F1: Bloodsport to Bore-Sport ?

I remember the first time I saw F1 unlike other sports like Cricket and Football. It was in 1992 when my uncle first showed me a recorded video of an F1 race. F1 till then was considered by many as the 'Death Sports' by many. Many had lost their lives and it was not unlikely to see one or two racers dying each year. Still when they lived they lived lives of kings and playboys easing out on their private yachts in Monaco.

In 1994, came the era-switching death for F1. That year racing legend Ayrton Senna died in a fatal crash on the Tamburello corner of the Italian GP. Little was known that his death and the death of racing rookie Ratzenberger earlier in the weekend would be the last two sacrifices on the racetrack for F1.

Sadly, since then though safety concerns have made F1 a more secure sport but the relative Television viewership has dropped not only in F1 strongholds like the European Union but even in Asian countries like ours. In United States the NASCAR still remains a more dangerous sports, which has pulled a chunk of viewership from F1.

Many believe most people who left watching F1 after the eventful weekend of 1994 had similar sadistic instincts that caused throngs of people to visit the roman Circus, sitting in the sidelines like ravens to watch the next gladiator fall.

But still racing critics including me would say that F1 has lost its zeal over years. No longer it is a sport where drivers had that 'race on sunday-chill on monday' attitude. There are races like Monaco where they shoot off complete a Lap around the seafront, get into the tunnel and repeat this 78 times going around circles. The only excitement comes during the pit-stops, but I am sorry to say that if I had to see 12 men in overalls filling gas and changing tyres why should I not drive down to the next Club HP.

But still F1 remains an exciting game to me not because of the money and fame which is synonymous with it but for the sheer bravery of men who ride on wings of fire to test the limits of man and machine. The fact remains that one can hand count the times one crosses the 135 kph limit on the speedometer. So we take this vicarious pleasure in seeing a small head bobbling under 8 times the G-force of earth at 300 km/hr for 18 sundays a year.