The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

The declining interest in Formula One

7th October, 2015
Advertisement
Who will be watching Azerbaijan when the biggest show in motorsport is running simultaneously? (Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool)
Editor
7th October, 2015
18
1179 Reads

Being still a young man at 20, I feel disappointed knowing I missed golden eras of Formula One history. Moments such as the amazing James Hunt and Niki Lauda rivalry of the 1970s as well as the intensely heated Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna debacle of the late 1980s and early ’90s.

I came to fall in love with the sport at the time the Michael Schumacher dynasty was ending (around 2003-04) and there was great excitement around the sport.

Young guns, and future world champions, like Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Kimi Raikonnen and fan favourite Aussie Mark Webber were really coming up through the ranks and beginning to challenge the unbeatable Ferraris for the crown.

In the coming years the Formula One calendar continued to thrive as tight battles at the top, new young champions and some truly fantastic driving saw chief executive Bernie Eccleston licking his lips and counting his dollars. As a fan I simply couldn’t miss a race.

Then came the 2010 Formula One season. Now I don’t berate this season because it was low quality or boring, quite the contrary. It was certainly one of the best seasons I can remember, however the result of the season is what kick started Formula One’s steady decline of interest in the product.

An incredibly enthralling season saw five drivers trade victories throughout, with an aura of unpredictability and unknowing surrounding the finish of every of the 19 races. Coming into the season-ender in Abu Dhabi it seemed like it had been narrowed down to two realistic chances in Alonso and Webber.

However poor pit strategy and an inability to make easy work of back markers and slower pack drivers saw both of them slugging it out in the middle of the standings around 10 and 11 to eventually finish in seventh and eighth respectively.

These series of events led to unexpected young ace Sebastian Vettel cruising home in first place and stealing the championship from previously third spot before the event. This victory brought about a scarily similar situation to the aforementioned Schumacher dynasty.

Advertisement

A cocky German driver with stacks of ability going on a hot streak of consecutive championships while creating a lot of heat among the drivers for burying teammates with forced team orders and a general selfishness.

Much like his compatriot’s run of titles between 2000-04, Vettel’s four in a row from 2010 to 2013 saw a massive decline in racing competition as the Red Bull team kept winning. It meant they earned more money, meaning they would improve their car, meaning they would keep winning. And the cycle continues.

It became less of a need, or want, to watch each race as the result was really a forgone conclusion. Seeing the same result over and over again for years on end is certainly one way to break this fan’s spirit.

It would take a massive overhaul of car regulations and some rule changes to knock the young German off his perch, however it seems it has just given rise to another team to run the championship.

The dominance and pure speed of the Mercedes over the past two seasons have given me little hope that the days of predictable results and single team supremacy are over. In saying that at least in this case one driver hasn’t buried the other into the dirt, as Webber was under Vettel, and it is closer to being a two-horse race.

The championship picture just consists of Nico Rosberg versus Lewis Hamilton, then a few other top drivers vie for the other podium as the bottom dwellers fight out for an inch of pride.

As a real fan of the sport I truly want to get behind each event and cheer on my favourite drivers but I’ve just found myself struggling to muster up the energy to find any interest in the majority of the season.

Advertisement

As mentioned, the results are already known and the races have no excitement to them. The two Mercs simply race out to the front and stay there the whole race; the most excitement comes from the mid-range cars battling to score a point and a top 10 finish.

One issue that continues to rear its head among racing fans is certainly the amount of races within the Formula One calendar. With an increased 21 races expected for next season the problem will only continue as fans become bored due to overexposure and a lack of importance for each race. After all, there are another 20 that can be watched.

Bundle this with the insanely monumental (excuse the hyperbole) gap between the top teams and the lower teams, who are struggling to not only keep up on the track but to stay in the sport all together, and you have a championship that is struggling

With TV viewership dipping dramatically over the past five years and a decrease in crowd attendance at most events bar the major Grand Prixs like Monaco and Spa, the issues are beginning to snowball for Eccleston and Formula One.

PS: Being an Aussie I do pardon the extreme bias in the Webber-Vettel saga.

close