There are lots of different forms of auto racing. You would think that if someone liked cars, they’d enjoy seeing anything with four wheels haul ass around a race track. In reality, people are very particular about the kind of racing they watch and frankly quite judgemental of others depending on the type of racing they like.
For me, it’s hard to understand why anyone would watch something other than Formula 1. I can understand wanting to see your hometown hero win a race, but when it comes to following a series it doesn’t get any more exciting for me than F1. Here are some of my reasons:
- The most advanced technology in the world, short of the NASA space program. F1 teams spent $2.8 billion combined to put 20 cars on the grid for 19 races in 2005.
- The world’s best drivers. Period. That’s not to say that other drivers in other series aren’t talented, but at any given moment there are only 30 or so people in the world that have what it takes to sit in an F1 cockpit.
- The life and times of F1 drivers, teams, employees and even the FIA (organizing body) are a soap opera. You couldn’t write better script than when drivers announce they’re leaving a championship team a year before their contract is up and have to keep racing for several months. It’s a spectacle on, and off, the track.
- Insane money. The average budget for a Formula 1 team is $250 million annually. That’s a quarter billion (with a “B”) each! Mainly for our amusement.
- International appeal. Watching teams race in a different country, with different landscape and nationalities of fans gives it a new flavor every race.
- It is the pinnacle of motorsports and where every driver wants to be. Don’t believe me? Watch interviews where they ask a driver where they would like to be, if not with their current team. They almost always say “F1”. What do the F1 drivers say? If they say anything it’s “Ferrari”, or once in a while “rally”.
- Driving in the rain. How many other series will race, particularly open cockpit cars, in a downpour? It separates the mearly good, from the great. Very exciting!
- Ferrari. Love’em or hate’em. It’s Ferrari. Ferrari = motor racing.
- Michael Schumacher is the 1st or 2nd highest paid athlete in the world, depending on whether you count just his $36 million US annual salary or $80 million total income including endorsements. I got his autograph once and calculated that it cost Ferrari $300.
- It requires strategy. It’s not just who has the fastest car, or the driver that makes the fewest mistakes. A winner can be a loser without a good strategy. I like that it requires thought.
- It is HUGE. A formula one grand prix attracted the third-highest global television audience in 2005. Beaten only by the American Super Bowl and the UEFA Champions League (football) final.
- Marketing: In an FIA survey, 48% of fans indicated that they had bought team merchandise in the last 12 months, and 40% had purchased a product or service of a sponsor. You could argue that NASCAR does a great job of marketing to the US, but what about the rest of the world?
- Some of the world’s most beautiful women are F1 groupies
- Nothing sounds quite like 19000 RPM. Trust me. Your TV, nor this sound file, can do it justice. The only thing that sounds remotely as impressive is Top-Fuel funny cars, but they only last a few seconds.
Other Motorsports
People always ask what the difference is between F1 and other racing series. Here’s a decent comparison with IRL and NASCAR.
A lot of circle-jerk racers will say that NASCAR or CHAMP or IRL is the ultimate, and that’s ok. It’s just not for me. I get tired of watching people turn left. They will complain that there’s no passing in F1, but if you’re the fastest car on the grid and you start at the front who is supposed to pass you? That’s where pit stops and strategy come in. Forumula 1 also brings a different breed of fans. They show up to watch the race and listen to the sounds. It’s not a party for them until after the races.
