79 replies to this topic

[ollebompa]

I guess you, like me, get a lot of questions about F1 from friends, family, co-workers etc. So...

What do they want to know?
What do they allready know or think they know?
How do they perceive F1?
And how do you answer?

For me it's the most common is, what kind of engine do they use?. How fast are they? And how expensive is a car?
The second one is allways hard to answer.

What many allready know are the names Raikkonen and Vettel(Also Senna, Schumacher and Fangio but im keeping it current)

[Lights]

I often get questions about the costs, which frankly I can only merely guesstimate anyway. Or about the athleticism of the drivers, how fit they need to be etc.

 

Most really know little or nothing. And how I answer depends on how serious I'd expect them to take my answer, but usually I won't have time to answer in much detail anyway.

[SophieB]

Family: my mum hates all sport ("greedy bastards") except for a few people she will randomly deem acceptable so knows nothing of F1 and cares less. A while ago when she didn't guess a really easy Lewis Hamilton answer on "Pointless" I got curious about how far this went and asked her to name all the F1 drivers she could: Jason Button (sic) James Hunt, That Bald One [further probing revealed this to be Sir Stirling Moss]... and Kimi Raikkonen. I queried the last one as it seemed out of place and she just really liked the name and so remembered it. My dad watches all the races on TV and always has and we will call each other sometimes afterwards to chat about stuff that happened in them. Guy I share a house with likes F1 so we talk all things F1 all season anyway.

People at work know I'm a fan and will sometimes ask what's up with something if it's been a big enough news story, like the tyres at Silverstone or the Merc tyre test but mostly don't seem very interested so I tend not to bother them with it all.

[Nonesuch]

The people I talk to who are not already interested in motorsports often seem barely able to tell a Porsche 911 from an F1 car. Some will know Michael Schumacher, but that's about it. It's just 'car racing' to them.

[Andrew Hope]

Family: "So you still watch a lot of car racing?"

Andrew: "Yeah, F1 and IndyCar mostly, but a few others like-"

Family: "Why? You just sit there watching them go around in circles for hours? I don't know how you like that stuff"

Andrew: "I don't know how I've made it 22 years without killing all of you".

Edited by Andrew Hope, 28 December 2013 - 23:05.

[SophieB]

I'm picturing your parents as Frank and Estelle Costanza.

[Zava]

I usually get these two:

-"why do you like watching cars in trains going around in circles?"

-"dunno... why do you like watching 22 men kicking a ball for 90 minutes?"

 

-"did you hear that they proposed a new rule for 2014 about ... ?"

-"did you know that I read that like a month ago? when will you learn that you practically can't break any news to me before I read them?  "

 

 

also, I've got a roomie who doesn't follow f1, but sometimes likes to listen to a lecture from me. last 2 times we talked about f1, topics were powertrains, road relevance, team budgets etc, and the other time championship deciding crashes by the main rivals (with videos), stories and anecdotes behind those cases.

[Exb]

Family: "So you still watch a lot of car racing?"
Andrew: "Yeah, F1 and IndyCar mostly, but a few others like-"
Family: "Why? You just sit there watching them go around in circles for hours? I don't know how you like that stuff"
Andrew: "I don't know how I've made it 22 years without killing all of you".

Ha, sounds like my family, they all think I'm crazy and the fact I'm going to Jerez for the test in Jan has them utterly baffled, "but its not even a race - Why would you do that" I just try to avoid mentioning anything F1 related as I know it will spark another round of them voicing their opinions of how dull it is and I've heard it all before many times.

A few guys at work know a bit and will have a bit of a chat about the latest GP but most prefer football.
As for my friends, I doubt any of them could even name 1 driver to be honest. (Maybe I need new friends)

[Kingshark]

My mom kind of knows a thing or two about F1. Her brothers (my uncles) used to be huge fans of F1 back in the 80's, so she knows the names of a few vintage drivers - eg. Senna, Piquet, Rosberg.

 

My sister occasionally watches though she doesn't care about it the same way I do. She lost interest in 2013 midway the season.

 

My dad knows nothing about F1 and could not care less.

[Watkins74]

I find there to be more discussion among long-time fans as to whether F1 is worth watching anymore. When people who have been fans for years start to say they are skipping Qualifying and Races it gives you pause. I think it goes well beyond the "Vettel effect". It's like being in love for a long time and then feeling like you are doing things just because it used to be fun. Last season for the first time in years (hell decades) I skipped a couple of races just because I didn't feel like watching. Talking to my fellow fans it seems like I have a lot of company in feeling this way. To be an F1 fan in the USA means you need to invest in getting up really early or staying up late to see the show. I admit that I don't have much interest in taping sports, either I watch it live or not at all.

 

I don't claim to have the answers but I fear my love for F1 is waning.  I will see if the new rule package gets my heart beating as strong again. Perhaps it's me that's changing and the sport is as exciting as ever. Who knows.

Edited by Watkins74, 28 December 2013 - 23:32.

[f1engineer]

the main ones i get are 'so do you meet all of the drivers/celebrities?' or 'are you going to win the next race?'

[sennafan24]

Recently I get questions like

 

"Is Vettel better than Schumacher" or "How good is Hamilton"

 

My Facebook usually has a cover photo of either Senna or Lewis, so pretty much everyone who knows me knows I am a big fan. I also wear my Ferrari, Lotus and Mercedes shirts in public. A friend asked if I was a "mechanic" when I turned up in my Lotus team top.

 

I know people who are casual fans, but none as deeply into it as myself,  Most people I know like Senna due to the film that recently came out, but have little interest in F1 outside of that. Same with the Rush film that non-fans have praised to me.

 

I never really get any stick for being a fan. 

[tomisumi]

My dad watch F1 for years and twelve years ago I joined him - thanks daddy!

Mum knows that sunday 2pm is a "sacred" time and sometimes she joins us...but doesn´t follow it at all

 

Friends think that I am crazy and don´t understand how can I watch few cars going around for two hours But I was surprised when friend told me that he has seen Rush movie and he rated it very high

Edited by tomisumi, 29 December 2013 - 01:30.

[klyster]

I get asked "who won the practice?" 

 

My Partner is really uninterested in F1, though she also enjoyed Rush, and doesn't have an issue with my commitment to F1.

 

No one else in my family likes Motorsport to any extent, none of my work colleagues follow F1 but a few like V8 super-cars on a casual basis.

 

I have a few friends who like F1 and Motorsports in general, just a small percentage though.

 

Suites me fine 

[Jovanotti]

The "going around in circles" is a classic for everyone I guess...

Besides that, the thing I have to elaborate the most about actually is that winning the race/most races doesn't automatically mean you're the best driver. Casual fans vastly underestimate the performance differences between different cars in my experience - as the cars look more or less the same to them, they probably assume that they are equally fast.
With that in mind, try to explain to a non-F1 interested German friend that Vettel isn't vastly superior to everyone - good luck with that one.

[chipmcdonald]

I live in the south eastern portion of then United States of 'Murica.

 

"Car racing" basically means one thing to everyone here: NASCAR.

 

Even the import tuner people know of nothing outside of a scant overview of their own drifting scene. 

 

Effectively there is zero awareness of circuit racing in this portion of the U.S., much less Formula One.  Which is utterly ridiculous, given there is an enormous potential audience for it: it's just that nobody knows about it.  At all.

 

Having a race isn't enough.  The opportunity for entertainment here is too great, there are too many other things going on - football, golf, hunting, MMA, whatever.  On the other hand, there is an enormous disenfranchised population of guys that like technology but whose only awareness of car racing is GTA or NASCAR.  

 

 This is dumb on the part of FOM.

 

 In a place that already supports NASCAR all by itself, a quasi-non-existent open wheel formula in IRL, the "micro" series of sprint cars, et al...  One would think the management of the "largest" racing series on the planet would be salivating to take over a portion of that.  That they're not shows complete incompetence on their part - no effort has been made at all.

 

So no - I get zero questions about Formula One.  Some people I know think it's some sort of "NASCAR deal".  Or maybe dirt track cars, something they've seen hauled around on a truck maybe.  I would suggest that the old guarde in F1 are still thinking along the lines of "Formula One used to be popular in the states (circa early 70's).  The problem there is... it's now the 21st century, "most people" maybe weren't even alive then.

 

 I wish I got questions.  Sometimes someone will ask me about something salacious they heard about NASCAR in the news, or an IRL crash; which is telling, again, that is what Most People here think *any kind of car racing* is. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bourbon]

People at work know I am a huge F1 fan and RAI/VET fan so they have apparently begun paying closer attention to the ESPN race reports because when I arrive it is always congrats and/or commiseration depending. 

 

They also get some kind of thrill telling me about unique facts concerning F1 that I may not have heard - generally these facts occurred 2 to 3 weeks previous.  And occasionally they confuse other series with F1 and want to discuss those.  Outside of work, sports fans have heard of Vettel due to his repeat wins and some recall Raikkonen because he got a lot of press back in 2007 due to his salary.

[InSearchOfThe]

Both my family and friends think I'm crazy for getting up in the middle of the night and wasting my sundays.

 

Like everything else in life, I really don't give a **** what other people think.I know what I like, and I like alotta things others don't!(Buckethead and F1 top the list)

[Clatter]

The sort of questions I get asked are "What's the DRS", "What is KERS". In general they are unimpressed and uninterested. For the casual viewer they add nothing. Going to be fun trying to get them to understand the new engine regs.

[SealTheDiffuser]

My dad always asked who won on saturday, I always answered I don't know it was only qualy, he then said ok and I had to tell him the first 3 of the grid, and after a millisecond he forgot it already, he is so interested in F1 that on a rare occasion when we watched a race together he fell asleep, It was the last race of 2008!

 

my mother is more interested, she is a bit of ALO fan.

 

My friends think there is something wrong with me, but I don't care. 

 

My last Girlfriend was jealous of F1, but at least she understood the meaning of purple sector times and accompanied me to testing in spain.

[GoodSister]

I wish my family and friends would ask me questions about F1, even just why I am interested in it. It comes as a surprise to some people because my other interests don't match someone who likes motorsport.

 

I remember being impressed with my mother when I stayed at hers a few years ago and her informing that Vettel had won that day's race, but that is the only time I can recall her acknowledging my interest in F1. My dad follows F1, but not to the extent I do so he just thinks I'm crazy. My friends think I am mad when I say I am not going out because I need to get an early night before the start of a fly-away race but they don't ask any further questions.

 

As for work, I work in an office with three other girls who think that any sport is bad, so I don't discuss it there.

 

I don't care though. I don't get any stick for it, so that makes me happy.

[Jackmancer]

Stupid person in my daily life: "Formula 1 is boring, all they go round is circles!"

Me: "Actually, that's Nascar..."

Stupid person: "Whatever, all the same!"

[chipmcdonald]

So no - I get zero questions about Formula One. 

 

 I wish I got questions.

 

 

 I couldn't help but to think of this post on the 29th.  I did get some questions, and I'm sorry for the circumstance that led to it.

 

Here's to MS' recovery...

[PayasYouRace]

I've been lucky (or perhaps skillful) enough to surround myself with friends and aquantances who are at least casual fans. I very rarely get those sort of non-fan comments like "they only go round in circles". I've grown up watching F1 with my dad, and sometimes my mum and sister watch too. My grandfather will always ask me if there's anything new in F1 news, usually about the silly season.

 

 

My last Girlfriend was jealous of F1, but at least she understood the meaning of purple sector times and accompanied me to testing in spain.

 

Sounds like a quality girlfriend.

 

Ha, sounds like my family, they all think I'm crazy and the fact I'm going to Jerez for the test in Jan has them utterly baffled, "but its not even a race - Why would you do that" I just try to avoid mentioning anything F1 related as I know it will spark another round of them voicing their opinions of how dull it is and I've heard it all before many times.

A few guys at work know a bit and will have a bit of a chat about the latest GP but most prefer football.
As for my friends, I doubt any of them could even name 1 driver to be honest. (Maybe I need new friends)

 

Which day(s) are you going? In 2012 I went with my dad and one of his old friends and his son. Last year we took one of my dad's colleages, so there's been peaple to enjoy the test with.

[tifosiMac]

I find there to be more discussion among long-time fans as to whether F1 is worth watching anymore. When people who have been fans for years start to say they are skipping Qualifying and Races it gives you pause. I think it goes well beyond the "Vettel effect". It's like being in love for a long time and then feeling like you are doing things just because it used to be fun. Last season for the first time in years (hell decades) I skipped a couple of races just because I didn't feel like watching. Talking to my fellow fans it seems like I have a lot of company in feeling this way. To be an F1 fan in the USA means you need to invest in getting up really early or staying up late to see the show. I admit that I don't have much interest in taping sports, either I watch it live or not at all.

 

I don't claim to have the answers but I fear my love for F1 is waning.  I will see if the new rule package gets my heart beating as strong again. Perhaps it's me that's changing and the sport is as exciting as ever. Who knows.

I know where you are coming from. I must admit I missed two races last season completely in the latter stages. I think for some they are just a little bored, but for many of us its the restrictions of daily life that get in the way too. I've recorded races for quite a few years now and watched a little delayed at my leisure later in the day or evening, but I have found myself on a number of ocassions not bothering to watch after either finding out the result or not having time during the week. It seems pointless to watch a race so long afterwards. The lack of excitement on track has had an effect I think, plus the extra effort it takes to watch a broadcast when not on terrestrial television. I am less inclined to pay for a GP ticket these days as it feels like a rip off when you consider ther sport aren't bothered if we are watching or not. F1 is in a strange era right now where its on the decline, but there are sure to be a fresh set of fans in time that will replace us.

[GoodSister]

 I couldn't help but to think of this post on the 29th.  I did get some questions, and I'm sorry for the circumstance that led to it.

 

Here's to MS' recovery...

 

Same here 

[UPRC]

Family: "So you still watch a lot of car racing?"

Andrew: "Yeah, F1 and IndyCar mostly, but a few others like-"

Family: "Why? You just sit there watching them go around in circles for hours? I don't know how you like that stuff"

Andrew: "I don't know how I've made it 22 years without killing all of you".

 

I only watch F1, and even I get people asking why I like cars that go around in circles for hours. I try to explain how F1 isn't like that, but most people mostly respond with something like, "What's the difference?"

 

A few people I know who don't follow the sport do hear about bigger stories, though. Everyone I know has been asking me about Schumacher's condition lately.

 

Sometimes I wish that I lived in Europe where open wheel circuit racing is more prevalent. I remember when I got a NASCAR shirt as a gift once and I just sighed and shook my head at it after the gifter asked, "That's the one you like, right?"

Edited by UPRC, 07 January 2014 - 11:24.

[alpinesmuggler]

You are lucky that your friends and family can actually be bothered about F1.

 

At work, my guys are mostly into bikes, so it's up to me to keep up with their kit, if not the racing.

 

At home, my wife is a total jinx, so our race weekends go something like this:

 

Saturday:

Wife: Hey, Formula 1 on today?

AlpineSmuggler: Yeah. But it's only Saturday, the race is tomorrow.

W: Cool, let's cuddle on the couch and watch Qualifying then. After all, you've explained the format time and over again and I know most of the teams and drivers since you can't stop talking about that F1.

AS: Yeah, no, it's going to be boring. If it isn't I'll replay it (never happens).

W: OK, let me go watch a movie.

AS: Cheerio.

 

Sunday:

[AS intently staring at the screen as the pre-race brouhaha goes on.]

W: Hey, cool, race time, let us cuddle on the couch.

AS: No. The last time you did that, Lewis got jacked and so did Nico, Romain, and ... pretty much every driver I like. Scoot.

W: OK, let me go watch a movie.

AS: Cheerio.

[AS proceeds to watch yet another frustrating race and then watches his football team lose as well. Silence all-around. Eggshells abound on the floor.]

 

F1, more than other sports, really does bring the superstitious bastard out in me.

[Rinehart]

Possibly Playstation should take it as a compliment, but I was watching the F1 season review last night and one of my kids comes in the room and says "can I play that game with you Daddy"!

[alpinesmuggler]

Possibly Playstation should take it as a compliment, but I was watching the F1 season review last night and one of my kids comes in the room and says "can I play that game with you Daddy"!

Aww, total bonding moment.

[grandmastashi]

I'm quite lucky to be honest. My Dad introduced me to F1 back in 1992 and I've never really looked back. Whilst growing up my mum only had a passing interest, dad always encouraged me and we still go to the British GP most years. My girlfriend has made a fantastic effort since we got together in '09 to get interested, and whilst she can't sit through an entire race without drifting to sleep, knows what's going on and can talk pretty knowledgeably about it for a casual fan.

 

As for friends, my favourite was from a couple of years ago when a guy I know who always tries to one-up people with knowledge tried to engage me in a conversation about the sport. Things were going ok until he said, 'You know how Lewis Hamilton has been having a bad run lately, well I read that he was working on his car in his garage, went to his workbench and found a part that fixed the problems he was having. He fitted it and has been going much better now." 

 

I just sort of nodded and smiled, before saying "Funny, I always thought he had a team of mechanics and engineers for that." 

[FullThrottleF1]

lol, my experiences are much like above.

 

I remember telling a friend I liked F1 to which she said "Whenever I want to go to sleep I put F1 on"

[prty]

After speaking during the years with people from all over the world, let's say I have a really hard time believing the audience figures that are reported for F1.

[Richard T]

I always want to kill the people asking "how fast do they go?"... It's such a subjective and stupid question!

What do you mean? Around a lap in Monaco or with no downforce on an endless straight.

I guess that's what makes F1 a little geeky to some...

[byrkus]

OK, something a bit different here.

 

In 2011, 24 hours of Le Mans race ran on same weekend as Canadian GP (which got halted for two hours). Later that night I mentioned to a casual F1 fan, that I watched the Le Mans race, and that I probably saw about half of it live on TV.

 

His question: "How can you possibly watch 12 hours of racing??"

My counter-question: "How can you watch two hours of NOTHING?"

 

[chunder27]

A lot of people know I like motorsport in general not juts F1

 

And most of them are knowledgeable, know enough. Dont ask stupid questions

 

And I wouod also be asking how anyone on earth can watch any sport for 12 hours!

 

But, a lot of people watch it passing, but a lot more watch utter tripe, and that is the issue, as a fan you tune in coz you want to, your casual viewing or at least mine as catching up with other series, maybe watching some history on youtube.

 

Their casual is BB, Celebrity garbage, cooking, houses.

 It is the difference between a fan and a person who just sails though at Silverstone time as they do with Wimbledon, the world Cup, Olympics, Cup- final 6 nations etc etc

[sopa]

I remember years ago my dad claimed that all those F1 drivers should actually go and do something useful for the society in useful jobs.

[byrkus]

And I wouod also be asking how anyone on earth can watch any sport for 12 hours!

 

 

Well, for me personally, no matter how big F1 is, Le Mans is still the greatest race around. And when Eurosport shows the entire race LIVE (together with Eurosport 2) - well, I guess I'll catch it as much as I can.

 

But that's just me.

[Richard T]

 

And I wouod also be asking how anyone on earth can watch any sport for 12 hours!

 

 

Well, for me personally, no matter how big F1 is, Le Mans is still the greatest race around. And when Eurosport shows the entire race LIVE (together with Eurosport 2) - well, I guess I'll catch it as much as I can.

 

But that's just me.

 

 

 

F1 is the greatest every-other week sport and i love it though heart and bones, but Le Mans is the greatest and most awesome annual EVENT! 

 

Although most of my friends dont bother watching it because of the reason mentioned above 

Edited by Richard T, 07 January 2014 - 19:01.

[Andrew Hope]

I always want to kill the people asking "how fast do they go?"... It's such a subjective and stupid question!

What do you mean? Around a lap in Monaco or with no downforce on an endless straight.

I guess that's what makes F1 a little geeky to some...

 

This question gets to me as well. It's like, well I could tell you how fast they go, but it won't mean anything to you. "They go 200 miles an hour". I might as well be answering in Russian for all the sense it makes to non-racing people. Even more amusing is when someone who knows you watched a race asks you who won and you know they won't know any name you tell them, so you just try to pick a name to say that doesn't sound funny enough that the other person will make a joke about it and you both get five seconds closer to the day you die having accomplished nothing.

 

What gets me the most though is the way people who don't understand racing talk about it like it's something anyone could do. Everyone knows a guy who coulda shoulda woulda been a pro something player if he'd just tried hard enough (usually the brother of the other guy everyone knows, the guy who lives like a pauper but apparently has millions of dollars worth of mysterious "collectibles" in his basement or attic he for some reason won't sell), and everyone around you becomes that expert, especially when you're talking about NASCAR, but with all racing. I get nervous just putting my beginner's driving license in my pocket and walking out the front door, so God knows how thoroughly I'd piss myself driving 200mph in a cage full of gasoline with 42 other lunatics for four hours. "Driving for hours in a circle, anyone can do that". Well yeah I guess anyone could do that, in the sense that if you do something for your entire life you typically become decent at it. Anyone could moonwalk from New York to Chicago if they'd been practicing for it their entire life, but you couldn't just get off the couch after 20 years of pounding frozen pizzas and greasy chips into your gut, put on a white glove and do it just as good as someone who trained their whole life. Nor could you jump in through the window Dukes of Hazzard-style and blast down the street at 200mph without burning down half the neighbourhood if you've never done it before.

 

My favorite angle non-racing fans take is the idea that racing is somehow stupid and pointless. They're correct mainly, because it's a sport, and therefore both of those things. Sports are an avenue to release the aggression we'd otherwise be using to kill each other, so there is a small point to them, but from a fan's perspective they are quite stupid and pointless, it's just that they're a fun stupid and pointless. It just amuses me how many people think car racing is exceptionally stupid, like it's somehow uniquely useless. You'll get a guy who will watch a bunch of millionaires throwing a football around all day, then some jerks on skates smacking a puck at each other all night, and then on Monday morning be drooling in front of the TV watching golf because it's the only thing on TV that they have a scoreboard for, and then the same guy will spend all Thanksgiving squawking about how dumb car racing is. It's a hard argument to defend because all sports are ultimately meaningless. There are some breeds of people who can't just say they like one thing without ******* on something else. "**** baseball, I watch football". Just watch it, then. No matter who wins what, the Earth is still floating around the sun and will be indefinitely unless Vettel wins the next 14 titles and Red Bull make enough money to expand on their space man routine and replace the moon with a giant Red Bull can.

 

I love those arguments from non-racing folks so much. "NFL is the toughest sport, those guys are like warriors the way they risk their safety". Yeah, they are tough. But I will buy that they are the most willing to risk their safety in the name of adrenaline the moment I see Tom Brady burst into flames coming out of turn 3.

Edited by Andrew Hope, 08 January 2014 - 17:42.

[Briz]

I don't get any questions, no one cares .

 

What impresses uninformed people are usually the fast pit stops (what happened?!?) or if there is a big crash. Nothing else.

[Exb]

Which day(s) are you going? In 2012 I went with my dad and one of his old friends and his son. Last year we took one of my dad's colleages, so there's been peaple to enjoy the test with.

Going to Jerez on Thursday and Friday.


My Mum shocked me at the weekend, I went round to visit her (to be a good daughter) and she had saved me a page of a paper she had been reading which had an advert for a trip to Monza for the grand prix, it was only for race day though and I would want to go for all 3 days if I was going to Monza but its the thought that counts, I was most impressed she had actually acknowledged the fact I am interested in F1!

[PayasYouRace]

Going to Jerez on Thursday and Friday.


My Mum shocked me at the weekend, I went round to visit her (to be a good daughter) and she had saved me a page of a paper she had been reading which had an advert for a trip to Monza for the grand prix, it was only for race day though and I would want to go for all 3 days if I was going to Monza but its the thought that counts, I was most impressed she had actually acknowledged the fact I am interested in F1!

 

I'm most probably going on Friday.

 

That's nice of her.

[Blinkandimgone]

My missus not a great fan of F1 but does ask a lot of questions and is getting more interested in the sport she knows most of the drivers, And asks things like why use tyre blankets? why do they weave around on the parade lap? things like that, She knows different races have different time zones so she will ask what time the race is? and that she will try to work with me around the grand prix weekend so that I can watch it she's good like that.

[MP422]

None, I live in the US.

[warp]

For startes, I check daily Autosport forums, and a few others... so, it's kinda part of my life.

 

I started watching F1 by myself back in 1989 or so, because I still remember watching Mansell to overtake on the outside of the banking curve of Mexico City. My dad was a football and boxing guy, so he knew a few names (Ferrari, McLaren, Senna, etc.) but mostly whatever was on the news on Mexican TV or Sport papers.

 

My wife has watched a few races with me and could name a few names on the grid, past and present. She actually understands more of F1 (and cycling) than the average Joe. She sould name a few tracks also and I think it's largely because of me and since my kid is a small petrol head, I think she has no choice but tag along. My kid... now, he can tell you most names on the grid, most if not all the teams, identify drivers by their helmets, name a few tracks, he likes WRC, NASCAR, Drag racing and anything with 4 wheels. Small petrol head. He is not mechanically inclined, though but that is food for another topic.

 

As for the average people around me... Not many questions if any. Mainly if anything makes the news. Most questions about F1 that people makes to me are regarding Checo Perez and the "what's the name of the other Mexican guy, Maldonado?" 

 

The very few times I have tried to enlighten someone I usually use the analogy of "it's the closer you'll get to pilot a fighter jet, only stuck to the ground". Most people think you just need to be incredibly talented to drive an F1 car, but they guess if you put Cristiano Ronaldo could do that with some sort of training 

 

Most people don't care really about the cars or technical aspects. It's more about the names.

[Jovanotti]

Another classic is the COMPLETE underestimation of the physical challenges - it's only turning a wheel after all.

(I try to avoid pictures of Montoya when arguing about fitness levels in motorsports)

Edited by Jovanotti, 08 January 2014 - 06:16.

[tifosiMac]

Another classic is the COMPLETE underestimation of the physical challenges - it's only turning a wheel after all.

(I try to avoid pictures of Montoya when arguing about fitness levels in motorsports)

That is very true and one I have argued about for many years. Having said that, the level of physical challenge is far lesser than say 20 years ago. When Schumacher came back in 2010 one of the things he said was that his age wasn't so important because the cars were only a fifth of the effort to drive in comparison to when he started in 1991. They are still demanding pieces of machinery to drive however and people underestimate what it takes.

[MP422]

That is very true and one I have argued about for many years. Having said that, the level of physical challenge is far lesser than say 20 years ago. When Schumacher came back in 2010 one of the things he said was that his age wasn't so important because the cars were only a fifth of the effort to drive in comparison to when he started in 1991. They are still demanding pieces of machinery to drive however and people underestimate what it takes.

 

 

You would say something like that though if you were a bit long in the tooth. Sounds like a defensive comment from Schumacher. I think they are still incredibly demanding machines with all the buttons, switches, and G's.

[KirilVarbanov]

Funny thread. 

 

I get most of the questions in the office, but I do get some stop-and-go questions on the streets and other public places, but I don't mind. 

 

The most annoying thing is when I appear into a group of people, talking about something. When they want to switch the subject, they keep obliged to ask me about F1. Dears, I have other talents and things to talk about, please  

Bottom line: F1 is like mafia. You cannot leave it just like that. Best guess would be persistent virus