I lost interest in F1 when Michael Schumacher was allowed to cheat Damon Hill out of the title by running him off the track in the final race!
As an ex biker it's motoGP for me, exciting and fantastic entertainment. F1 is pants Murdoch is welcome to it
As one of the F1 board mods I feel I should stick up for the sport...but it's bloody hard to. This decision is a colossal mistake. F1 doesn't have the grassroots appeal that football does to get youngsters hooked, it's far less accessible. If there's no chance of casually tuning into it, then the increasingly aging fanbase isn't going to be replaced. Audience figures are dwindling already, this isn't going to help at all. For me, MotoGP, WEC and Formula E are all growing in appeal, I'm certainly not going to be paying Sky for live coverage.
I used to quite like it, but at best, there are only two teams who are really competitive and occasionally watch highlights only.
I read that the highlights will still be shown on a free channel that they will create for it. I like the sport and watch every race on SKY but it's a shame there will be no live races on a freeview channel and I think it is a mistake, but Bernie is as corrupted as Blatter. If it wasn't SKY then it would have been BT.
Says it all for me. Guy Martin takes on David Coulthard in a series of tests. GM turns up with a mechanic in a transit van, DC in a pantechnicon with an army of mechanic etc. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/speed-with-guy-martin-f1-special. Considering how many years it is since DC raced in F1, he still has the skill etc to get the best out of one of these cars!!! How many footballers could say the same regarding their sport I wonder????
I still follow it but it's become very sterile. I used to go to the British GP when it was at Brands Hatch, a far more exciting track than Silverstone. Only went to Silverstone once, found it very very commercial and boring. As a special treat to myself I go to the Monaco race, one of the few really exciting races left. No I'm not rich, I've got a friend who owns a market garden in the area so I get to stay with her, tickets aren't too crazily priced so I just have to get a cheap flight. It's a great weekend.
I always find the Monaco track a bit boring, it's all too glamorous and not good for racing or overtaking.
The sport - and I use that term loosely, is like a vast black hole, sucking money into it in a way that makes football look almost palatable. I hate any sport being removed from the free to air services, but if that is what they want then F1 'em.
It's true that Monaco doesn't have good racing. But the skill demonstrated keeping the car out if the wall makes it a different challenge. It's also an amazing spectacle. I'm a big F1 fan. I did an engineering degree and of course F1 was the sport people wanted to talks about on Monday mornings. I know a few people who work in the various teams and it does all feel kick it's struggling. The Mercedes is a beast (the commbination of car and engine is one of the best ever) and it's a feat that deserves a massive amount of credit. But ultimately it's an entertainment business which isn't working at the moment. Hopefully the new rules next year will mix things up but they don't sound to encouraging.
You have to have good skills and talent to drive an F1 car and I agree it's more challenging around Monaco, but I like and enjoy seeing drivers trying to overtake each other and there's not really an opportunity on that track. So I just find Monaco race boring but very pretty to look at lol.
I don't think there's another track where you can be so close to the action, the noise is great as well but nothing like the big beasts of the 70's, Brands Hatch used to literally shake the ground especially at the start. Real racers in those days, Hunt, Fitapalldi Reuterman, dangerous but bloody exciting. My nephew was pit crew member to Weber.
It's probably better being there then watching it on TV, I just prefer track races instead of street racing.
Yes, definitely better to be there, the TV does't do it justice, the absolute speed and acceleration of the cars is lost and more importantly the sheer noise of those engines screaming in defiance of what's being demanded of them...nothing quite sounds like an F1 car in full song.
I've only ever watched the F1 on tv, I really need/want to go and watch a live race one day. The prices is ridiculously expensive though.
I was very fortunate in a job I had over 20 years ago where my employers loaned out two-way radios for events such as the British GP, Wimbledon, the Open etc and I was given a pass (including a space for my tent on the officials' campsite) for Saturday and Sunday over 20 years ago and loved being that close to the action. My most vivid memory of my time there was delivering radios to a catering firm that was at Henley and was going on to the Open the following week. There I was wondering around Henley in jeans, t-shirt and trainers where everyone else was immaculately dressed!!!!
