Personally, I vote for F1. It captured my interest in the early nineties and has not let go since. I love WRC but am passionate about F1 - that's the difference.
To put it crudely, F1 is like a comfortable yet faded t-shirt that you still wear when no-one is around - it is something that you are reluctant to throw out ever - I really don't pay too much attention if F1 is boring right now or exciting right now - I will weather through the ups and downs of it. Of course an exciting season like 2003 is a lovely bonus
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F1 passes the acid test for me - Will you get up at 3am to watch live qualifying or 4 am for the race. Only F1 deserves this treatment to me. I will tape WRC and watch later in the morning but I will watch F1 live - whatever be the time....
I watch a lot of motorsports - F1, WRC, Speed GT/touring car, Moto GP, Superbike, etc - therefore I get to see a good blend of overtaking, driving ability, tarmacs, technical data, etc in a week from all these sources. I am not insistent that I want just one motorsport to deliver everything I could wish for - I get different pleasure from different sources.
Having said all this, WRC enthrals me with the sheer driving skill on display - slides and recoveries and all that. My heart poounds when someone like Gronholm goes out with 110% commitment. I love the gravel and snow events. I also love the virtual spectator visual they show on TV - it overlays two or more drivers across the same stage section - its so easy to see where a driver has gained the advantage. This is something they need to adopt to F1 also - it can show us corner by corner where Schumacher gained on Montoya or vice-versa....
Most of the anti-F1 arguments quoted so far in this forum are:
1. Not much overtaking or racing in F1
2. Predictability of results
3. Lack of tarmac choices
4. Non-charismatic drivers.
- Not much overtaking or racing in F1
Obviously the comparison is with other forms of road racing because WRC runs one competitor at time. This is true but is a function of restrictive circuits (Hungary, Nurburgring, Monaco) and also different budgets of the teams. Now the circuits can't be helped but if Mclaren, Renault and Williams up their game, we wil have a cracker of a season.
- Predictability of results - Similar to above plus what do expect if you mate the best driver in the world to the best car? Other competitors need their cars to be better than Schumi's for them to win (a la' Hakkinen)
- lack of tarmac - also true but so what - different horses for different courses - live and let live
- non-charismatic drivers - TT's quote highlights the point
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I always considered WRC drivers 100 times more carismatic and cool than F1 drivers
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I do not think that this was always true - F1 drivers used to speak their mind in the past and till the eighties there was a good deal of action happening on and off the racing circuit. Today things have become more subdued. There is a good reason for this - F1 drivers are under incredible scrutiny and pressure from the media, fans, etc... The media loves to get some major mileage from ill-judged quotes from F1 drivers -
therefore drivers have learnt to keep their opinions to themselves (with a few exceptions - Montoya, Villenueve). The horde of crowds that throng the F1 paddocks today to catch a glimpse or get an autograph can scare a brave Hercules also - it is unfair to expect the same schumacher to meet and greet every fan who comes to the race. For each WRC race, the fans have the ability to go to multiple towns to see the drivers over the different stages- the crowds are much more manageable and you can get better visibility and access to drivers. COmpare this to F1 circuits with 70000 fans waiting to mob you..
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