F1 Is Boring Now

I haven't watched an F1 race in full since Silverstone. It's a damning indictment for me, because I love the sport. It's not because McLaren are doing badly, it's not because the racing itself isn't incident-packed enough. It's because if Sebastian Vettel races, he wins.

I don't blame him or Red Bull, he's a great driver and Adrian Newey has designed yet another great car. I don't even blame the other teams for not being competitive enough or the tyres for being poor (even though they are). I can't even blame Sky, who have ruined Formula One for every UK-based viewer.

It's just the way of the sport. I still found the years when Michael Schumacher dominated interesting. It might be because there were still a few title challengers during those years, even though no serious contender materialised.

I actually blame Timo Glock. An odd choice of person to put the blame on but hear me out. If he hadn't equipped his Toyota with slick (or non-wet in those days) tyres towards the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2008, Felipe Massa would have won the World Championship and it would have been just as exciting as every other F1 Championship. Except he started the last lap on those tyres. The rain had fallen for the previous three laps and created a river running downhill at the final corner.

As Glock made his way around the lap, the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton, on intermediate tyres, closed in but was unable to pounce due to the Toyota's superior grip on the dry straights. Hamilton needed to come fifth or higher to secure the World Championship. He was running in sixth. Massa crossed the line in first place and the Ferrari garage went mental in celebration. Then all eyes watched the screen in total disbelief as, on the last corner of the last race of the season, Timo Glock's Toyota loses grip on the wet surface and Lewis Hamilton's McLaren passes it to move into fifth position and take the Championship away from the Prancing Horse.

I can think of only two moments that can even compare on a sporting scale - Liverpool's Champions League triumph of 2005 and England's Rugby World Cup win in 2003. Both extremely nail-biting and exciting for both fans and neutrals. Many can point fingers at last year's Ryder Cup triumph but Golf is inherently boring so it has been removed. Special mention though.

As a result, everything pales in comparison. Many a football match has come and gone since 2005 and even more rugby games since 2003 but there haven't been enough F1 races. The 2004 Six Nations was disappointing to watch and I struggled to really get into the 2005-06 Champions League, despite the fact that Arsenal didn't concede a goal for over 1,000 minutes of football and contributed to one of the most highly anticipated finals in years.

I really hope next season is exciting, it should be. Raikonnen moving back to Ferrari gives them one of the most interesting lineups on the grid. The volatile Alonso racing alongside the man they call 'The Iceman.' Can't wait.