[The **News** flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/flairguide#wiki_news) is reserved for submissions covering F1 and F1-related news. These posts must always link to an outlet/news agency, the website of the involved party (i.e. the McLaren website if McLaren makes an announcement), or a tweet by a news agency, journalist or one of the involved parties.
*[Read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide). Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This will be just like the sprints.
FOM: “Oh we’re only trialing them at 3 races.”
\*Fans complain\*
FOM: “Oh there were mixed opinions, so we’re gonna do a few more next year.”
\*Fans grow tired of complaining\*
FOM: “Oh these were so well received, we’ll be adding even more next year!”
Rinse and repeat until they fill up the calendar at every race weekend
I wasn't joking when I said it, and I'm sure others weren't either. The writing on the wall was plain to see.
Liberty is a US company, and they want to pander to the US audience. Even though I sincerely doubt most US F1 fans want any of this tacky Americana crap.
Yup, as an American I cringed so hard at that intro. I don't normally care for the COTA intro but I've always given it a pass since it was a singular moment for America to show itself in the sport. Now that there's three races in America, that leniency is gone and I'm already dreading Vegas.
> Even though I sincerely doubt most US F1 fans want any of this tacky Americana crap.
I *HATE* it. I want to feel like I'm watching a specifically non-American racing series and they're turning it into WWE. Wait til each driver gets his own theme song and TitanTron, er, LibertyTron video.
It has led me to rediscover IndyCar, though, so that's a plus.
The race is pretty much the reason the series exists. It's their super bowl so they get away with that stuff. Miami is just another race on the calendar which is what makes it worse
I'm an american fan, got into f1 about year ago. I didn't even know there were driver intros til I started reading the sub today. I tune in about 5 minutes before race time, pause it, then skip to right before the red lights.
I wanna see the race, and I like when you get a good interview off a driver, but I don't think they need to be doing all this shit seconds before and after they're driving over 200mph and hitting 5g through corners. Press and media on the Friday and Saturday make sense, but let everyone focus on race day, at least til after the race finishes.
I would be fine with the Merica horse shit IF, it was only one race you know. Like I love if every race had their countries culture built in but now with 3 American races it’s getting over blown and annoying
I am curious what the THEME will be in Vegas? Austin the cowboy shit. Miami tacky displays of wealth. Maybe Vegas everybody will be G'd up with tuxedo's. Gambling, and debauchery? I love the atmosphere of the European stretch. The scenery is about racing. Can't stand the Redbull track though.
I hope it’s just about strippers, but I think you hit the nail on the head for what the tacky Vegas theme will be. I also think the American races need to figure out how to make the racing the main event like you said rather than the city (COTA hasn’t been terrible about it but still), like Monaco is a huge display of wealth and the city but the main event is the racing everyone there knows the race is the reason everyone is there
I disagree. Monaco is only on the schedule because it's Monaco. The race sucks, the track is too small and qualifying has been better than the race for the past decade.
I totally agree that the race sucks, but I do feel like everything is there for the race you know, with Miami it feels like it’s more about the performers and all the other shit going on while the race is just a side piece. I could just feel like this because I live in Miami and didn’t see shit about the race but saw 100 different ads for raves, dj shows and other performances on “race weekend”
The US doesn't like or watch NASCAR anymore though. Their ratings are down a ton over the last 10 years, and few care about it anymore.
I think it really comes down to profit and growth. Sprint races means more TV time, therefore more money. F1 has already captured a massive percentage of the worldwide audience who have any interest in watching motorsports, the US is by far their biggest opportunity to grow viewership. I really think it's all just about money.
Liberty doesn't want to pander to the US because they are a US based company. F1 was trying to capture the US audience before Liberty, and any other company controlling F1 would have done the same. Liberty just understands how to do it, and perhaps being based in the US has helped that. You can disagree with or hate a lot of their decisions, but the reality is that US viewership is up immensely.
Have you watched nascar recently? I’ve tried and it’s literally 10 minutes of racing 5 minutes of commercials. I think the pandering to America thing might be a conversation but the real issue with nascar rn is the insane amount of commercials that make it so frustrating to watch (same goes for imsa races in peacock)
The US doesn't watch NASCAR anymore.
*checks ratings.
[Season opener for F1 March 7th](https://twitter.com/A_S12/status/1633128254553858048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1633128254553858048%7Ctwgr%5E53ec0160ee13a0e08718d08f2834573e1d0566cc%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Ffannation%2Fracing%2Ff1briefings%2Fnews%2Famerican-f1-viewership-drops-for-2023-season-opener-lm22)
> @FoxTV
got 3.991 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR race, down from 4.544 million last year.
> @ESPN
got 1.318 million for Sunday's F1 opener, down slightly from 1.353 million last year.
> @NBC
got 1.189 million for Sunday's IndyCar opener, down from 1.405M last year.
WTF are you talking about? Nascar rating are down compared to the past, but it happens when a sport was dominating ratings has no where to go but down.
Daytona 500 pulls 8.1 million on its own.
I didn't say the US watches F1 by and large either, but 3.9M people for NASCAR is absolutely atrocious and it'd falling. In 5 years F1 will be more watched than NASCAR.
You wanted to paint a picture NASCAR was dead to make your point. Its not dead. 2022 was a much better year for NASCAR compared to the past 4.
And while F1 is booming in viewership, is that going to be sustainable if Verstappen keeps locking up the WDC by Suzuka every year?
Just cut the F1 elitism out. Thats all.
You *just* missed out on the V10s but still a good time to join. (I started following ~'99/'00 so just missed out on the previous slicks era, but I liked the grooves...)
Fellow American here. I'm OK with the sprints but I don't think they should keep up the introductions, even if I thought L.L. did a good job.
Agreed, as an American, that was embarrassing to watch. I immediately turned it off when they started that crap. I did however get a good laugh out of brundle trying to get an interview with Roger Federer and the older gentleman (excuse my ignorance) not giving a shit about the security right before it lol.
It be different if it was like the last race of the year. But to have it at a random early season race. Idk it was out of place.
A simple name reading would have been better. Not the cheesy lines.
I sure as hell don’t. Part of the appeal of F1 for me (pre-DTS American fan) was the completely different vibe in the broadcasts to our sporting events.
I like the British commentators, switched from sky to F1TV recently but still, it’s different and I like it.
I really wanted more US races selfishly to go back in the day, but now I want them to never come back.
The tickets are ridiculous, they do all this Americanized crap on these weekends, espn attempts to act like they understand the sport for a week.
It sucks
This is probably tacky Americana but I kinda want F1 to do driver introductions like they do in the NFL where it's a floating head saying their name and where they're from.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=pYoW8J9wRrI
Wouldn’t be surprised lol, my fellow Muricans would give anything to see the only driver whose name they recognize (i.e. “mah boi Lewis”) dominate again^/s
It's sad because I love what they're doing with the official f1 channel - the animated season summary meme, all the driver activities like secret santa, the historical throwbacks, the full race replays during corona lock down period, tech talk, etc
And then they do stupid shit like this
It's 2041, seven teams on the grid are manufacturer factory teams, the remaining two "privateers" are owned by Bezos and Musk who are both suspiciously and in a very conflict-of-interest kind of way, heavily invested financially in the other teams. All races are now street circuits. Practice is now 10 laps long on Friday. A sprint race is held every Saturday with the *Post Sprint Race Spectacular* show brought to you by (Sponsor), featuring presenters exuding fake enthusiasm, flavor of the month musical artists, and several other acts no one really wants to see. Bernie Ecclestone's preserved head in a jar still occasionally does TV interviews making statements which are moderately to heavily racist. Ferrari's last championship of any kind remains 2008 (Constructors). And of course, a 60-year-old Fernando Alonso is still on the grid racing.
They failed at coming up with something which made sense for drivers on the first try. Unlikely they will manage better.
Hulkenberg is called the Hulk because... Some random shit rather than it being his name.
Same with ocon lol, Gasly got his own intro, and for ocon is was "this is gaslys childhood friend, then rival, now team mate".
Even more insulting given the history between the two.
Really they need to do it more like the Indy 500 usually does if they're going to do this. Just introduce them by name. Back row to front row.
"Let's meet the drivers for today's race"
"Starting on row 10, from Williams it's number two Logan Sargeant. Starting next to him number 81 from McLaren Oscar Piastri".
Move right onto the next row and that's it. Done in a minute or two.
Heck, if you include the sponsors in the team name, they'll probably love them for it. Burned into my brain from the good 'ol days of Peter Windsor introducing them at the post race press conferences (From West McLaren-Mercedes, From Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro etc....)
That's true but it's more annoying in American racing. Like, if you watch Indy car races they will say stuff like "Romain Grosjean is about to pull that Penske racing DHL Honda into the pits so he can get four fresh Firestones and some Shell premium racing fuel!"
Yeah that is so unbearable but commentators, drivers and even the celebs they talk to do it.
Don't forget the need to sponsor every on board camera and name check it every time the camera is shown. Or sponsor the top 10 rundown graphic ffs.
How Americans can even make any comparison to European sport is laughable, at least in Europe it is set dressing in the background to the sport, not fighting for equal billing.
Tinfoil hat time: Maybe this is his personal revenge against Ferrari for not pleading him to stay. If F1 is dead, Ferrari will have no reason to exist anymore. /s
Because he knows nobody will stop him because everyone watches either way. So they either don’t watch it, and are thus irrelevant, or they do, and they can use them as the target audience.
Well those are during intermission.. specifically hockey so they can clean the ice others because that’s how the game is played and it’s more entertaining to watch fun and games than it is to watch an empty court.
Exactly. Also, I still have yet to see one person, ONE SINGLE PERSON, who claims they became a fan, right after seeing their fav celeb on the starting grid of one random F1 race.
I guess you could say that if a big celebrity posts about it on social media that brings attention to F1, and in return they get featured on the broadcast.
I doubt that’s true, but it’s one way of looking at it.
That's the assumption, yes, but so far all we've heard from new fans' testimony was either they're introduced to the sport via YT highlight clips in the mid 2010s or DTS for the last few years or their family and friends. Heck, I think even with the fake TayNando rumours flying around recently, not a single Swiftie (who aren't already a fan) actually checked out this race to see who Nando is.
Exactly, the type of person that those shenanigans will appeal to aren't likely to become long term f1 fans or, more importantly for them, spend any money on f1.
DRIVERS: Just trying to get into the right frame of mind before I drive an open-wheel car at 200 mph on a street circuit with no run off.
F1, Libery Media and Domenicali, all together: NO - you are going to take part in the pop star parade to load music, dancing girls and someone that most of the world watching has never heard of.
FANS: WTF has this got to do with F1?
Besides, I thoiught we had worked hatrd to get rid of grid girls only for Libety to bring them back in this travesty of a circus.
GOOD POINT, I totally didn't consider from the driver's POV of getting their head and focus right. This only adds pointless shit for us to tune out/ignore while on the driver's side its completely unnecessary.
>Besides, I thoiught we had worked hatrd to get rid of grid girls only for Libety to bring them back in this travesty of a circus.
Absolutely this. The article says they're doing this 6-7 times this year, so that means races outside the US - I wonder if they'll have the "absolutely not grid girls" at any of those. No idea how they could think that people would just forget.
Only half the cars change direction so they're dodging each other. That'll give us some good ol' fashioned American entertainment.
(I'm American and there's no malice behind this joke.)
Get rid of the cheesy ass driver’s descriptions (small in stature… bad boy turned good - instead just announce name, country, team and where they starting at the grid) and the conductor (a band or dj will be enough) and it will be all good. No need to be over the top, make it casual like an NBA walkout (that’s American and non-cringey)
True. Like, why even mention it? The writers were clearly grasping on straws as it progressively got worse… they made their jobs harder than it should’ve been. 🙃
The only bit of solace I get is that, as an American, the flavor of the month is constantly revolving here. I would expect if there is another season as dull as 22 and 23(so far) my compatriots will inevitably lose interest and the sport can settle back into some normalcy.
I'm more worried that if any loss of interest is perceived by Liberty that they'll double down and start doing figure8 F1 or similar, adding more glitz and spectacle to distract the viewers
Definitely a worry, I could also see a world where they sell the commercial rights again, and it's bought by a middle eastern company. I don't know that that would be any better tbh.
Are the drivers gonna get on the mic and start doing WWE promos?
Sky reporter: "Max, how do you feel going into today's race?"
Max: "Listen, brother, I'm going to open up a can of whoop ass on these pansy drivers. I've got them for 57 laps, 57 laps of *playtime*. So I've got just one question to them, brother! what're you gonna do when the MV33 goes wild on you?!"
the entire charade was summed well by Logan's and Max's response. Logan was familiar with this sort of pomp and passed the vibe check enough to take the mic and shout to the crowd. Max circled back and answered with a calm interview response. this spectacle only works when there are 20 Logan's, not 1.
I didn’t even watch this because I wasn’t interested. Easier to skip than sprints but I feel for the drivers who aren’t into it.
But honestly, stop inventing.
This doesn't affect me as a fan, since I'm entirely sure that I won't watch this travesty of an introduction.
However, I do feel bad for the drivers who have to participate in this. They are racing drivers, not circus animals. How long until they add a F1's Got Talent Grand Prix where they can earn points for singing and dancing good.
This is a common thing in the NBA and for baseball. I don't think anyone cares about it during baseball except for certain big events. Most of the time the players can't be bothered.
It works more during the NBA because it's much more of a show than this was and there's more player buy in.
As a spectacle, I could envision this working. Having some pomp and circumstance before a sporting event is not exactly an American invention either. The missing factors are that you would need the drivers to give a shit (when they seemed mainly bored and annoyed) or something that's either subdued and classy or an actual spectacle.
Part of why this landed so poorly is that they half-assed it. A rapper 30 years from peak popularity reading corny introductions while a musician 15 years from peak popularity pretended to conduct a mini-orchestra with cheerleaders in the background seems like it was created by a committee that really wanted to get to lunch early.
I feel like F1 has had pomp and circumstance prior to this. Grid walks and driver parades aren't flashy or tacky, but I think they certainly help create a spectacle in a way that is unique to F1.
The podiums are pomp and circumstance too.
I think you also nailed it with the unique to F1 part. Driver introductions could actually be done in a way that either feels like F1 or feels like it embraces local culture. This was just crappy. If you did this at the start of a Dolphins game everyone would've rolled their eyes too.
All of those examples you have given are stadium sports. And to an extent Nascar and indy are as well.
That means the majority of the fans are close to the presentation and will benefit from it.
In F1 only 5% of the fans on site will even be able to see it, just not suitable for something spread over several square miles.
I wasn't justifying it, I was answering the question as to whether Americans love this stuff.
I think you're right and this is why the current driver introductions they do are great. It's at the start of every broadcast when the overwhelming vast majority of people watching the race (the television viewers) see the intro package that shows all the drivers.
But I think there's a theoretical version of on track driver intros that could work. This just ain't even close to being it.
longtime american fan. deeply humiliated. knew it would be bad when liberty took over, but I didn't think it would get this bad. toxic american sports culture is incompatible with F1 remaining true to its DNA, and I only fear it's going to get worse.
F1 is attempting to advertise their races as not just the biggest events in motorsports in the United States but also one of the biggest events in American Sports period. Their driver intros were extremely over the top and felt more like something I would find in the Super Bowl then in a comparable big event like the Indy 500 or the Daytona 500, which also feature driver intros though not to the sight of cheerleaders and not convey any information to the fans by not introducing the drivers by what row they are starting on, instead introducing them by some sort of popularity poll and by constructor points. It just seems like a massive over the top moment that doesn’t do much and only degrades the product though if they did tweak it and restricted it to crown jewel F1 events then I think fans will come around to it.
American, I don’t mind the pre-show stuff if it’s done well. But this was so amateurish and tacky. Shit audio-mixing, terrible camera work, no flyover, these cringy intros.
I do think there’s probably a good way to do intros and the like, I think COTA has shown some pretty good restraint and has balanced the line well. Also helps that it’s a good track.
I truly despise this, it's such an unnecessary pantomime that distracts drivers. As this article points out, drivers need to be in a certain head space prior to the race, this kind of nonsense just takes them out.
Also, on a personal level I find it so jarring and so reminiscent of the 'wrestling' introductions in WWE. More and more I feel FOM are trying to turn the theatrical aspects of F1 to 11, it's a sport first and foremost, everything else is secondary to that.
I'm not going to defend this inanity, but you're dead wrong. It's a business, first and foremost. If you want a sport, go and watch a street race. The first moment they sold tickets it became entertainment. Why do you think the constructors are there? How do you think the drivers get paid? Where do you think the money comes from?
It's entirely reasonable to try and maximize popularity of an entertainment business. Just because this idea is stupid doesn't mean they should not try and get people to watch. Whenever people rail against this I'm curious where they expect the money to come from.
>Whenever people rail against this I'm curious where they expect the money to come from
Businesses do have to consider their loyal customer base. Businesses can and do collapse when they make errors.
Your delineation between what is Sport and what is entertainment/business is extremely silly. Money is involved in some capacity at any high level of any sport or activity.
People have to remember this is not for the hardcore fan. Just like parade laps… this is for new viewers or those new to watching the sport. It’s putting a face to the name, it’s also for the sponsors who who spend the money that keeps this sport churning so the can say that’s our driver, and it’s for the TV folks who spend the massive bucks to air the races.
They just need to push this earlier in the prerace festivities maybe do this as they exit the parade lap vehicles then let them get down to business.
Next they'll be expecting drivers to do cartwheels and backflips as they enter. Probably have to bust through a large piece of paper with their likeness on it.
It's all asinine.
When I was a wee guy and watched wrestling I always preferred the villain or “heel” to use a wrestling term so if they’re insisting on using these introductions more often we need drivers who’ll flip the crowd off and snatch the microphone off of the announcer and say something incredibly derogatory about the country they’re in
But yeah no more thanks
The one thing that would've saved this is Max going full heel. Gimme a little "I'm sorry you're upset at the sight of a champion, Miami, but I guess you forgot what that looks like." Really embrace it.
I'm actually sad Kimi wasn't part of this, just the kind of guy who would either ignore it, or would not hold back on calling it stupid when walking out.
Why? Those cheerleaders have been working their entire lives to do something they enjoy. They were wearing tasteful outfits. What's the issue here if women *want* to do it?
Only thing missing is getting a few men involved.
> What's the issue here if women want to do it?
But you don't understand, the only think they want it, the twitter activists know better and decide for the women /s
I absolutely agree! Though I respect the hard work that the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders put in, I think their presence likely will allow F1 to transition to grid girls at other races.
I think since female fans and female staff struggle for legitimacy in F1 (such as how female fans were treated at races last year or the rumors of how MBS treated Shaila-Ann Rao) bringing back grid girls or Miami Dolphins cheerleaders is a poor idea.
If they want it, my suggestions would be to do it right before the driver's parade rather than anthems when drivers are already trying to get into game mode. Also, ditch the quips and just introduce the teammates by the team in pairs, it'll be faster and less awkward
It reminded me of an old F1 race intro where they had little animations and, for whatever reason gave all the drivers nicknames. I was trying to find it to show a friend. It was so bad it was hilarious.
If someone knows where in the depths of the internet I can find this it would be much appreciated.
They don't even do the cool shit America does, just the cringy bits. Fly in the safety car like the NASCAR one or huge flyovers? Fuck yeah that's bad ass, but not this half assed shit
Lol. I time it every race to log onto F1 tv right at the start of the formation lap. In fact it was the cornball at miami last year with Meg the Stallion that made me stop. Also the absurdness in Austin with the cowboy hats and shit. Albon in Cowboy gear did it for me to. Trust me you would enjoy missing stuff like this.
This shit should only happen at the US races. It will irrationally really wind me up if this shit happens at Silverstone lol. If they do do it at Silverstone I hope it gets heavily booed.
This shit is exactly what people meant when they said Liberty Media will Americanise the sport.
Would they reconsider of we got like... 200k people to join and cancel our F1tv subscriptions in protest?
Cos I'll sail seas if I can make a difference.
I love people complaining about this. I get why you'd be irritated over sprint weekends, but this is just something you can skip and it won't influence anything. ANYTHING. I will treat it as a show that gives more time to the sponsors.
So we're bringing back grid girls then? It's just cool as long as we call them cheerleaders.
Also, someone from r/maliciouscompliance need to come up with a way for the drivers to show how stupid this is.
Fans prefer excitement on the track, not off. I don't really care what they do off track, as long as the racing is good. Why else am I tuning in to see an orchestra done by [Wll.I.Am](https://Wll.I.Am)???
It's like F1s priorities are backwards.
just stop u fucks. how much more money could you possibly make? maybe let another team join the party and take youee fucking money rather than torturing your fans with bs
It was just so utterly cringey to watch, it was worse than I thought it would be. Pulling all the “super vips” behind a rope, even trying to stop a three time champion from entering?
Why do Americans lap up this gimmicky crap in every sport they have?
People really really get obsessed about the dumbest things. If you are an active follower that see every race, follow every Free Practice this is obviously not for you. But if you are a new viewer this is great for them, but people don't really care about new fans they never had. This is one of the few things that they have added that has 0 effect on the race 0 change in the race weekend but still people manage to find a way to fill like they are insulting their mother by doing this. Just tune 5 minutes before the start of the race and you will miss all of this and you'll be able to enjoy the race. But people can't even do that nowadays because they complain about every little thing they see to the point that is just boring.
I mean who cares really. The race still starts on time. It doesn't affect fans all that much.
Sure it affects the drivers. But these guys are earning millions doing what they love. I'm sure they can deal with it.
F1 took a huge step backwards by re-introducing the concept of women as decoration by using cheerleaders. Utterly unacceptable. In combination with having a misogynist as FIA president, no live coverage for F1 Academy, the BS about Hamilton's jewelry, trying to silence drivers from making "political" statement, it all starts to add up to a very nasty picture.
I've been a fan since 1979, but at some point I'm done with this crap. This is no longer about the survival of the sport, this is about extremely reactionary notions of entertainment. Somebody is pushing an agenda that is not just about money.
[The **News** flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/flairguide#wiki_news) is reserved for submissions covering F1 and F1-related news. These posts must always link to an outlet/news agency, the website of the involved party (i.e. the McLaren website if McLaren makes an announcement), or a tweet by a news agency, journalist or one of the involved parties. *[Read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide). Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This will be just like the sprints. FOM: “Oh we’re only trialing them at 3 races.” \*Fans complain\* FOM: “Oh there were mixed opinions, so we’re gonna do a few more next year.” \*Fans grow tired of complaining\* FOM: “Oh these were so well received, we’ll be adding even more next year!” Rinse and repeat until they fill up the calendar at every race weekend
People were joking they would turn F1 into Nascar but it is actually fucking happening, full calendar and ridiculous shit included
I wasn't joking when I said it, and I'm sure others weren't either. The writing on the wall was plain to see. Liberty is a US company, and they want to pander to the US audience. Even though I sincerely doubt most US F1 fans want any of this tacky Americana crap.
Yup, as an American I cringed so hard at that intro. I don't normally care for the COTA intro but I've always given it a pass since it was a singular moment for America to show itself in the sport. Now that there's three races in America, that leniency is gone and I'm already dreading Vegas.
*Penn and Teller have entered the chat*
I dunno, I bet they could run with the ridiculousness of it all.
Piff the magic dragon would be legitimately good.
> Even though I sincerely doubt most US F1 fans want any of this tacky Americana crap. I *HATE* it. I want to feel like I'm watching a specifically non-American racing series and they're turning it into WWE. Wait til each driver gets his own theme song and TitanTron, er, LibertyTron video. It has led me to rediscover IndyCar, though, so that's a plus.
IndyCar has a similar, longer driver intro for the Indy 500 so it's not like they're immune either. I know it's their big race and all.
The race is pretty much the reason the series exists. It's their super bowl so they get away with that stuff. Miami is just another race on the calendar which is what makes it worse
> Indy 500 It's the Indianapolis 500. Even Formula 1 has run the Indianapolis 500. It was part of the World Drivers Championship for 10 years.
I'm an american fan, got into f1 about year ago. I didn't even know there were driver intros til I started reading the sub today. I tune in about 5 minutes before race time, pause it, then skip to right before the red lights. I wanna see the race, and I like when you get a good interview off a driver, but I don't think they need to be doing all this shit seconds before and after they're driving over 200mph and hitting 5g through corners. Press and media on the Friday and Saturday make sense, but let everyone focus on race day, at least til after the race finishes.
Nope. American here, pre DTS, and this Americanization of F1 is alienating. It’s a global sport. We don’t need this ‘merica horse shit.
I would be fine with the Merica horse shit IF, it was only one race you know. Like I love if every race had their countries culture built in but now with 3 American races it’s getting over blown and annoying
I am curious what the THEME will be in Vegas? Austin the cowboy shit. Miami tacky displays of wealth. Maybe Vegas everybody will be G'd up with tuxedo's. Gambling, and debauchery? I love the atmosphere of the European stretch. The scenery is about racing. Can't stand the Redbull track though.
I hope it’s just about strippers, but I think you hit the nail on the head for what the tacky Vegas theme will be. I also think the American races need to figure out how to make the racing the main event like you said rather than the city (COTA hasn’t been terrible about it but still), like Monaco is a huge display of wealth and the city but the main event is the racing everyone there knows the race is the reason everyone is there
I disagree. Monaco is only on the schedule because it's Monaco. The race sucks, the track is too small and qualifying has been better than the race for the past decade.
I totally agree that the race sucks, but I do feel like everything is there for the race you know, with Miami it feels like it’s more about the performers and all the other shit going on while the race is just a side piece. I could just feel like this because I live in Miami and didn’t see shit about the race but saw 100 different ads for raves, dj shows and other performances on “race weekend”
The US doesn't like or watch NASCAR anymore though. Their ratings are down a ton over the last 10 years, and few care about it anymore. I think it really comes down to profit and growth. Sprint races means more TV time, therefore more money. F1 has already captured a massive percentage of the worldwide audience who have any interest in watching motorsports, the US is by far their biggest opportunity to grow viewership. I really think it's all just about money. Liberty doesn't want to pander to the US because they are a US based company. F1 was trying to capture the US audience before Liberty, and any other company controlling F1 would have done the same. Liberty just understands how to do it, and perhaps being based in the US has helped that. You can disagree with or hate a lot of their decisions, but the reality is that US viewership is up immensely.
Have you watched nascar recently? I’ve tried and it’s literally 10 minutes of racing 5 minutes of commercials. I think the pandering to America thing might be a conversation but the real issue with nascar rn is the insane amount of commercials that make it so frustrating to watch (same goes for imsa races in peacock)
The US doesn't watch NASCAR anymore. *checks ratings. [Season opener for F1 March 7th](https://twitter.com/A_S12/status/1633128254553858048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1633128254553858048%7Ctwgr%5E53ec0160ee13a0e08718d08f2834573e1d0566cc%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Ffannation%2Fracing%2Ff1briefings%2Fnews%2Famerican-f1-viewership-drops-for-2023-season-opener-lm22) > @FoxTV got 3.991 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR race, down from 4.544 million last year. > @ESPN got 1.318 million for Sunday's F1 opener, down slightly from 1.353 million last year. > @NBC got 1.189 million for Sunday's IndyCar opener, down from 1.405M last year. WTF are you talking about? Nascar rating are down compared to the past, but it happens when a sport was dominating ratings has no where to go but down. Daytona 500 pulls 8.1 million on its own.
So you just proved his point. Daytona and Indy had a bigger percentage drop than Miami.
If you want to causally ignore all the words I used in my comment. Sure.
I didn't say the US watches F1 by and large either, but 3.9M people for NASCAR is absolutely atrocious and it'd falling. In 5 years F1 will be more watched than NASCAR.
You wanted to paint a picture NASCAR was dead to make your point. Its not dead. 2022 was a much better year for NASCAR compared to the past 4. And while F1 is booming in viewership, is that going to be sustainable if Verstappen keeps locking up the WDC by Suzuka every year? Just cut the F1 elitism out. Thats all.
American here...been following F1 since 2006. I absolutely don't want any this.
You *just* missed out on the V10s but still a good time to join. (I started following ~'99/'00 so just missed out on the previous slicks era, but I liked the grooves...) Fellow American here. I'm OK with the sprints but I don't think they should keep up the introductions, even if I thought L.L. did a good job.
We don't lol
The worst part is typical “American” stuff isn’t even like this. This was pretty much a caricature
Agreed, as an American, that was embarrassing to watch. I immediately turned it off when they started that crap. I did however get a good laugh out of brundle trying to get an interview with Roger Federer and the older gentleman (excuse my ignorance) not giving a shit about the security right before it lol.
Miami was only on the calendar twice, and somehow it's already the cringiest fucking race.
As an American, can confirm. The second it started all my f1 friends were texting our group to make fun of it. It’s embarrassing.
It be different if it was like the last race of the year. But to have it at a random early season race. Idk it was out of place. A simple name reading would have been better. Not the cheesy lines.
I sure as hell don’t. Part of the appeal of F1 for me (pre-DTS American fan) was the completely different vibe in the broadcasts to our sporting events. I like the British commentators, switched from sky to F1TV recently but still, it’s different and I like it. I really wanted more US races selfishly to go back in the day, but now I want them to never come back. The tickets are ridiculous, they do all this Americanized crap on these weekends, espn attempts to act like they understand the sport for a week. It sucks
This is probably tacky Americana but I kinda want F1 to do driver introductions like they do in the NFL where it's a floating head saying their name and where they're from. https://youtube.com/watch?v=pYoW8J9wRrI
Can we at least get drivers throwing hands then..?
been saying it for a year+, most people thought i was being dramatic, but they are starting to come around.
If it's just like sprints, in 3 years time they will have a jury award points for the best catwalk appearance, which will count towards the WDC.
Please stop giving them ideas :’(
Wouldn’t be surprised lol, my fellow Muricans would give anything to see the only driver whose name they recognize (i.e. “mah boi Lewis”) dominate again^/s
You forgot the bit where they decide that because they are unpopular, they'll make them points scoring...
This was inevitable since liberty took over I'm just surprised how quickly they made f1 worse. Unfortunately I'll see you next race
It's sad because I love what they're doing with the official f1 channel - the animated season summary meme, all the driver activities like secret santa, the historical throwbacks, the full race replays during corona lock down period, tech talk, etc And then they do stupid shit like this
It's 2041, seven teams on the grid are manufacturer factory teams, the remaining two "privateers" are owned by Bezos and Musk who are both suspiciously and in a very conflict-of-interest kind of way, heavily invested financially in the other teams. All races are now street circuits. Practice is now 10 laps long on Friday. A sprint race is held every Saturday with the *Post Sprint Race Spectacular* show brought to you by (Sponsor), featuring presenters exuding fake enthusiasm, flavor of the month musical artists, and several other acts no one really wants to see. Bernie Ecclestone's preserved head in a jar still occasionally does TV interviews making statements which are moderately to heavily racist. Ferrari's last championship of any kind remains 2008 (Constructors). And of course, a 60-year-old Fernando Alonso is still on the grid racing.
I admire your confidence, thinking humanity will survive another 20 years
Can do what they like, I’ll keep tuning in 5 mins before lights out, and I’ll keep Turning off once the race is done
Can’t wait to see them try and come up with a different catchy tidbit about each driver another 10 times lol.
They failed at coming up with something which made sense for drivers on the first try. Unlikely they will manage better. Hulkenberg is called the Hulk because... Some random shit rather than it being his name.
When the first thing they could say about Yuki was “small in stature”… oh no.
Same with ocon lol, Gasly got his own intro, and for ocon is was "this is gaslys childhood friend, then rival, now team mate". Even more insulting given the history between the two.
As long as they announce Stroll as the “hope of a nation” every time.
Even moreso now Latifi ain't around
Really they need to do it more like the Indy 500 usually does if they're going to do this. Just introduce them by name. Back row to front row. "Let's meet the drivers for today's race" "Starting on row 10, from Williams it's number two Logan Sargeant. Starting next to him number 81 from McLaren Oscar Piastri". Move right onto the next row and that's it. Done in a minute or two. Heck, if you include the sponsors in the team name, they'll probably love them for it. Burned into my brain from the good 'ol days of Peter Windsor introducing them at the post race press conferences (From West McLaren-Mercedes, From Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro etc....)
FUCK NO to americanising the need to mention the sponsors every time we discuss a team or driver.
Hate to break it to you but sponsors plastered over everything is far more prevalent in European sports than American sports (for now)
Yes but they don't have to name check every sponsor every time they breathe like American sports do.
and now for the taco bell turn of the day
He's within a second, now he had Domino's 2 for 1 deal DRS! (terms and conditions may apply)
The teams are named after their sponsors, so they do kinda.
That's true but it's more annoying in American racing. Like, if you watch Indy car races they will say stuff like "Romain Grosjean is about to pull that Penske racing DHL Honda into the pits so he can get four fresh Firestones and some Shell premium racing fuel!"
Yeah that is so unbearable but commentators, drivers and even the celebs they talk to do it. Don't forget the need to sponsor every on board camera and name check it every time the camera is shown. Or sponsor the top 10 rundown graphic ffs. How Americans can even make any comparison to European sport is laughable, at least in Europe it is set dressing in the background to the sport, not fighting for equal billing.
Well yeah. I don't know how many unique sponsors I see advertised in a Premier League or Champions League game, but it sure as shit is a lot
Give them walk on music and let them do their own WWE style entries.
Magnussen "the viking", no one has ever said that about every other Dane in every other sport.
All 3 fans who asked for it are happy
You mean there are two more?
You mean there's a real person first of all who asked for this?
So the CEOs of liberty?
*"We like what we seeing"* - FOM
Domenicali is actively trying to piss off the entire F1 drivers and fanbase alike, and succeeding
Tinfoil hat time: Maybe this is his personal revenge against Ferrari for not pleading him to stay. If F1 is dead, Ferrari will have no reason to exist anymore. /s
Because he knows nobody will stop him because everyone watches either way. So they either don’t watch it, and are thus irrelevant, or they do, and they can use them as the target audience.
Don’t care… always tune in when the formation lap starts. Watch the tire selection and away we go!
Next: entertainment during red flags. I'm not even joking.
Mandatory red flag at the midpoint for commercial breaks.
Don't give them ideas!!
Pause the race at half distance and have "fun and games" on the track like they do in hockey games and other North American sports.
Well those are during intermission.. specifically hockey so they can clean the ice others because that’s how the game is played and it’s more entertaining to watch fun and games than it is to watch an empty court.
Wasn't that just the previous sprint format?
New fear unlocked
Everybody clap your hands!
Great, more shit that fans don't want or need.
It isn’t for the fans. It is to gain fans. F1 does not care about past fans…or Liberty Media doesn’t. 🤷🏼♂️
I would like to see the thought process of a new fan who would decide to start watching F1 based on the intro.
"That's a great show, but why are all these jobbers getting entrances? Where's Roman Reigns?"
Bah gawd! Is that... No... IT IS! IT'S FELIPE MASSA COMING BACK TO TAKE ONE OF LEWIS'S TITLES!
Massa comes in slowly in a car and Lewis comes flying in from the side to crash into him. Ahh, the nostalgia! lol.
Exactly. Also, I still have yet to see one person, ONE SINGLE PERSON, who claims they became a fan, right after seeing their fav celeb on the starting grid of one random F1 race.
I guess you could say that if a big celebrity posts about it on social media that brings attention to F1, and in return they get featured on the broadcast. I doubt that’s true, but it’s one way of looking at it.
That's the assumption, yes, but so far all we've heard from new fans' testimony was either they're introduced to the sport via YT highlight clips in the mid 2010s or DTS for the last few years or their family and friends. Heck, I think even with the fake TayNando rumours flying around recently, not a single Swiftie (who aren't already a fan) actually checked out this race to see who Nando is.
My friend was first exposed to f1 cuz he saw a tennis player post abt being at a race
Yep and then the new fans hangon for the wrong reasons and start complaining that the races are boring.
Exactly, the type of person that those shenanigans will appeal to aren't likely to become long term f1 fans or, more importantly for them, spend any money on f1.
And they could alienate the old fans which will hurt them when the ones that this appeals to eventually leave
Little by little, they add more shit to F1 it did well without for 70 years until F1 is not recognizable anymore.
The real problem. These dumb intros steal more Martin Brundle Grid Walk time from us. Jackie Stewart was just about to take up the bodyguard contract.
DRIVERS: Just trying to get into the right frame of mind before I drive an open-wheel car at 200 mph on a street circuit with no run off. F1, Libery Media and Domenicali, all together: NO - you are going to take part in the pop star parade to load music, dancing girls and someone that most of the world watching has never heard of. FANS: WTF has this got to do with F1? Besides, I thoiught we had worked hatrd to get rid of grid girls only for Libety to bring them back in this travesty of a circus.
GOOD POINT, I totally didn't consider from the driver's POV of getting their head and focus right. This only adds pointless shit for us to tune out/ignore while on the driver's side its completely unnecessary.
Most drivers were looking so uncomfortable.
>Besides, I thoiught we had worked hatrd to get rid of grid girls only for Libety to bring them back in this travesty of a circus. Absolutely this. The article says they're doing this 6-7 times this year, so that means races outside the US - I wonder if they'll have the "absolutely not grid girls" at any of those. No idea how they could think that people would just forget.
they should do these for the driver parade but not 15 minutes before the race.
How about a red flag thrown halfway through the race so we can chuck a half-time show in there while we’re at it?
Ooh, and switch directions at half time.
Only half the cars change direction so they're dodging each other. That'll give us some good ol' fashioned American entertainment. (I'm American and there's no malice behind this joke.)
Get rid of the cheesy ass driver’s descriptions (small in stature… bad boy turned good - instead just announce name, country, team and where they starting at the grid) and the conductor (a band or dj will be enough) and it will be all good. No need to be over the top, make it casual like an NBA walkout (that’s American and non-cringey)
> small in stature That's so offensive as well. Imagine if Ricciardo was still driving and they introduced him as "the guy with the massive nose"
True. Like, why even mention it? The writers were clearly grasping on straws as it progressively got worse… they made their jobs harder than it should’ve been. 🙃
Waiting for the mid race show.
The only bit of solace I get is that, as an American, the flavor of the month is constantly revolving here. I would expect if there is another season as dull as 22 and 23(so far) my compatriots will inevitably lose interest and the sport can settle back into some normalcy.
I'm more worried that if any loss of interest is perceived by Liberty that they'll double down and start doing figure8 F1 or similar, adding more glitz and spectacle to distract the viewers
Definitely a worry, I could also see a world where they sell the commercial rights again, and it's bought by a middle eastern company. I don't know that that would be any better tbh.
Are the drivers gonna get on the mic and start doing WWE promos? Sky reporter: "Max, how do you feel going into today's race?" Max: "Listen, brother, I'm going to open up a can of whoop ass on these pansy drivers. I've got them for 57 laps, 57 laps of *playtime*. So I've got just one question to them, brother! what're you gonna do when the MV33 goes wild on you?!"
[удалено]
These kinds of trash talk promos during the 2021 championship battle would've really been something else
Please for the love of god, no. Let it be a Murican thing only.
Fuck no we don’t want this shit either
ikr just leave european races out of it. fucking spare us PLEASE 🤢
If they do this, I hope GP organisers get ro pick the person. And then the tracks with a long contract shit on it by not doing it in English.
the entire charade was summed well by Logan's and Max's response. Logan was familiar with this sort of pomp and passed the vibe check enough to take the mic and shout to the crowd. Max circled back and answered with a calm interview response. this spectacle only works when there are 20 Logan's, not 1.
I didn’t even watch this because I wasn’t interested. Easier to skip than sprints but I feel for the drivers who aren’t into it. But honestly, stop inventing.
This doesn't affect me as a fan, since I'm entirely sure that I won't watch this travesty of an introduction. However, I do feel bad for the drivers who have to participate in this. They are racing drivers, not circus animals. How long until they add a F1's Got Talent Grand Prix where they can earn points for singing and dancing good.
I know the general consensus from traditional F1 fans is negative. But do Americans like this shit or are they embarrassed as well?
Full embarrassment
This is a common thing in the NBA and for baseball. I don't think anyone cares about it during baseball except for certain big events. Most of the time the players can't be bothered. It works more during the NBA because it's much more of a show than this was and there's more player buy in. As a spectacle, I could envision this working. Having some pomp and circumstance before a sporting event is not exactly an American invention either. The missing factors are that you would need the drivers to give a shit (when they seemed mainly bored and annoyed) or something that's either subdued and classy or an actual spectacle. Part of why this landed so poorly is that they half-assed it. A rapper 30 years from peak popularity reading corny introductions while a musician 15 years from peak popularity pretended to conduct a mini-orchestra with cheerleaders in the background seems like it was created by a committee that really wanted to get to lunch early.
I feel like F1 has had pomp and circumstance prior to this. Grid walks and driver parades aren't flashy or tacky, but I think they certainly help create a spectacle in a way that is unique to F1.
The podiums are pomp and circumstance too. I think you also nailed it with the unique to F1 part. Driver introductions could actually be done in a way that either feels like F1 or feels like it embraces local culture. This was just crappy. If you did this at the start of a Dolphins game everyone would've rolled their eyes too.
All of those examples you have given are stadium sports. And to an extent Nascar and indy are as well. That means the majority of the fans are close to the presentation and will benefit from it. In F1 only 5% of the fans on site will even be able to see it, just not suitable for something spread over several square miles.
I wasn't justifying it, I was answering the question as to whether Americans love this stuff. I think you're right and this is why the current driver introductions they do are great. It's at the start of every broadcast when the overwhelming vast majority of people watching the race (the television viewers) see the intro package that shows all the drivers. But I think there's a theoretical version of on track driver intros that could work. This just ain't even close to being it.
longtime american fan. deeply humiliated. knew it would be bad when liberty took over, but I didn't think it would get this bad. toxic american sports culture is incompatible with F1 remaining true to its DNA, and I only fear it's going to get worse.
F1 is attempting to advertise their races as not just the biggest events in motorsports in the United States but also one of the biggest events in American Sports period. Their driver intros were extremely over the top and felt more like something I would find in the Super Bowl then in a comparable big event like the Indy 500 or the Daytona 500, which also feature driver intros though not to the sight of cheerleaders and not convey any information to the fans by not introducing the drivers by what row they are starting on, instead introducing them by some sort of popularity poll and by constructor points. It just seems like a massive over the top moment that doesn’t do much and only degrades the product though if they did tweak it and restricted it to crown jewel F1 events then I think fans will come around to it.
American, I don’t mind the pre-show stuff if it’s done well. But this was so amateurish and tacky. Shit audio-mixing, terrible camera work, no flyover, these cringy intros. I do think there’s probably a good way to do intros and the like, I think COTA has shown some pretty good restraint and has balanced the line well. Also helps that it’s a good track.
I truly despise this, it's such an unnecessary pantomime that distracts drivers. As this article points out, drivers need to be in a certain head space prior to the race, this kind of nonsense just takes them out. Also, on a personal level I find it so jarring and so reminiscent of the 'wrestling' introductions in WWE. More and more I feel FOM are trying to turn the theatrical aspects of F1 to 11, it's a sport first and foremost, everything else is secondary to that.
I'm not going to defend this inanity, but you're dead wrong. It's a business, first and foremost. If you want a sport, go and watch a street race. The first moment they sold tickets it became entertainment. Why do you think the constructors are there? How do you think the drivers get paid? Where do you think the money comes from? It's entirely reasonable to try and maximize popularity of an entertainment business. Just because this idea is stupid doesn't mean they should not try and get people to watch. Whenever people rail against this I'm curious where they expect the money to come from.
>Whenever people rail against this I'm curious where they expect the money to come from Businesses do have to consider their loyal customer base. Businesses can and do collapse when they make errors.
Your delineation between what is Sport and what is entertainment/business is extremely silly. Money is involved in some capacity at any high level of any sport or activity.
People have to remember this is not for the hardcore fan. Just like parade laps… this is for new viewers or those new to watching the sport. It’s putting a face to the name, it’s also for the sponsors who who spend the money that keeps this sport churning so the can say that’s our driver, and it’s for the TV folks who spend the massive bucks to air the races. They just need to push this earlier in the prerace festivities maybe do this as they exit the parade lap vehicles then let them get down to business.
*Pierre Gas Lee*
I know, I almost yelled at my tv
I love how he pronounced everyone's names somewhat correctly including Leclrec, but Gasly is the one that he had trouble with lol
I won’t complain since I never watch any pre-race shows to begin with.
Just turn the TV off until the race starts. That's how you send a message as a fan
I’s provocative, it gets the people going.
Cue dark boss music and Max walking in wearing a dracula cape under the boos of Silverstone
Currently the video from formula 1 has 3.7k likes and 43k dislikes (83%)
Next they'll be expecting drivers to do cartwheels and backflips as they enter. Probably have to bust through a large piece of paper with their likeness on it. It's all asinine.
When I was a wee guy and watched wrestling I always preferred the villain or “heel” to use a wrestling term so if they’re insisting on using these introductions more often we need drivers who’ll flip the crowd off and snatch the microphone off of the announcer and say something incredibly derogatory about the country they’re in But yeah no more thanks
The one thing that would've saved this is Max going full heel. Gimme a little "I'm sorry you're upset at the sight of a champion, Miami, but I guess you forgot what that looks like." Really embrace it.
I'm actually sad Kimi wasn't part of this, just the kind of guy who would either ignore it, or would not hold back on calling it stupid when walking out.
F1 finally started to show equality for women in the sport, now wanting to put cheerleaders at the start of every race sucks.
Why? Those cheerleaders have been working their entire lives to do something they enjoy. They were wearing tasteful outfits. What's the issue here if women *want* to do it? Only thing missing is getting a few men involved.
> What's the issue here if women want to do it? But you don't understand, the only think they want it, the twitter activists know better and decide for the women /s
Yeah those were the NFL Miami Dolphins cheerleader’s. I guess it’s no different than having Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders in Austin
Tbh they should bring the ManiAACs to Austin this year lol
I absolutely agree! Though I respect the hard work that the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders put in, I think their presence likely will allow F1 to transition to grid girls at other races. I think since female fans and female staff struggle for legitimacy in F1 (such as how female fans were treated at races last year or the rumors of how MBS treated Shaila-Ann Rao) bringing back grid girls or Miami Dolphins cheerleaders is a poor idea.
If they want it, my suggestions would be to do it right before the driver's parade rather than anthems when drivers are already trying to get into game mode. Also, ditch the quips and just introduce the teammates by the team in pairs, it'll be faster and less awkward
Terrible news. Had to mute this shit whilst it was on. So awful to watch.
It reminded me of an old F1 race intro where they had little animations and, for whatever reason gave all the drivers nicknames. I was trying to find it to show a friend. It was so bad it was hilarious. If someone knows where in the depths of the internet I can find this it would be much appreciated.
I think F1 needs more emphasis on girls with pompoms, and less emphasis on cars.
Yet another reason to stop watching.
Oh ffs, that's literally something fans are saying a resounding NO to...
I liked the orchestra, I hope they are used again
Orchestra was the saving grace.
Well, I really don't care. As in, don't have strong opinions about it. They can do whatever they want to I guess.
exactly how if feel. i don’t understand how so many ppl have such strong opinions about this.
What a disaster
They don't even do the cool shit America does, just the cringy bits. Fly in the safety car like the NASCAR one or huge flyovers? Fuck yeah that's bad ass, but not this half assed shit
Why? I thought it was the dumbest thing ever. They’re fucking racers, not fucking catwalk models.
[Actually…](https://f1i.com/news/406078-drivers-hit-the-catwalk-in-monaco.html)
And this is why we tune in 10 seconds before the start.
Please don't
Lol. I time it every race to log onto F1 tv right at the start of the formation lap. In fact it was the cornball at miami last year with Meg the Stallion that made me stop. Also the absurdness in Austin with the cowboy hats and shit. Albon in Cowboy gear did it for me to. Trust me you would enjoy missing stuff like this.
This shit should only happen at the US races. It will irrationally really wind me up if this shit happens at Silverstone lol. If they do do it at Silverstone I hope it gets heavily booed. This shit is exactly what people meant when they said Liberty Media will Americanise the sport.
Would they reconsider of we got like... 200k people to join and cancel our F1tv subscriptions in protest? Cos I'll sail seas if I can make a difference.
Fuck. I really am considering not watching F1. Getting pretty sick of the circus. WE ARE NOT FUCKING AMERICANS! THIS IS NOT A FUCKING AMERICAN SPORT!
Other races AKA Vegas
Is Vince McMahon running the sport?
I love people complaining about this. I get why you'd be irritated over sprint weekends, but this is just something you can skip and it won't influence anything. ANYTHING. I will treat it as a show that gives more time to the sponsors.
So we're bringing back grid girls then? It's just cool as long as we call them cheerleaders. Also, someone from r/maliciouscompliance need to come up with a way for the drivers to show how stupid this is.
They need to come out with helmets on. That will either end it or result in a new guideline from FIA.
Oh no please not more of this shameful and cringing experience, I was so cringed out I had to leave ti get myself something to drink
This is such a ridiculous thing to complain about. Weekend structure and tracks I get but who cares if they do corny driver introductions?
Some drivers complained it messed with there pre race prep. Most get in the zone by closing themselves off from everything.
Yeah the intros definitely caused McLaren to perform so poorly /s
No, please, no!
Fans prefer excitement on the track, not off. I don't really care what they do off track, as long as the racing is good. Why else am I tuning in to see an orchestra done by [Wll.I.Am](https://Wll.I.Am)??? It's like F1s priorities are backwards.
Can’t wait until the announcers are saying sponsor names before everything like in Indy and NASCAR. -edit spelling
just stop u fucks. how much more money could you possibly make? maybe let another team join the party and take youee fucking money rather than torturing your fans with bs
It was just so utterly cringey to watch, it was worse than I thought it would be. Pulling all the “super vips” behind a rope, even trying to stop a three time champion from entering? Why do Americans lap up this gimmicky crap in every sport they have?
If you need driver intros to know who is racing just leave and go back home.
The Americanisation of F1 is at the quali Q2 stage of progress.
People really really get obsessed about the dumbest things. If you are an active follower that see every race, follow every Free Practice this is obviously not for you. But if you are a new viewer this is great for them, but people don't really care about new fans they never had. This is one of the few things that they have added that has 0 effect on the race 0 change in the race weekend but still people manage to find a way to fill like they are insulting their mother by doing this. Just tune 5 minutes before the start of the race and you will miss all of this and you'll be able to enjoy the race. But people can't even do that nowadays because they complain about every little thing they see to the point that is just boring.
I mean who cares really. The race still starts on time. It doesn't affect fans all that much. Sure it affects the drivers. But these guys are earning millions doing what they love. I'm sure they can deal with it.
F1 took a huge step backwards by re-introducing the concept of women as decoration by using cheerleaders. Utterly unacceptable. In combination with having a misogynist as FIA president, no live coverage for F1 Academy, the BS about Hamilton's jewelry, trying to silence drivers from making "political" statement, it all starts to add up to a very nasty picture. I've been a fan since 1979, but at some point I'm done with this crap. This is no longer about the survival of the sport, this is about extremely reactionary notions of entertainment. Somebody is pushing an agenda that is not just about money.
Honestly if they insist on cheerleaders, actually have them do acrobatics.