I am not a casual race ran, but I wouldn't consider myself a diehard either.
I mainly tune in to NASCAR, will watch the Indy 500, other than that read headlines on other race events.
Am I missing something with F1? I tuned into the F1 race in Vegas last night and was bored out of mind. It mainly seems like a star fucker event and I didn't think the race had a lot of action in it. But reading articles today it seemed like it was one of the more entertaining races of the year?
What attracts people to F1 over something like NASCAR that seems to be more entertaining? My ignorant take seems to be a perception of wealth thing. Like I can't see Tiesto DJing a NASCAR race like an F1 race.
The races are typically anticlimactic, especially for those not following the sport. Practice and Qualifying matter and are typically entertaining.
I was a NASCAR fan for years after the US open wheel series splintered I find NASCAR unwatchable at this point. Gone are the interesting characters and tracks.
I was trying to figure out if something like that would work with NASCAR, and maybe only on the road courses. Drafting works pretty well at the oval tracks and I do appreciate the strategy that cars/teams employ regarding drafting and overall strategy.
I believe Ferrari’s F1 budget is ten times more than the highest NASCAR.
Really an applies to oranges comparison.
F1 is what a non-grassroots global sport looks like. The Saudis and their neighbours get involved and throw money at it. It's a kind if sports washing, which is what is happening now with soccer. They've already awarded the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia, bypassing due process. Big money talks.
F1 is what a non-grassroots global sport looks like. The Saudis and their neighbours get involved and throw money at it. It's a kind if sports washing, which is what is happening now with soccer. They've already awarded the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia, bypassing due process. Big money talks.
Big money has always talked in sports. Why do you think Vegas got this race and is collectioning sports franchises. Money floats all the boats and sporting leagues have no choice but to follow it.
The championship in F1 was never in question this year. Verstappen is head and shoulders above every other driver and has the best equipment. But the race behind him has actually been quite interesting.
There was a reason Jeff Gordon and another driver I forget at the moment dominated the road races - they came from open wheel racing.
There is also a reason Indy Racing has so many foreign drivers who couldn't get rides with F1 teams but were good in lower classes. Open wheel is big around the world.
I tried watching F1 and I don't get it either. I've been to Indy races at Giants Stadium parking lot in the 80s. It was okay but even then, it's simply follow the leader. F1 is just very boring. NASCAR has three and four wide on the track, super speedways, road courses, mile and a half tracks, short tracks, street courses (Chicago), so it's always something different. Plus you got three different series in NASCAR featuring three types of vehicles so there's variation around. IMO, NASCAR is infinitely more exciting than F1. It's like soccer; it seems to be an international thing more than an American flavor. There's my two cents.
It still isn't. They throw a F1 race in here and there in various US cities and try to attract a crowd and TV viewership in the US. Overall, racing has died in the last decade or so. Even the grandstands at NASCAR events aren't full anymore. But F1 has never been a US thing. After Tony George killed Indy Car(Champ Cars) racing it seems motorports has been in decline.
Totally agree on the champagne vs. beer crowd. Two different worlds. When I saw Carlos Sainz and Verstappen primping in front of a mirror, post-race for a podium shot, I was totally convinced F1 is not for me.
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Apparently that just up and happened recently?
It still isn't. They throw a F1 race in here and there in various US cities and try to attract a crowd and TV viewership in the US. Overall, racing has died in the last decade or so. Even the grandstands at NASCAR events aren't full anymore. But F1 has never been a US thing. After Tony George killed Indy Car(Champ Cars) racing it seems motorports has been in decline.
Crowds got bigger at the tracks this year for NASCAR... multiple sellouts. Pocono had a 110,000 in attendance and the infield was wall to wall trailers. Post covid, the stands are buzzing again. We'll see in the next few years what it looks like.
F1TV subscription and the F1MultiView app on your PC makes the experience rather immersive.
Appreciate the exercise in Cup racing, especially getting the cars turned and off the corner fast on ovals, but turning with the brakes on is what road racers get paid for and I'd prefer to invest my time there.
Alonso And Perez's Incredible Photo Finish | 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix - ( New Window )
Allmendinger v. Cindric - ( New Window )
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twenty years ago. Now it seems like the race finishing order has pretty much been decided by the final practice positions.
F1 is what a non-grassroots global sport looks like. The Saudis and their neighbours get involved and throw money at it. It's a kind if sports washing, which is what is happening now with soccer. They've already awarded the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia, bypassing due process. Big money talks.
Big money has always talked in sports. Why do you think Vegas got this race and is collectioning sports franchises. Money floats all the boats and sporting leagues have no choice but to follow it.
The championship in F1 was never in question this year. Verstappen is head and shoulders above every other driver and has the best equipment. But the race behind him has actually been quite interesting.
Miami also got a race. It's not just Vegas.
More importantly, American sports are not global: from baseball, American football, to NASCAR.
You'll know they're global when Middle Eastern oil oligarchs come in and buy a slice.
F1 has been hosted this year in Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Australia as well as numerous races in Europe.
You're probably better off not having your sports go global.
I am partial to Chastain's wall finish, but Allmendinger/Cindric and the Alonso/Perez finishes were also great.
It just seems that NASCAR provides more of those moments and more drivers have a shot at winning.
I really enjoyed the start of the F1 Vegas race for the pure chaos it caused.
My factorite part about the COTA NASCAR race was the restart/turn 1 strategy.
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I saw the Alonso v. Perez finish. But, let's take a look at this finish and let the forum decide: Allmendinger v. Cindric - ( New Window )
I am partial to Chastain's wall finish, but Allmendinger/Cindric and the Alonso/Perez finishes were also great.
It just seems that NASCAR provides more of those moments and more drivers have a shot at winning.
I really enjoyed the start of the F1 Vegas race for the pure chaos it caused.
My factorite part about the COTA NASCAR race was the restart/turn 1 strategy.
The Chastain wall finish at Martinsville was awesome! I'm not a big fan of his but he's aggressive and that wall ride was nuts!
Turning a guy coming out of the corner when he's already loose is a choice, not a skill, but I'll leave that to the forum to decide.
I would agree
There definitely was a time that F1 was very cool, and great drivers battles more than pit stop and tire strategy. The noise of the cars were a lot better up to around 10 years ago or so (maybe less than that).
NASCAR I used to look at condescendingly for reasons stated in this thread, but then I looked past the oval stuff and realized it's closer to a true driver to driver series than F1. The "simplicity" of the cars is ok......it's still a great sounding naturally aspirated V8, and they do have 1 or 2 road courses a season.
I watched the Chicago street race a few months ago, wasn't bad.
I find it funny just as I "abandon" F1, it seems like every casual on the planet is talking about it. It's the strangest thing ever, because when Michael Schumacher was the biggest name in the sport, only Americans that followed F1 (and they were usually hardcore exotic car people), knew who he was. Now because of a reality show on Netflix, people know who these guys are, and quite frankly none of them have the star power of the guys of old.
It would be like Europeans talking about Justin Herbert and not knowing who Joe Montana is.
I haven't gotten into WRC rally properly, but find that to be a more interesting sport.
I also follow Formula Drift a bit, because it's far more relatable and completely unpredictable as to who will win each week.
Between rally and drift, I find the high slip angle driving far more fun to watch than the grip stuff of F1, NASCAR, Indy, etc.
F1 will always be a part of me as I love Ferrari, and was at the factory several months ago. But it's hard to get into anymore. Probably the only cool thing left for me is that it's so international, so going to a race overseas would be fun.
And it is/would be 10000x more fun to do racing yourself. Just get out onto a track, and you'll see. Any track, any car, doesn't matter.
However with the NFL, will never tire watching it and would never compare myself playing football to watching it. For as much as we complain about it, it's still a better league than most motorsport for spectator involvement, IMO.
Manufactured moments for the delight of the fans. A 400 mile race should be a 400 mile race. If it finishes under yellow...so be it. Nascar is not racing. It is a show.
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I saw the Alonso v. Perez finish. But, let's take a look at this finish and let the forum decide: Allmendinger v. Cindric - ( New Window )
Manufactured moments for the delight of the fans. A 400 mile race should be a 400 mile race. If it finishes under yellow...so be it. Nascar is not racing. It is a show.
Isn't that what it's about? Entertainment? Investing 2-3 hours in a race for it to end in a caution sucks. Can you imagine a 400 meter track event ending in a jog with positions frozen?
I get the arguments that it doesn't take a lot of skill to to wreck a guy in the last turn instead of going around. But at the same time, how come cart guys haven't completely dominated NASCAR?