Grand Prix thread ROLEX GROSSER PREIS VON ÖSTERREICH 2022 - Austrian Grand Prix

Not606 seems to struggle to attract new members (I guess because it's not the easiest to find) but the standard of conversation is so much higher than reddit/twitter/facebook, etc. Kind of don't want the forum growing too much (Except you lurking and just reading the forum, you should sign up and join in!)

 

Also known as Westy's law.

 

This place is great, and I believe that for the most part we're all rational fans of the sport first and foremost.

F1 is weird, or at least for me... Because drivers come and go, and while it's okay to have your favorites, they will inevitably move on at some point and our loyalties shift. It's not quite as tribal as other sports. Though it is fast becoming that way in certain ways.

Agree on anyone lurking that's not got their feet wet yet though... Join in! This is hands down the best small group of F1 fans out there. It's a great place to talk F1.

 

I feel like this is a really good point. When fans first get into F1 a lot pick a driver/team, but as drivers retire, etc, you end up just a fan of the sport. I got into F1 supporting Hill/Coulthard, which led to a soft spot for Williams and McLaren, but nowadays I don't care too much which individual wins a race/championship, as long as I've seen good hard racing along the way.

The biggest driver-specific fanbases in F1 since 2000 have probably been Schumacher, Hamilton and Alonso, and in all three there were a certain number of pre-existing F1 fans, or if they were new fans when their driver shot to prominence, they certainly aren't now. There's generally more maturity in those driver fanbases than there was a decade ago, even if there's still plenty of morons.

The missing name there is of course Verstappen, and a massive part of that fan base feels very new to F1, very true in their support for Max and nothing else. Hopefully they mature as their driver does. But the Verstappen fanbase and new fans interested through Drive to Survive certainly seem to have a passionate support of a driver/team, but haven't built that general F1 interest yet.

 

He is undoubtedly competitive, as you would expect.

 

Not sure that is entirely accurate though. The mercs where back in traffic which would slow them. They are still lacking pace over the distance but it may not be engine performance.

 

Good points .

I would just add though that the Dutch give off this happy go,lucky persona , but you don’t have to dig to deep to see that they are not the friendliest people .

I’m not saying other countries don’t have them , just making an observation .