2013 - F1's Worst Season Ever?

It's not all about the result, it's about racing.

 Oh, you did see better racing in 1992? Go check your eyes then. Interesting how fast people tend to forget the first half of this season. Where was the RB dominance then???

Of course they were, and of course they were saying that 1992, or 2002, or 2004 was the Worst Season Ever when they happened.

 

And maybe they were right at the time, and now with the benefit of hindsight, we can now say that 2013 was a worse season than all of those.

Yeah but being a Ferrari fan i'm biased

 Oh, you did see better racing in 1992? Go check your eyes then. Interesting how fast people tend to forget the first half of this season. Where was the RB dominance then???

That's the results-based thinking I'm arguing against. 1992 didn't have DRS/mozzarella tyre conservation/brain-dead stewarding.

Edited by Disgrace, 10 April 2014 - 16:50.

Well, it can only go better next year, right? it's really hard to think that new engines, and severely modified chassis will be able to give Vetter/RBR such a dominant position from day one. Maybe from 2015, but 2014 is still a searching year for everybody, can't get any worse than this year. 

That's the results-based thinking I'm arguing against. 1992 didn't have DRS/Mozzarella tyre conversation/brain-dead stewarding.

Yeah. I mean, it's not really Formula One anymore, is it?

I mainly feel bad for Vettel, who is quickly becoming the face of an era of F1 that more and more are growing disillusioned with. Flashbacks of Loeb becoming the face of WRC's decline, out of none of his own faut.

I imagine one of the many seasons where most races had 3 cars finish on the lead lap and a handful of drivers killed in fiery accidents was probably just a teensy bit worse than this one.

This needs to be quoted for the entire winter break for truth.

Drama queens here.

All you people do is complain after every race.  If it isn't one thing it is another.  Maybe you need to get out to a race and re-learn why you love F1.

This is the greatest sport in the world!!!!! 

Certainly wasn't very exciting. Maybe it'll be more interesting in retrospect, when we've learnt a bit more about what exactly Vettel and Newey had up their sleeves...

The lack of technical development, the half-baked tyres, the rarity of machinery being pushed to its limits, the unrepentant lapse of sportsmanship from the world champion, the feeling of two teams with potentially world-beating technical and human resources being slowly suffocated through lack of cash... There was a lot that was boring or depressing.

Still, at least the only thing damaged by the flying tyre carcasses at Silverstone was Pirelli's corporate image.

 

 

This is the greatest sport in the world!!!!!  

...when you're cheering for the hugely dominant driver, I guess it is. 

For the others, it's plain frustrating, that's what it is. 

Edited by ATM, 24 November 2013 - 18:33.

I'd lump it into 1992 and 2004 as far as sheer boredom of the racing.

 

1992 was more tolerable as you still had development activities to read about and hope for.  Now we don't even have that.

1992 also had the closing laps of the Monaco Grand Prix

The Belgian Grand Prix was also pretty good that year as well

Yes, definitely the worst ever. First time ever that I actually did something else during a race.

At least the cars had speed, good engines and actually looked fast back in 2004 and 2002. That made up a lot.

Edited by DutchQuicksilver, 24 November 2013 - 18:34.

Swap Vettel-Red Bull for anyone else (dare I say in any other nationality) in any other team an no-one would moan. I can assure you

Have you been watching the sport for more than four years?
 

It's not that fact they are winning that people are moaning about, it's the fact that they moaned until the tyres were changed to suit their car, and then they started winning. And you are just deluding yourself if you think it has anything to do with nationality.

1992 also had the closing laps of the Monaco Grand Prix

 

The Belgian Grand Prix was also pretty good that year as well

I liked Australia too, though Australia was almost always a good race back then.

All you people do is complain after every race.  If it isn't one thing it is another.  Maybe you need to get out to a race and re-learn why you love F1.

 

This is the greatest sport in the world!!!!! 

What is with you and that over excitement  

For me 2013 was the worst season for many years. It's the Pirelli tyres that I can't stand...I want to see flat-out racing, not this stupid "driving to delta" malarkey. 2002 and 2004 were boring as well but I did not mind as much Schumacher winning in the Ferrari. I don't mind Vettel but I really, really dislike Red Bull Racing so I suppose I am a trifle biased.

On to 2014...it can't be any worse than this year...can it?!

Swap Vettel-Red Bull for anyone else (dare I say in any other nationality) in any other team an no-one would moan. I can assure you

I think it's perfectly fair to say that people would rather see established constructors win out over Red Bull's endless money supply, but that's just part of why they thought this season was awful, wasn't it?

Swap Vettel-Red Bull for anyone else (dare I say in any other nationality) in any other team an no-one would moan. I can assure you

Another thread that turns into the victimization of poor Vettel.

Not everyone likes to watch two hour parades on cheese tires.

Definitely not the worst season, there was decent competition and winners from four different teams in the first half. Ofcourse from Spa onwards it slowly became obvious Vettel was going to win but at least there was some competition behind him as well. For example the fight for 2nd in WCC was rather tight all the way to the end. So no, not the worst.

The first half of the season was pretty exciting. So definitely not the worst season of F1 ever.

A bit sad that the season is over, as always. But in 2 months time, we will have new cars and engines, new regulations, etc to look forward to.

2013 stinks because of the tire scandal. Red Bull build a crap car that couldn't look after its tires, but instead of fixing their car they just bitched and moaned until the tyres were changed to suit their car.

 

If Red Bull had dominated fair-and-square from the start then it would have been more acceptable.

just a little problem with that theory, (not even starting about the tire  blows in GB)  RBR were already leading the championship before the tires changed, 

For me 2013 was the worst season for many years. It's the Pirelli tyres that I can't stand...I want to see flat-out racing, not this stupid "driving to delta" malarkey. 2002 and 2004 were boring as well but I did not mind as much Schumacher winning in the Ferrari. I don't mind Vettel but I really, really dislike Red Bull Racing so I suppose I am a trifle biased.

 

On to 2014...it can't be any worse than this year...can it?!

  About the tires, did you hear in the race today where they said the mediums are faster than the hards, but because they couldn't be driven hard, the lap times were the same.  Totally ridiculous in the so-called "premier" sport for automobiles.

  As others said, at least in '92 and '04 the cars were able to be driven at 100%.

2013 stinks because of the tire scandal. Red Bull build a crap car that couldn't look after its tires, but instead of fixing their car they just bitched and moaned until the tyres were changed to suit their car.

 

If Red Bull had dominated fair-and-square from the start then it would have been more acceptable.

The tyres were changed for safety reasons after numerous high profile delaminations. RB (and others) may have been whining about wear but they would not have been changed were they not extremely dangerous and unfit for purpose.

The tyres were changed for safety reasons after numerous high profile delaminations. RB (and others) may have been whining about wear but they would not have been changed were they not extremely dangerous and unfit for purpose.

Not if you set your car up according to what the tyre manufacturer deemed to be within safe limits.

It wasn't a bad season, just not very memorable apart from Vettel's victory run.  Most teams seemed to be treading water and looking towards next season for most of the latter half, especially once clear that Red Bull had a sizeable advantage.

But there were bigger issues to the 'flatness' of the season, rather than one team dominating (that's part of the sport).  DRS is a total sham and should be done away with, and the tyre situation became farcical at one stage, thanks in many ways to the idiotic remit Pirelli were given from the FI Brain's Trust.  We're not that far away from sprinklers at the side of the track to spice up the 'show'.

Not the worst perhaps, but a rather poor season all round.

Not if you set your car up according to what the tyre manufacturer deemed to be within safe limits.

Even 'if' you buy that lame argument it's still not RB's fault - blame the various other teams who, according to you, caused their own tyre failures.Or did Vettel order them how to set their cars up?

First off, I'd like to clarify that I did vote yes but of course I don't wish to suggest this season was any worse than the early years of the sport where death was commonplace. What I say here is rooted strongly in the experience I've had of Formula 1 since I started watching as a child in the early 2000s.

Despite what many people like to assume when making generalisations about fans being impossible to please, I didn't complain about the relative absence of overtaking in the years before Pirelli and DRS. Overtaking took skill; defensive driving was an art; mistakes emerged when drivers pushed the tyres to the edge on circuits which punished sloppiness. I didn't ask for this; and I feel that the life has been sucked out of the sport. Where is the skill in overtaking? DRS removes it in so many instances. Where is the chance for strong defensive driving? You see so little opportunity for it nowadays. Where are the drivers pushing the car to the ragged edge? They can't. The one quote that will linger in my mind forever is when Lewis Hamilton said at Barcelona that "I can't go any slower". That isn't racing.

No, I am not simply bitter that Vettel has gone unchallenged in the second half of the season. His utter domination certainly added to what I perceive to have been a rubbish second half of the season, yes, but the first half was equally bad because of the atrocious tyres. When the gems of the calendar produce lacklustre races, it is obvious something is wrong.

I loved the racing we saw in 2007-10. I'd love to see us return to that. Hopefully next year will see an improvement in the tyres; sadly, overtaking and defending look set to be defined once again by DRS.

I always get the DVD as an Xmas present. I might not ask for it this year.

just a little problem with that theory, (not even starting about the tire  blows in GB)  RBR were already leading the championship before the tires changed, 

I don't dispute Vettel had a great start to the year and was leading the championship on merit. What I'm trying to point out is that the first half of the year was actually competitive and interesting.

If Red Bull had *gasp* battled for the championship and won it, instead of resorting to politics to get their car to work, then that would have made it a great season and we wouldn't have threads like this. No one ever claimed 2011 was the worst season ever, despite a similar level of dominance.

At least in 2004 we had some thrilling races in Monaco, Belgium, Italy and Brazil. I can't remember a single seriously exciting race this season.

Only 2002 can be considered worst than the crap we had this season (from recent history only, of course).

'02 & '04 were far worse from a sporting perspective, in my opinion, at least there have been no real instances of 'special assistance' recently. Certainly '02, '04, & '13 would rank as my least favourite that I have followed* over the last 40 years. 

*It was tough to actually watch F1 in the mid to late 70s as it was so poorly served in terms of television coverage.

It's not the worst season by a long shot, simply because nobody got killed. We might take that for granted, but we really shouldn't. F1 racing is still dangerous, and in recent years we've seen a few narrow escapes that could have been disastrous in their outcome.

The racing though, and the championship for that matter, have indeed been pretty dire. Ironically in no small part due to the changes of recent years. On the positive side we haven't seen any high-profile technical shenanigans that could cloud the achievements of teams.

So all in all this wasn't a great season, or even a particularly good one, but worst? Definitely not.

Edited by Nonesuch, 24 November 2013 - 19:09.

Absolutely not.  I'm no fan of Vettel or Red Bull, but we saw a demonstration of sheer excellence this season.  If that upsets people they shouldn't watch sports events.  Hopefully the order will change next year, but if not I won't be whinging about it.

That's correct, if you see F1 as a pure sport, which personally I do not. When its Tennis or Athletics you know (drugs scandals notwithstanding) that you're seeing the real deal - true talent and true excellence. F1 is the equivalent of letting some athletes run in clogs while others have Nike trainers.....

As regards this season, I just didn't bother watching once the extent of Vettel's domination became apparent, having better uses for several hours on a Sunday than watching this drivel. F1 has got a serious problem, because its certainly not a sport, and yet is less entertaining than ITV primetime TV.......

Edited by wepmob2000, 24 November 2013 - 19:17.

It was one of the worst. But probably not the worst season ever. Another season like this could be disastrous to viewing numbers though.

It's not the worst season by a long shot, simply because nobody got killed.

A marshall got killed.

On balance there have been worse seasons than this one though. But DRS probably needs to go, for starters.

Edited by wllsfjrch, 24 November 2013 - 19:28.

Perhaps it looks poor because 2012 was probably the greatest season ever.

No. Vettel fought a lot more for his 13 wins now than Schumacher did for his 13 in 2004 or 11 in 2002.

 What fight? Are you buying the RB team radio saying it was an epic drive while still driving around with the handbrake on and on cruise control.

2002 and 2004 were far less worse. The Tilkedrome wasn't widely around, not much tarmac runoffs. the V10, no DRS, no freak tires. Most lap records still stand from that year, so the cars were very fast. And you saw drivers pushing instead of deltadriving.

IMO, it's the worst season in living memory. Truly abysmal. 

Every race the broadcast showed on-track action for 95% of the time and ladies in the pits for 5%. Had these numbers been reversed, it might have been worth getting up at 7 in the morning on a Sunday 19 times this year.

Perhaps it looks poor because 2012 was probably the greatest season ever.

It's been brought up before, but I think people would be much less uncharitable to Vettel if he had lost in 2010 and 2012. Him winning a second title would be much more palatable than him winning four in a row, especially when pretty much nobody thought he was really the best man last year.

Definitely one of the worst since I've been watching F1 - 1986 in my case. It was almost a farce at the end, with these silly regulations (crappy tires, tiresome DRS) and one team which was by some distance ahead of the rest of the grid. F1 2013 was dreadful.

Perhaps it looks poor because 2012 was probably the greatest season ever.

The first 18 cars covered by less than 2 seconds, how could it be the worst season ever?

I run an F1 tipping competition which asks for tips to be entered before the weekend starts.  Throughout the whole season. across over 100 people, no one could pick more than 5 positions correctly (that's over 2000 attempts), and on average, only 2 positions per race were correct.

It's certainly not predictable, so I'm not sure how it can be the 'worst season ever' if the results are mostly a surprise...

 What fight? Are you buying the RB team radio saying it was an epic drive while still driving around with the handbrake on and on cruise control.

 

2002 and 2004 were far less worse. The Tilkedrome wasn't widely around, not much tarmac runoffs. the V10, no DRS, no freak tires. Most lap records still stand from that year, so the cars were very fast. And you saw drivers pushing instead of deltadriving.

Sepang wasn't served on a plate, neither was Nurburgring. Before the revised tyres kicked in, he had a lot of work to do containing Alonso and making the best of unsuited tyres. After that he never looked back, but there was still work to do with Webber also having strong weekends and Grosjean making considerable improvement.

It was very different in 2002. Schumacher only didn't win on the weekends he was horrible or Michelin had miraculously hit the sweet spot. In those two seasons Barrichello won 6 times and was easily second in the WDC twice. That gives a very clear view of how dominant the F2002 and F2004 were. Come to think of it, the F2002 was so ridiculously dominant it stil won at San Marino, in 2003.

Anyhow, this year will go down as being very poor. At first they were racing and playing lottery with unsuited tyres. Which is baffling at the very least. And then Mercedes won three races shortly after their private test and got away with a gentle wrist slap. Silverstone was a freak show. And then Vettel ran away.

Not much to chose between 2002, 2004 and 2013...

The first 18 cars covered by less than 2 seconds, how could it be the worst season ever?

 

Formula One grew popular over a period of time where two seconds between the top 4 drivers was not at all uncommon, and is growing a more-and-more disillusioned fanbase during a time where times are closer than ever.

The point of this is that the closeness of qualifying times really has naught to do with how much people find the sport enjoyable.

...when you're cheering for the hugely dominant driver, I guess it is. 

For the others, it's plain frustrating, that's what it is. 

Frustration has nothing to do with it.  I had to wait 7 years for Kimi to win, I was frustrated, but I wasn't bored at all and I sure as hell didn't complain after every race and season.  With Seb I waited only 3 years and it has been brilliant, so less frustration - but all the while with the same backdrop - the sights, the sounds, the cars, the competition - everything about race weekend - that is F1 - making it the greatest of sports.      

People have the right to complain, but it is hard to hear about a sport I dig so much.  That is why I suggest people get out to a race.  I've been to a lot of sessions over the years and perhaps that what keeps F1 pumping through the blood. 

Sorry 2013, you came close but ultimately 2002 still has you covered.

Non-sense. 2nd half may be one of the most dominating. But since when is domination equal to bad? F1 is still a sport. A team is allowed to perform great and dominate others. Calling it bad is being unable to appreciate exemplary work. Did the world hate Federer, the brilliant exponent of the tennis art? Is Usain Bolt so bad to watch? Did people cringe at Phelps's record number of swimming medals? Petty perspectives..