mkay wrote: ↑25 Jul 2026, 17:16
Why are race threads so empty nowadays?
I have been here a few days and I can assure you the forums are nothing that they were when I started lurking in 2010. Since then, the really hard core guys have vaporized. The rift started in 2014 when Merc basically dropped the competition to two drivers, and it stayed that way for years, which killed the hearts of all the non-merc fans, spawning a lot of results that some feel were not merited, and that killed a lot of the integrity and fair competition that at one time strived within the basic framework of F1. Just check out the deterioration of the Ferrari forums from 2015 to 2018 compared to the glory days of 2010-2014.
I think what is doing it now more than anything is the PU formula, which really has compromised the integrity of the sport, cutting drivers skill sets from a lot of what they used to control, and which contributors of this site notice and appreciate. The untouchability of Merc for years, the blow up at the end of 2021, and now the absolute crap PU formula, have removed the sport integrity that at one time drew the hard core guys here. Many feel cheated. The FIA are not going to change the PU significantly for years to come, so we get a polished turd for racing, and hard cord dedicated forum contributors just are not going to waste their time on a sport that has fallen so far from authenticity. The current PU formula fundamentally compromises driver integrity in a number of ways, and is so complex nobody can understand it. These kind of fundamental flaws compromise competitive motivation in fans. It's like watching a bully punching everyone, and not being able to do anything about it. It's not very nice to watch. F1 is not so nice to watch right now, downright painful for old guys like me let me tell you.
Honestly, as a 40+ year die hard fan of this sport, it's hard to cheer for something that is now controlled by AI at some of the most fundamental levels of what should be entirely driver input alone. The slowing the car down anticipating upcoming corners so the driver does not even have to brake in med/high speed corners is one of the all time most shameful aspects this sport has ever justified, and to me, that kind of atrocity matters and has effect in forums like this where contributors are smart and notice when its just downright fakery.
It's hard to stay committed and spend time commenting on a sport whose owners don't give a $#it about racing integrity or honest driving. The sport is owned by Liberty Media who don't know what the hell they are doing so TV coverage is poor, far to choppy with camera shots confuse how to read the car, and "experts" covering the broadcast who are not good on camera, and don't know what the hell they are talking about because Liberty is not hiring them for their knowledge of the sport. So weekend TV coverage is downright cringy and embarrassing with clowns running the main coverage because Liberty media is trying to put on a show, not properly guide and cover a race weekend. Drivers are also now so censored they are hardly even worth listening to anymore. It's absolutely pathetic now.
So yea, basic sport integrity, lack of fair competition between drivers, dying hard core fan base that is being shown the door, an out of touch F1 leadership, a tyrannical F1 president, poor rule making, a bad and irrelevant and irresponsible self-defeating PU formula nobody can understand including the racing teams themselves all contribute to why forums like the one die. Places like Reddit and the like can get away with it with their low race IQ fan base, but not here.
Watching F1 since 1986.
