Davide Nativo
Premium
Formula 1… Formula 1 has changed…
I know, that was cheap, to adapt as headline a very famous sentence from Metal Gear Solid 4, but I think it fits the situation just right. F1 has indeed changed, and to me, possibly for the worst.
Of course, I am not alone in feeling this way, as many people nowadays share this same thought for many reasons. Usually the cause is mainly related to cars. They are too much dependent on aero, they look pretty awful, especially since the Halo came in, and they sound even worse. One reason of dispute is that they also no longer have engines, but Power Units. That is not a fancy dandy word to have some magic shroud fluttering around these cars, but a simple fact. These open wheelers have multiple engines, turbines, batteries, all working together harvesting, replenishing and delivering energy. Think of them as very complicated Swiss watches, where there are a multitude of cogs and gears, all linked to one another and having different sizes and functions. Everything needs to work perfectly together, and if just one cog misses a single tooth, everything falls apart and your clock stops ticking. I believe that you all know that I love innovation and modern technology in general. I indeed like the progress that is behind these Power Units, and the way they maximise results, and you can see as some hybrid cars roaming the streets now have very low, I could say incredibly low, fuel consumptions. That is made possible, in many cases, by the research brought forward by F1 vehicles. However, I despise the idea that now manufacturers have to operate inside very strict rules and limitations to develop their engines. F1 was synonym to evolution, which meant that everyone was free to bring whatever they wanted to the racetrack, and run it. Rules left much wider margins, and teams were actually able to have unique cars, not just unique solutions to the same problem as it is today.
Schumacher and Alboreto battling at Monaco in 1992. Two different cars, two very different philosophies.
The grid today is full of copycats, while in the past you could immediately tell one car from another. That is not just because of liveries, because there used to be also private teams running custom versions of the exact same car ran by the works team. Despite the livery, different car models were immediately recognizable to the motoring fan due to their original characteristics (and they still are today for the very same reason). You could spot them by shape, sense them by sound. Today, manufacturers are presented with a regulation that, basically, instructs them about how to build the vehicle for next season, much like a Lego set. They are free to move a winglet here, shift another winglet there, but that’s just it. Where is F1? Where is the “pushing technology beyond its limits” attitude anymore? It is then useless to build complexities over complexities in the rules (DRS, weird qualifying formats, double points races) to help in trying to regain the excitement this series has lost, if those in charge cannot see that it was simplicity indeed the key why F1 used to be successful. F1 is no longer exciting because it actually turned into a one-make championship.
The F1 2018 grid.
Sponsors are another part of the equation as to why many people do not like this sport anymore. Because they killed its soul. There used to be a time when sponsors lived happily in balance with all the traditions and particularities of F1, but that age is long gone now. Have you ever noticed that drivers on the podium do not wear laurels anymore? That they always look very composed? Well that is because, a couple of decades ago, sponsors started complaining that their brands were not visible enough during the winning ceremony. When a driver won, it used in fact to be a celebration. The champagne, the parade, people climbing up the podium or the drivers stepping down to ‘sink’ into the cheering crowd… It was awesome. Today the podium is as aseptic as a surgical room. Where is the joyfulness? Where is the triumph of life and glory after having battled a perilous battle? Signs and logos are all perfectly visible now though.
Lauda and Hunt properly celebrating on the podium.
However, what bothers me above all is another thing entirely. I simply scorn the fact that F1 drivers have been locked up away in private and are no longer accessible to the fans now as they used to be in the past. If this was called “The Circus” was out of many reasons. One of those was that, just like a circus, everything was simple; anyone could walk among the tents, meet their heroes, have an autograph signed, shoot a picture and maybe have even a chat with them. Some lucky fans even got to share a beer or an ice cream with their idols. People loved the drivers because they looked just like ordinary people, doing an extraordinary job. You could see them eat, mending their own suits, sunbathing, chatting, in short doing things we all do. Nevertheless, then they wore their helmet and whaaam, shooting down the pit lane and roaring into the track, dominating it with their steeds.
On the left: Clark signing autographs among fans at Monaco, 1967. On the right: Dan Gurney shaking hands with supporter Bruce Boembeke at Indy, 1967. The story behind the picture as recalled by Mr. Boembeke himself:
«Back in the day, the area behind the front straight grandstand and the garages was where you could catch the drivers if you were quick enough, or in this case Dan comes walking by and I ask if I can get a picture. "SURE!" he says with a big smile, and then extends his hand and asks for my camera! What? (I'm thinking "Man, I've got pics from all day in this thing, but it's DAN!") So I hand my Instamatic over to him. Then he turns to some random passer-by and handing the guy my camera Dan says, "Take our picture". He comes back to me, and again extends his hand - I'm a kid, it takes a minute to have the gesture sink in, he wants to shake hands! - I clasp his hand (his hand is Huge) and 'snap', the pic is taken.» (Gratitude to Mr. Boembeke for sharing this story and giving permission for image use in this article)
Now they are treated as super-humans. People so distant from us, it is like they live on another planet and they just come visit us from time to time. Celebrities, living a glamorous life, in which we cannot possibly recognize anymore. They have become something else, cast away in VIP areas and keeping as much distance from the cheering crowd (yes, the very one supporting them and making their fortune) as they are told to. It is no longer a circus travelling the world, looking for new adventures, but a high security armoured van moving from one area of interest to another.
You want an autograph? Stand in line behind a wall.
Seeing drivers racing all sorts of vehicles, Sports cars, Prototypes, F2, GTs, Rallies, was an added bonus. Both for the fans, which could see them compete more than once in a year in their country and in different series, and for them, because it was all more experience to gain. When you have a broad horizon, you also have an open mentality; you are a better and more mindful person. When your horizon goes as far as where your feet are, your only concerns become your selfish interests and your personal prerogatives. This 'super-specialization' culture existing now, and stretching in all fields of work, is harmful to us as human beings, as people capable of mixing interests and gain experience thanks to contact with diversity. All this is evident in the statements of some contemporary F1 drivers, which are no longer capable of understanding the importance and the resonance of events like the Le Mans 24 Hours or the Indy 500, and their related championships seasons, or of the Rally of Montecarlo or Macau GP. When an international professional driver is no longer able to understand the significance of other series, and the heritage they bring along with them, it is a clear sign of a very troubled age happening in the motorsport.
Mario Andretti, who raced everything having 4 wheels, here on a Midget sprint race.
Another reason as to why in the past you could easily recognize any driver, any time, was his helmet. It was just like an adorned shield, a personal coat-of-arms. Every knight had his, and wore it with proud. Many times, they came back in the pits with it under their arms, sometimes with it above them. In life and in death, it was their meaning, their battle cry, and symbolized their story. How many drivers’ graves are adorned with just their helmet? It used to tell everything there was to say about the man.
Francois Cevert and his iconic looking helmet.
Now they are drowned in sponsors too (sigh!)… Drivers no longer have unique helmets, but yet another aero device (now even those have wings) painted with the colours of who is paying for it. They have just become another accessory. They lack personality and lost their meaning, just as F1 did.
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