Overtaking in F1 at long last??

For ten years now F1 has been deadly dull and lost it's viewing audience. Keeping attention on a sport is one thing, but re-establishing it and bringing it back from the dead is another, when fathers no longer bother - so sons don't grow up with it like they used to. Once the momentum has been lost and the thread of interest from father to son, it's over. Attending a GP caters only for corporate client entertainment because it's way too expensive for the individual, mainly because it's a business first, advertising billboard second, and a sport flat last.
It's far too late now. Whatever they do, it's far too late.
To be honest, for me it was all over when we lost the greatest driver of all time.

Michael is dead ??

Each F1 race gets an average audience of about 350 million with about 100 thousand actually at the circuit. Most races sell out with tickets bought by average punters.

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns19163.html

Nigel

"way too expensive"?

I think the cost of general admission for all three days at the British GP was about £90-100. Hardly bad value when a ticket for the BTCC on a Sunday is £27.
Viewing is a problem though. Which is why I try and get a press pass!

Tony

quote:

Originally posted by Bananahead:
Michael is dead ??

Senna, you wally!

Tony - Yes, it is way too expensive for a family outing. Not many families are going to want to go for the Friday and Saturday as well because the kids will be so bored by then they'll have jumped ship before the Sunday. A Sunday ticket looks to be £100 a head, and getting in isn't actually any good in itself. I went a few years back and couldn't see a thing and had no idea what happened in the race until I got home and watched the replay on TV. If we had £1000 we could have got a seat in the grandstand, but those are reserved for the likes of the wives of bankers & stockbrokers. It isn't worth it. I'm 6ft & I couldn't see. My kids wouldn't have a chance. The real enthusiasts are ten rows deep at the chainmail fence at the outskirts treated like cattle.

How much does it cost to go to a top-level football game in the UK?

Probably the same - or more. They pay their footballers obscene amounts of money each week whether they play or not, and it's the common man that has to foot the bill, or in reality, spend what they can afford instead on Sky Sports and watch it on TV.
It's all gone very, very wrong somewhere.
And what about Wimbledon! Okay, granted the seats are very few.

There is an interesting parallel here with music and going to live gigs. Go to see bands when they are up and coming in a small venue and it's magical, and probably £10. Go see them when they are mega-stars and you'll be at Wembley having paid £120 to watch a dot on the horizon.

Maybe there should be greater awareness of club events and amateur racing leagues and people would go out and support them more. Go to a clubman meeting at Brands and you can actually drive in without a traffic jam!! That's where I'll be taking the kids anyway. I remember someone pointing out Rossi to me because they had heard he was likely to be special. He must have been a teenager at the time.

quote:

Originally posted by Frank F: Jim Clark was the best ever!!

Ahh..well...yes...possibly. Possibly. Before my time, but I can see that you may be right there. That was in the days when drivers got dirt and oil on them wasn't it. Couldn't do that now as it would obscure the advertising. I did see Coulthard with a black smear on his face once, but it turned out to be make-up.

The old days of F1... I saw some footage recently of some of the greats tearing around on the old cross-ply tyres and then it suddenly occurred to me - there aren't any seatbelts on those cars!!!



Not even a rollcage!

The good 'ol days of F1. When drivers lived fast and died young. Whisper it but perhaps one thing that attracted fans to the sport was the whiff of danger.

Bruce

quote:

Originally posted by Deane F:
How much does it cost to go to a top-level football game in the UK?

About £50+ at the top teams. Some bargains (I use the term relatively), like FA Cup games, at half price.

J

I'd love to attend a Formula 1 race - just so that I had. I'll probably go to Melbourne one year. But I do enjoy seeing the pitstops, the in-car footage, and everything else that I get with television coverage.

Apart from James Allen. Did they find him running a youth group or something?

Surely it's simple?

Get rid of the wings.

I'm right up for the advocates who suggest that Hi-tech in F1 trickles down to road cars, but wings? Apart from picnic tables on Scooby Doos and Porkers, there's surely little relationship there with the rest of the auto industry. Ban 'em.

This would slow cars down in corners (and speed 'em up on straights), make braking more of a factor, reduce turbulence for following cars - surely more exciting as anyone who's watched touring cars will tell you.

Jamie - you're quite right but the problem is that would reduce the advertising area, and hence is sooooooo unlikely to happen, unfortunately. But maybe wings could be replaced by bigger sidepods perhaps to replace the area?

It's not really necessary to get rid of the wings completely. Just issue standard wings, front and rear, with limited adjustment available.
Then. GET RID OF ALL THOSE WINGLETS!!!!

Tony

PS. I might change my mind if I get the F1 job I've applied for!

How about like in open-wheel stock car racing where they have those huge hordings above the drivers' heads! (Do they still do this?)

What, like this?

I can imagine cornering being a bit tricky...And would it make the tunnel in Monaco?

Dunno...but it'd be fun finding out.

Nice idea, Rasher, but the wheelbase looks a bit short! Is the sticky out thing at the front a battering ram? Would Schumacher have found a use for that?

How about these then;

Rasher, have you got too much time on your hands today or something?

So, Formula 1 racing should be a spectator-driven sport then?

I reckon that if football was spectator driven the first change should be to get rid of the redundant shirts that the players wear and give them all tits.

I've said it a million times before. If you want overtaking in F1, ban pit stops so that they have to pass each other on the track if they want to progress. Changing back the points system to the old one would help to.

quote:

when fathers no longer bother - so sons don't grow up with it like they used to. Once the momentum has been lost and the thread of interest from father to son, it's over.

Well, my father wasn't the least interested in car racing (he was more into art, poems and gardening). I still did grow up to be a racing fanatic, watching everything on the telly and going to some real events every year.
And even if he had been interested in racing, he wouldn't have been able to transfer it to me by TV watching because the government controlled Swedish TV never showed any racing.

JohanR