Double Points @ Final Race

[xpensive]

That is not my impression from the, as I said, few races I have attended, nor from the crowd in sportbars.

The talk is more about drivers and razmatazz.

[flmkane]

Long ago and far away I had the mere dumb luck to be at the right place at the right time TWICE -- at two Fortune 25 companies that sponsored F1 teams. We NEVER discussed "F1 fans" as a desirable target demographic. Frankly, we did not think people like me were an important demographic at all. We weren't out to sell supercomputers or advanced engineering software -- we were pushing PCs and printers. To the masses. When I spoke up for what we would probably call "core fans" I was taken aside and told, gently, to shut up. This specific experience (and 20 years in high tech marketing) is the background to my comments in this thread.

So what? So what if they are not targeting engineers and technical people? Treating F1 fans like idiots will kill the sport. We know what entertainment is and we dont want crap that ruins the spectacle. All these rule changes for the last decade dont spice things up one bit, they just ruin it.

Futhermore a sport needs to have hardcore fans, else it wont survive. Who else will pay $250 for a ticket? Who else will watch a Vettel domination season? I was a hardcore fan before I started caring about little vortex generators on the sidepod.

Which brings me to something else. Why are we being forcefed a decade of boring aero dominated cars? F1 cars should be crazy beasts. We should be drooling over giant advances in technology, like active suspension, ground effect etc did in the past. These horrible rules have taken the romance out of the sport, and they are trying to counteract that with WWF showmanship.

[Joie de vivre]

I would reverse points back to 10 for 1st place, but for the last race I would make 1000 points for the winner ... that way we get champion on last race! How awsm is that???

[timbo]

That is not my impression from the, as I said, few races I have attended, nor from the crowd in sportbars.

The talk is more about drivers and razmatazz.

Would that people be attracted by double points in the last race?

[xpensive]

Hell yeah, that would help keeping interest up for a looong 20+ race season.

[timbo]

Hell yeah, that would help keeping interest up for a looong 20+ race season.

Even if Vettel wins after first 15 races?

[xpensive]

That kinda crowd won't be able to figure out the details to the minute, the notion of a grand finale will be quite enough.

[flmkane]

No it wont. People will get pissed of and call out the fact that the points system is unfair. Fairness is something that people get very emotional about.

[xpensive]

I doubt it.

[timbo]

That kinda crowd won't be able to figure out the details to the minute, the notion of a grand finale will be quite enough.

There would not be a grand finale if the champion is decided.

Woah!!!! A grand finale!!!
But...

we already know who wins


It would make at least some sense if radically different format was used. But with everything remaing the same there's a very little difference.

[Richard]

This scheme is meant to result in more championships going to the last race. Has anyone worked out how many championships in the last 20 years would be extended to the last race under this scheme?

[timbo]

This scheme is meant to result in more championships going to the last race. Has anyone worked out how many championships in the last 20 years would be extended to the last race under this scheme?

From last 20 years (if I'm not mistaken) only two -- 2000 and 2009, and the 2006 while technically was decided at the last race, was a very remote chance for Schumacher, with this system it would be more open.


Yeah, and I don't think that when championship is decided in penultimate race the last race sees that huge drop of interest. It's domination like in 1992, 2002, 2004 and this year which hurts ratings. And the double points do nothing about that!

Even ballast would be more logical.

[H2H]

Some guys, not only here, are saying that the team managers care less about the opinion of us hardcore fans as we
'will watch F1 anyway'. After scanning a couple of a digital newspapers I'm quite happy that to see that the voice of the big racing fans has been heard. Landslide polls like those in F1 Fanatic were cited at least by big papers like the Times and the German FAZ and pretty much every piece in the old media featured the uproar in the F1 forums, F1 sites and related new media. Strong criticism from the locally commentating fans showed pretty much the same outrage and strenghtened the common cause. =D>

Almost all the journalists and pundits have been equally dismissive, likely influenced to some degree by the overwhelming 9:1 rubbishing of the double points rule. The 4x WDC has called it 'absurd' and also underlined the strong dismissal by experts and fans. In turn his comments were cited in pretty much every follow-up on the story I have seen.

So while we might be few the actions of the last day have shown that in such issues a clear and united voice by the fanbase here can be amplificated by and through other media. It is pretty easy for media persons of all sorts to take a look around on the net and gets some feeling of the pulse of core fans. As a matter of fact I have not seen a hugely critical piece before I don't know how many posts, votes, comments and petitions were started.

Maybe there is no much hope, but at least there is much more than I hoped for. [-o<

[Slife]

I suppose you could call it a gimmick, but so is DRS and the artificial tyre rules.

[adrianchl]

Well, the only thing I can say is that F1 is becoming very similar to NASCAR, the original sportive spirit of F1 simply has gone!

With this rule you can bet to have a middling season and only take care of the last date to challenge lidership, my goodness, this is crazy!

Regards,