I'm a big formula 1 fan, but todays race really is highlighting some negatives about modern F1.
I'll start on the positives though - Kovalainen's accident. That car went from 140 mph to a dead stop without dissipating ANY energy from flying car debris or rolling. The fact he has come out with so little apparent injuries is an absolute miracle and a testament to the safety of F1 today. I'm sure his internal organs might have a few issues so it's still too early to tell that he's fine, but all signs look good.
When I saw his car buried and how abruptly it stopped, I feared the worse. I also couldn't believe how it dug itself into the tyre wall - that looked dangerous and I was cursing its design. Then when I saw the nose damage, I was sure his legs would be broken. But no, the tyre wall did its job in the way intended. Unbelievable!
My big concern is what if a Honda with those stupid dumbo wings on the front had the same accident? One of those wings could have gone straight into a drivers helmet upon impact. I hope they're banned by the next race on safety and visual grounds.
Now onto the negatives. The cars, as if we ever thought possible, are even worse at overtaking this year. Anyone who tries it ends up crashing 75% of the time and in some cases cars a second a lap faster have to sit 5 seconds behind a slower car because they lose grip when trying to close. What we had was a precession of cars with the same gap between each one. Boring to the extreme. F1 have done a bad job of car design regulations for a long time now.
Then we come to the drivers attitude. Did you see them on the podium? Earlier ITV had a feature showing drivers from Stirling Moss's era, where drivers were all friends, joked around, “chased crumpet” and celebrated in style. They worked hard and played hard and it was great to see.
Today we have corporate toys throwing their toys out the pram, rarely happy for anyone other than themselves. Those three on the podium with the champaign were totally devoid of creating any kind of celebration atmosphere. A little false smile here and there for those who didn't come first and for the most totally ignoring one another. I want human emotion and reactions back in F1, not this.
F1 isn't alone in this. Many other sports just don't have that natural feel of humanity and spotsmanship anymore, replaced by false, deliberate and careful actions combined with selfishness. Why have we allowed business ethics to turn our sports into "professional" lifeless corporate playgrounds? Sport should be full of life and thunder, personality, emotion and passion. Sport should be run first and foremost for the people, not the accounts departments bottom line or business image.
We have gained much from the past, but we've also lost touch with what it's like to express true humanity in the sporting field. As society becomes more developed and ethical, we also lose a large part of what truly makes us feel human.