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Rudy, I can see where you come from because I do feel the same, but I don't blame F1 for it. As kals said, we objectively had some of the best years compared to the previous 15 years.

It's just that... people grow up. My life used to revolve around F1 when I was younger and I look back at it with a huge deal of nostalgia (being at school, watching with dad at home, etc...). It's not that races were better - they were not - but what it meant for us as kids.

Now I see it more as the one and only constant in my life, because everything around you changes and will change (especially between 20 and 30 years old - I assume you're 25), but one thing will remain as an anchor: tuning in every sunday to see these folks pointlessly running around in circles, even if the championship is over, even if you know the race will be boring, even if everyone around you thinks you're mad

Things get repetitive, and after we peaked our excitement in a certain season, we all just want the same feeling again, but it won't happen. The first half of last year was the craziest shit ever, you really couldn't predict the outcome, and what we had in between was very tasty. Now the teams got used in figuring out the new tires mysteries and the most competitive team with the biggest budge is going away from the rest as usual. Plus Ferrari and McLaren who showed that maybe could beat Red Bull, decided to go in a very dubious suspension design. Leaving all the prizes easier for RBR to get. And more snoozes for us....


It will be very refreshing to have a bunch of new changes next year. Even if at the front won't change much, at least it will be different, and there's always hope. I still dream of having the competitiveness of 2010 with a better overtaking package than that year.

Call me nostalgic, but I think this season has topped predictability when it comes racing. You don't have to be nervous whether A) driver will retire due to technical problems (No), B) driver gets stuck into the gravel/goes into the wall (No), C) driver manages to pass (Yes, with DRS) or defend the place (No chance).

There's very little challenge left and all they're doing is saving tyres/engines/fuel/whatnot.

There was very little excitement in Indian GP weekend. Even DarcyF1 video page is nearly empty. But take a look at San Marino GP 2002. Top 4 in the race was same as top 4 in the qualifying. Sounds predictable?
But: During practice Sato and Schumi went into the gravel and Trulli crashed. In the race Barrichello gave Irvine a finger, great non DRS pass by Massa, 10 drivers retired. For Finns it was a dramatic day Kimi retiring from 5th place and Salo too.

Today that would be called a lottery race. And that was one of the most boring ones in the season 2002.

Obviously, last year with 7 different winners in the first 7 races showed that, if lucky, there can still be elements of unpredictability.

Call me nostalgic, but the 2002 season was one of the worst the sport has ever seen. It was only topped by 2004. Plus you're referring to one race in 2002. The British GP that year was exciting, but that was about it.

We've had lots of exciting and unusual races in 2013, far more than we saw in 2002, or most of the rest of the other seasons. Only the past 5 have we had "predictable" winners, a few of those races haven't been stellar. But even then the racing elsewhere through the field has been very good. 2013 is massively superior to 2002. Even if there are few retirements, no gravel traps and so on.

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
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2002/2004 were awful. Even 2003 had its fair share of boring races, but people usually forget that because of a few crazy races, several competitive teams, and a close championship.

I've also found this season pretty dull. I think it's for different reasons though. 10 years ago it was sometimes impossible to overtake. Now it's almost impossible to defend. You want somewhere in the middle. I'm so disappointed that they've stuck with crappy DRS and scrapped the plans for ground effects.

I hated the strategy in the late 90's/early 2000's. Sit behind a car until the pit stops. Pit one lap later. Come out ahead. I think tyre strategy is better than fuel stops. Pirelli have been better for the sport. I'd still rather see tyres that gradually wear out rather than hitting a cliff (because you're defenseless enough with DRS, let alone crappy tyres). I'd also rather see Pirelli bring 2 quite different compounds to the race, and letting the teams decide whether they want to use both or not. Maybe a hard tyre that can last the race, vs a fast soft tyre that requires a couple of pit stops? Hopefully that would encourage split strategies and cars meeting on the track, where fighting for position is essential, rather than just 'oh, let him past.'

So what do I actually miss from 2002? The circuits. It was just before everything became tarmac, and there were very few of the new identical awfully dull tracks. You could spin off and find gravel. A mistake could cause a retirement and change the order completely. Now it might cost you a second or two, and not alter the race in the slightest.
Also reliability. It sucked when your favourite driver was running well and his engine blew up, but it created unpredictability, which is a good thing. Occasionally there was just enough that your favourite little Minardi team picked up a point. Of course the points system has changed to accommodate this, but top 10 is too much imo. It's not just that the cars are so reliable now, it's that they feed every last bit of data to the pits, and they can spot a failure coming. Even if the car is going to go, you might be able to flick a switch and drive around the problem.

So yeah, I'm rambling on. 2013 is better than 2002. It just has some serious flaws of its own. I liked 1997, 1999, 2009.

I think a major factor is the addition of all these places without a soul halfway around the world.

There was something nostalgic about the old calendars with the usual Hockenheim/Hungaroring/Spa/Monza sequence and then the traditional ending in Suzuka, Japan. The latter was special because it was one of the races outside Europe, something unique. These days a race outside Europe is the standard and races in the EU are the exception. A shame, because I feel it makes us loose the touch. To me, F1 is becoming something on TV. I usually turn off the TV as soon as the podium is done.

I said something like this on youtube. I still get negative reactions about it (don't read them anymore) and I still agree with you. Maybe it all looks a bit brighter becouse it is far away in the past and we had those beautiful sounding V10's, but at least we saw real racing at that time. Ofcourse we still have real racing, but in my opinion I hear 'let him pass, don't defend your position, safe your tires' to often. The most exciting part of an overtake is the defending the defender does. How will the attacker respond to this? Will he go right, and than pass on the outside? Will he go even further to the right and use a little bit of grass to get passed? Will he be able to pass? That's what I really miss. What doens't help are those massive run off areas etc etc but I don't want to bring that in this discussion.

Perhaps I'm just a little bit to negative. We had a good season last year with some unpredictable races. But my doubts are getting stronger. You say 'lower your expectations'. Perhaps that's an option. You also say 'or maybe stop wachting'. Like I said in the first post, I've always loved F1 in a very big way. I'm nog giving up so easy. I might be mistaken but it sounds like you think I was/am some kind of random fan, it's far from that.

I think it's just called 'growing up' and realising F1, and motor sport in fact, is not everything what life is about.

Partly, yes ofcourse. (Is that a word?) But I realised that some time ago.

Sadly yes, but I still take racing lines while walking in hallways. And everytime I see a new road, even as a pedestrian, my first thought is how it would feel to race it.

I'm exactly the same

lmao

I don't mind admitting I'm a casual. I watch Formula One and little or nothing else. Even with Formula One I switch off usually when all the cars have finished. It's partly because when I started watching Formula One there was little coverage compared to today and that felt somehow more special. Also to me no matter how good a driver is there are no legends. No Senna or Prost or Mansell. That is perhaps because I was younger then. I wouldn't stop watching but I can give any other racing a miss.