only fan who has been watching it for 30,40,50 years who feels exactly the same.

It is a pickle for the FIA, but it is entirely of their own doing. You could see it building to it all year with piss-poor judgement calls and questionable decisions with zero consistency.
How come 0.2 mm on part of a wing is a penalty, when being visibly past the safety car, which is also a breach of a similarly binary rule - you either are, or aren't - is not? The track limits issue. The pushing people off the track issue. The inconsistent penalties issue. The Spa debacle. It goes on and on.

It is supposed to be the pinnacle of motorsport, and I feel this is make or break for it.

[kambites]

I'll probably watch most of the highlights this year, but I certainly won't be paying to watch it after the farce of last season.

If the FIA continue to manipulate the results to "improve the show" I won't even bother with the highlights.

[SpeckledJim]

It’s never been a fair fight, and there are much better forms of motorsport, but last season, and in their lack of reaction to the reaction, they abandoned any remaining pretence at being a real sport and crossed-over into ‘engineering-oriented entertainment’.

It’s just bks.

[sociopath]

The Hamilton fans are still bleating about how it's the end of civilisation, and post on any thread here on on any other forum they can that has even the slightest relation to LH Everyone else has moved on and is excited to see the new cars and drivers

[gruffalo]

kambites said:

I'll probably watch most of the highlights this year, but I certainly won't be paying to watch it after the farce of last season.

If the FIA continue to manipulate the results to "improve the show" I won't even bother with the highlights.

This sums up my position quite well.

At the moment I am willing to wait and see what the FIA do to try and recover this st show. If they do little then I will just spend more time watching the grass roots motorsports at Brands and Thruxton and the like.

[85Carrera]

GCH said:

_Al_ said:

13. All of them will watch it next year.

Personally, it depends entirely on the FIA.
If they put out more gaslighting statements about 'misunderstandings' by fans, continue with their head in the sand hoping it will all go away, leave masi in place, and don't make some real much needed changes as detailed elsewhere by many, then no, I won't watch it next year.
It has f**k all to do with lewis or max. It is the lack of integrity, and indeed, lack of any point in watching it if it can just be manipulated away at the end on a whim with zero regard for the rules, which will mean if it stays at is is I will not invest any more time in it.
I know I am not the only fan who has been watching it for 30,40,50 years who feels exactly the same.

It is a pickle for the FIA, but it is entirely of their own doing. You could see it building to it all year with piss-poor judgement calls and questionable decisions with zero consistency.
How come 0.2 mm on part of a wing is a penalty, when being visibly past the safety car, which is also a breach of a similarly binary rule - you either are, or aren't - is not? The track limits issue. The pushing people off the track issue. The inconsistent penalties issue. The Spa debacle. It goes on and on.

It is supposed to be the pinnacle of motorsport, and I feel this is make or break for it.

This is spot on for me and I suspect many other people. Either Lewis or Max (begrudgingly as I think he drives like a and has got away with far too much, which is sort of linked) would have been a worthy champion but there have been too many dodgy decisions (intentional or not - although mostly favouring Red Bull and the petulant one) to make it worth the effort to continue watching unless there are major changes for next season (Masi going being the obvious one).

[85Carrera]

sociopath said:

The Hamilton fans are still bleating about how it's the end of civilisation, and post on any thread here on on any other forum they can that has even the slightest relation to LH Everyone else has moved on and is excited to see the new cars and drivers

User name checks out

[_Al_]

sociopath said:

The Hamilton fans are still bleating about how it's the end of civilisation, and post on any thread here on on any other forum they can that has even the slightest relation to LH Everyone else has moved on and is excited to see the new cars and drivers

This very thread is evidence that isn’t the case.

None of the (admittedly scant) F1 merchandise I’ve bought is Hamilton or Mercedes related. I planned to buy the die cast of whichever car won (regardless of team) - yet here I find myself writing a lengthy post because of how st it was and how sore I still am about the result.

One of my friends who I used to speak with about F1 almost every time we spoke or messaged hasn’t mentioned F1 since the last race. It’s disappeared off his social media too. He’s a die hard MV fan and has met him more in person (he has a photo of the two of them on his home screen). His passion for the sport seems to have evaporated overnight.

I genuinely wonder if the sport really has dealt itself a massive body blow.

[blueg33]

I will watch but if the FIA haven’t upped their game I will lose interest.

I was planning on attending one or two races this year. I have cancelled those plans, the cinema is cheaper for fictional entertainment.

[PhilAsia]

_Al_ said:

So, what is the “damage”? Sure, fans are angry.

I would describe my feelings as a mixture of incredulity, disappointment and disillusionment, not anger.

[mikebradford]

I think the damage is mainly internal.
I imagine the teams are making life hard for the organization over the mishandling and management. Ultimately they invest millions and want a fair chance
That's potentially not happened this season and they'll be wanting reassurance going forward.

[Jaguar99]

I won’t be watching

I work most weekends which means I expend effort trying to avoid hearing the result or race/quali progress when I am out and about at work (or even just listening to the radio while driving). When I can and do watch it live it takes big lumps out of my weekend and determines what I am doing when on those days

The last couple of years the races have either become more and more dull or, when not dull, they feel staged

Last year, all of this cost and effort over months and months for them to decide/reverse the result on the decision of one man in the last few seconds of not just the race but the entire the season

I am not willing to put the commitment into something that they can play with like that and make me feel like I have wasted small that effort to follow

[Sandpit Steve]

blueg33 said:

I will watch but if the FIA haven’t upped their game I will lose interest.

I was planning on attending one or two races this year. I have cancelled those plans, the cinema is cheaper for fictional entertainment.

I was at Abu Dhabi (wife’s first live race), and left disillusioned. Was hoping, after no holidays for two years, to perhaps get to at least three races over the course of the season, but won’t be doing that now. F1 TV sub cancelled too, will make do with free local broadcasts.

Come on FIA and F1, you’re going to be losing serious money from lifelong fans, if you can’t sort out the integrity issues.

It’s primarily a sport, not a “show”. A competition, between teams of engineers to see who can build the fastest car. How many of the large companies behind the teams are also utterly disillusioned, and will look to walk away too?

[tight fart]

For me last year ended in boxing terms as watching Tyson and Holyfield slog it out for 15 rounds with 10 seconds left in the 16th the ref trips up Holyfield and starts counting, a bloke from the WBC slips Tyson a brick, the ref stops the count at 9 and bam Tyson slams him with it.
May as well watch Mexican wrestling.

[PhilAsia]

sociopath said:

The Hamilton fans are still bleating about how it's the end of civilisation, and post on any thread here on on any other forum they can that has even the slightest relation to LH Everyone else has moved on and is excited to see the new cars and drivers

I am a Lewis fan. I have noticed that many posts contain this misunderstanding.

If Lewis had won in the same manner I would be just as disillusioned with the state of play in F1 decision making. I would proffer that most understand that Max, Lewis and the fans all suffered. I would also posit that it was only the casual uninformed or cognitively-challenged "fan" or unprincipled Max "fan" that could not fathom that there was an escalation, throughout the season, of hugely questionable decisions, culminating in the debacle that was Donkey Dhabi.

So, no sociopath, not the end of civilisation. Just a season that those without integrity will sweep under the rug, whilst all fans with integrity will notice the rug has an unmistakably huge pile of cr*p under it!

[mk1coopers]

As I’ve written on the other thread, it’s not who won it’s how, now we have the situation where the FIA hoped this would all blow over and because it hasn’t they are trying to come up with some sort of plan to restore faith in the sport, I’ll dip into the new car (livery) launches, I will also see how testing goes, ultimately watching anything on live TV will come down to what the report says and the actions put in place so AD (and the rest of the seasons strange calls) can’t happen again

[anonymous-user]

I've gone the other way and signed up to sky sports F1.

[rdjohn]

I was with a Dutch friend last Thursday, they think that Max won, pure and simple. We tried to convince them that Max’s win will be forever tainted. They disagree.

I suspect a huge section of the Global audience were pleased that Mercedes / Lewis’s dominance had been broken.

We remain very angry, but I guess when Netflix start their new season and then the opening race in Oz with the new cars, our anger will quickly subside.

[Petrus1983]

I paid to watch last season but won’t be this season. My biggest downside to that is not getting to see the F2 races which I enjoy. I’d intended to go to the Belgium, Austin and Singapore races which will now likely just be Singapore as I’m in the area then anyway.

F1 won’t care though. I’d consider myself a dedicated fan and spend time, effort and money following the sport. But that’s not what they’re interested in and would happily swap me for 5 other viewers who don’t have a clue.