Will the 2009 regulations cause a downturn in viewers?

[Scotracer]

The biggest news in the F1 circus this week is obviously the first glimpses of what 2009 F1 cars may look like. This brings me back to something from the late 90's:



In 1998 the "X-wings" were banned after the San Marino Grand Prix for rather obscure reasons. It is rumoured however, that they were banned because Bernie felt they were too ugly and would affect TV audiences - the "Hand of God" approach, if you will.

Well, this brings me onto the question: If F1 cars stay as butt-ugly as they are right now, do you think it will have a negative effect on TV audiences and GP attendance numbers? And if so, do you think we'll see any knee-jerk reactions from the FOM and the FIA?

Aesthetics are important and we've gone from proportional cars in 2008 that just looked cluttered to cars that look like Top Gear built them.

Personally, I believe it will affect audiences. The BMW is unbearable to watch, especially from a moderate distance. The Williams hybrid does look pretty good...but that's just compared to the BMW.

[cba_]

Hey! dont put down topgear [-X Hard core fans are still going to watch but normal people is going to wonder what the hell is going on.

I think F1 is going to lose 5% ratings.

[modbaraban]

I don't expect audiences to drop significantly due to this. It all depends on competition. If 1 team dominates people would say "wtf am I watching this for? It's not even good looking!". But if things stay as they are or get even more mixed up (which seems to be very likely) then I guess most will watch F1 for the sake of competition and/or supporting their favorite driver/team.

The cars indeed look horrid. And the only way to change that is changing the regs. I can't remember any formula car in history to be so disproportionate i.e. thin butt and a huge excavator shovel in the front. It's much worse than those X-wings. And the main reason why that is so bad is that ugliness is set by the regulations. Also that is the reason why FIA or Bernie wouldn't change anything. They won't back up, unless the new rules bring opposite effect and ruin the competition that was building up so well in late 2008.

[Beemer4]

It'll lose a lot of viewers.

[Ciro Pabón]

Ugly is as ugly does.

It depends on if the design accomplishes its goals.

A beautiful design: because it works


I find ellaborate to jump to conclusions if I haven't seen them racing. If there is a more competitive first weekend, if other drivers win races, would you watch them? Of course you'll do.

This ain't a beauty contest. Do we want lipstick on a pig? Well, maybe, if a pig is all you got.

Will it influence viewers ratings? Oh, c'mon. Have you ever thought: "oh, my, look how beautiful Super V8 are this year. Let's watch them for the full season."? Have you ever thought: "Incredible. Cricket uniforms are a beauty this year. Let's watch the Indian test in its entirety."?

People is attracted to TV programs because of headlines, not because some abstract, "hard-cored-fan" view of the cars.

Evry year people complains about ugliness. Gosh, they must be the ugliest cars in the world, if you believe your ears.

[WhiteBlue]

I agree with Ciro. The rules are the product of an incredibly complicated process of consultations. The leading teams (at that time) had significant input and all teams (FOTA)have backed the rules by a democratic vote.

It would take a huge rethink and probably a signifiant aero study to propose something that would work better in terms of overtaking and looks. No team can afford that in a running season.

They will all focus on getting their cars as fast as possible. And the FiA will not bother to improve what the teams thought an improvement to their own plan. They will let them suffer this time. I can only shiver thinking of the media storm if this look had been the result of a FiA proposal and not a brainchild of FOTA.

Audience may be affected by the economy but to think that 5% of people will drop F1 due to the appearance of the car sounds improbable to me.

[modbaraban]

Evry year people complains about ugliness. Gosh, they must be the ugliest cars in the world, if you believe your ears.

I didn't! I'm one of those who were very happy about things like Williams walrus-nose, BMW.Sauber nose-towers and stuff like that just because it's the reason why I like Formula1 so much. Creativity! And the ugliness of 2009 cars has nothing to do with it...

PS:

[DaveKillens]

Notwithstanding the world's economic downturn, I actually expect viewing to go up. Most hard-core fans will acclamatize themselves to the new look, and most of the rest won't even notice. But since the driver's chase is to be dumbed down by the medal proposal, this will make it easier for first-time or new viewers to watch. You don't have to know who's got what points, just that whoever wins collects all the laurels.
It's much too soon to come to any definitive conclusion, because the appearance of the cars is linked to the radical changes that are supposed to spice things up. If the cars can run closer to each other, if KERS delivers on it's promise, we could see incredibly exciting racing throughout the field. And that good folks, that's what it's really about.


On a personal note, I've always considered the previous versions with all the extra bits of aero gadgets as fugly. Even bargeboards.

[woohoo]

you know, if the changes work (as in give more overtaking) we might see more viewers!

But we might see less, now that the Canadian and French grand prix go away.
And if it works, its beautiful.

And I liked that Tyrrell!

[modbaraban]

I'm sure that 'overtaking brigade' could achieve the same sort of results without making it look so ugly that drivers have to witness people vomiting all around the track when the car passes.

For me it's the worst looking F1 car I've ever seen. It just doesn't look like it fits, with big wings and everything.

We all agree that it is not the best looking car, but fortunately from the inside it looks better than the outside.

[timbo]

I'm sure that 'overtaking brigade' could achieve the same sort of results without making it look so ugly that drivers have to witness people vomiting all around the track when the car passes.

There's a lot in the image of current F1 cars that is dictated by the fact that it is movable billboard. E.g. the small rear wing won't look so ugly if it had smaller endplates (kinda IRL style), but the minimum size is stipulated.
OWG has nothing to do with it.

[ISLAMATRON]

The quality of basketball in the WNBA is horrible, but if the women were actually good looking I might actually watch.

How many times have we seen a 1st corner incident that has taken off a barge board or something and then the driver charges up thru the field... were we interested in the lack of flick ups on the car... or the charge thru the field?

If the racing is good the people will watch... if it isnt then the people will point & laugh at the funny looking cars.

Rule change!... every WNBA player must have breast augmentation and the new uniform must be a 2 piece bikini... Watch how TV ratings skyrocket... pay per view even!

[rjsa]

Those wings are not the real deal. Besides being ugly, those end plates are nonsense.

[modbaraban]

There's a lot in the image of current F1 cars that is dictated by the fact that it is movable billboard. E.g. the small rear wing won't look so ugly if it had smaller endplates (kinda IRL style), but the minimum size is stipulated.
OWG has nothing to do with it.

OWG made the wings narrow and tall but forgot to make endplates shorter (like in pre-2005 F1). It seems that some other OMG made the front wing 1.8m wide without consulting the OWG and not being aware of the quite opposite changes at the back. Also they changed their mind about increasing the car width to 2.0m forgetting that the front wing now would be the object to be knocked off in the 1st corner.

As a result of OWG and OMG work we get this piece of WTF representing the pinnacle of motorsport:

[Scotracer]

The rear wing endplates and engine cover size regulations are purely for marketing. The removal of aero appendages is also related to market value (easier to read sponsors). This has been known for some time.

What I had hoped for with the new rear wing is that they'd move it back to the pre-2005 position, above the rear wheels. If they had done this and reduced the size of the rear-wing endplates to 2004-ish levels, the new cars would look pretty good actually.