Post by Lee on Sept 21, 2015 16:33:33 GMT
So how do we feel the current F1 era will be remembered?
I remember when F1 first gripped me as a young kid and although not fully appreciating it I remember '76. The legendary names of the drivers of the previous era were still not too far in the past and it all seemed so glamorous and exciting. The cars and drivers of the late 70's and early 80's left a mark with me and although not the professional business of today it did seem better, although maybe its easy to look back through "rose tinted glasses" and forget the bad bits such as the danger and death which was still far too evident.
As I followed the sport through the 80's my favourite driver was always Ayrton Senna, strangely though my favourite period of his career were the Lotus years. His time at McLaren may have bought the wins and the championships but the time at Lotus (for me anyway) were key to forming his status as one of the true greats.
Statistics are obviously important but they never tell the whole story. All drivers would love to win a Championship but it is equally important to judge them by the competition too. Schumacher was / is another driver I admired and another great but the number of championships he won does not mean I think he was significantly or indeed any better than Senna. Equally some drivers who never won a championship also achieved a greatness that some champions failed to reach.
My interest in F1 has waned from time to time, normally when one team becomes too dominant for too long. The Mercedes dominance is fairly recent but followed immediately on from that of Red Bull and I know find it a struggle to feel any enthusiasm to follow it and even qualifying even seems dull these days,
I am starting to think the last good championship was " Jenson Button's" as is normally the case he did have the best car, but not for the whole season which led to him not only having to beat his team mate but also another team.
I remember when F1 first gripped me as a young kid and although not fully appreciating it I remember '76. The legendary names of the drivers of the previous era were still not too far in the past and it all seemed so glamorous and exciting. The cars and drivers of the late 70's and early 80's left a mark with me and although not the professional business of today it did seem better, although maybe its easy to look back through "rose tinted glasses" and forget the bad bits such as the danger and death which was still far too evident.
As I followed the sport through the 80's my favourite driver was always Ayrton Senna, strangely though my favourite period of his career were the Lotus years. His time at McLaren may have bought the wins and the championships but the time at Lotus (for me anyway) were key to forming his status as one of the true greats.
Statistics are obviously important but they never tell the whole story. All drivers would love to win a Championship but it is equally important to judge them by the competition too. Schumacher was / is another driver I admired and another great but the number of championships he won does not mean I think he was significantly or indeed any better than Senna. Equally some drivers who never won a championship also achieved a greatness that some champions failed to reach.
My interest in F1 has waned from time to time, normally when one team becomes too dominant for too long. The Mercedes dominance is fairly recent but followed immediately on from that of Red Bull and I know find it a struggle to feel any enthusiasm to follow it and even qualifying even seems dull these days,
I am starting to think the last good championship was " Jenson Button's" as is normally the case he did have the best car, but not for the whole season which led to him not only having to beat his team mate but also another team.
