I don’t know if too many people follow F1 in this country but the latest soap opera has been extremely disappointing.
If you want to have a recap of the last few months’ spy saga, hit UpdateF1′s site. You will learn that someone stole very confidential information from Ferrari and that McLaren, current world champion, most likely was in possession of the information. It didn’t serve them well, if be, since they were slapped with a $100,000,000 fine. Yes, you read that right, 1 million dollar fine, which they duly paid without protest… The racers are not involved so far but the company has lost all manufacturer’s point for this year, handing over the victory to Ferrari.
I feel F1 has gotten boring over the last 10 years. Maybe I’m getting older but I just don’t get as much fun watching manufacturers duking it out with fraction of second victories. Last time I was truly enthralled watching a race was when crazy Ayrton Senna was fighting the cool, calm and collected Prost. Two different styles. Senna was a constant danger zone, great fun to see and Prost, A.K.A the Doctor, calculating trajectories to the micron. Nowadays, drivers have gotten better, so have cars but the fun is gone. Watching Michael Schumacher going from victory to victory was not fun. He had no real competition. He was too clinical. I’m almost more interested in the back of the pack making their way up then watching the leaders. Less passing zones makes for dull races.
With the spy saga scandal and Max Mosley’s apparent grip over the FIA for decades, he just won’t retire despite any people asking for it, and the ever growing performances just makes this sport less fun and bloated. I have less and less desires seeing the sports that amasses so much money, it looses scope after a while. It’s just lost its fun.
Comes the A1 Grand Prix. The A1 GP is closer to the spirit of last century’s original Grand Prix, it’s nations against nations. It’s England against Germany, Italy against France. It’s exciting. A1 GP calls itself the “World Cup of Motorsport” and how true. Where else will you see China race in motorsports? Certainly not in F1. According to the site: Drivers from 23 nations compete as equals without financial or technological advantage. I’m game there.
I’m betting on the A1 GP to recoup disappointed fans like me who lost their appetite for the glitzy world of Formula 1. What a great place to see truly national teams duking it out. Maybe that’s why I love Rugby and don’t care for soccer. Soccer has too much publicity and teams are really internationals. What’s the point?
In the end, I believe when something becomes too popular it looses its edge.