The Vroom is missing - Formula One has become a boring sport!

Sebastian Vettel finished the 2014 Formula 1 season with his 4th title. This reminds me of the “Schumacher days”, when his Ferrari dominated almost every race. Schumacher used to end almost every race with about 30-60 seconds lead. Formula One had become boring. Schumacher’s exit gave the other drivers a chance to showcase their talent and we were hoping that this situation would help make Formula One exciting again. Sure, we saw the emergence of talents like Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button and Vettel. But, Vettel’s dominance has again made F1 boring and monotonous. Vettel deserves his due credit for raking up 4 World championships. But his domination is not helping increase the spectator interest in Formula One.

This yeas’ Japanese Grand Prix showed us what is wrong with Formula One. The teams no longer rely on driving fast to win the races. Other aspects like managing tyre wear has gained more prominence when compared to sheer straight line speed. Highest top speed is not enough to guarantee a victory any more. Gone are the good old days when drivers used to fight for much of the race to outdo their rivals. We cannot blame Vettel or his car designers for this problem.

The present day F1 cars are not easy to drive. But reducing driver input does not help make the races exciting. What’s the point in having an Alonso or a Vettel in your team when they do not get an opportunity to showcase their skills on the track? Electronics plays a major role in today’s Formula 1 car. The driver’s role has reduced drastically. Technical innovations like KERS add to misery. The present day circuits too are not helping. Tracks like the Bahrain Grand Prix circuit make for a pretty boring race.

Now what should be done to get the spectators back? The emergence of drivers like Raikkonen and Hamilton shows that talented drivers can compete even with a moderate car. But the restricted role of the driver does not guarantee an exciting race. The car should be given back to the driver’s hands. They should be more difficult to drive. Reduce the role of electronics. Bring back the old days pit stops that lasted about 30 seconds. The excitement levels are high when you have to refuel and change the tyres in such a short span of time. Waning spectator interest is a serious problem and Bernie Ecclestone will have to do something soon.