I have noticed, over the course of last season and into the early part of the current campaign, an increased interest in Formula 1 from people who I know and would not consider to be fans of the sport.
The drama of last year’s racing on the track was thrilling for us long-term fans, but F1 in 2008 was badly blighted by controversies. This being said, controversies attract interest.
The increased exposure that the ’08 campaign ensured was something that I initially enjoyed. Sports followers, in general, were discussing F1; friends who had previously only asked me questions like ‘is Schumacher still winning everything?’ even after his retirement.
However, I’m now sick of the off-track discussions and hearings, when crucial conclusions – which have an extreme effect on results in the sporting sense – are arrived at in courts and dominate coverage.
Imagine if the Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams rear diffusers are declared illegal in the upcoming FIA hearing. If that conclusion is drawn, the team leading the championship could begin to struggle because of protests and appeals, and that would look awfully questionable from the outside, not least because it could seriously help the likes of Ferrari and McLaren to catch up.
Speaking of McLaren, what happened at the season-opener in Melbourne, I believe, has tainted the sport to a greater degree than it has attracted people to it. These situations – and I have argued this in the past – will throw the sport into the spotlight, certainly, but that may serve only to discourage someone to watch the action, believing it to be constantly subject to appeals, penalties and punishments. Who wants to watch a dramatic climax to an event whilst being aware that the result of it, in some form or another, is almost likely to change?
Unfortunately, it is difficult to know what to suggest to prevent F1 from looking ridiculous. Perhaps if people did not break the rules so frequently, then that would be a start, but finding ways around rules in all sports is and as always has been common place.
Let’s just hope that, following the FIA’s final decisions on what should be done with McLaren and the whole diffuser situation, we’ll have a season dominated by what occurs on the tarmac.