FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[CigarGuy]

do you stick with the team or follow the driver? Guess it depends but what about
you Vettel/Red Bull supporters.
I guess I ask this as I just kinda picked Alonso/Ferrari, having no history with anything and
had to pick someone besides Mercedes.
Oh, by the way, I'M a free agent too, open to the highest bidder.......

[CookinFlat6]

Stick with Alonso and therefore McLaren, and WHEN (not if) Alonso falls out big time with the team and is thrown out, you can the decide to stay with the team or go with Alonso. Be advised though following drivers like Alonso will mean loving a team then hating them 2 or 3 times every decade.
Also its clear that Alonso has shot his final bolt as far as teams that will have him goes, this time around he was rejected by 6 teams, next time he will retire

best bet is to pick the driver who is the best of his generation, then you should find yourself automatically following the best teams in F1 history

Failing that, if you wanted to follow a team known to even those that know nothing about F1 - say the entire younger genration - and you were thinking ahead of maybe buying them merchandise when attending a race - then there is only 1 choice

[racechick]

Cigar man when I first started really following F1 had i chosen a team it may well have been Ferrari, all the romance charisma, blood red passion ets etc. But I found myself drawn to drivers, and it's drivers I stick with. And now if I did chose to stick with a team it wouldn't be Ferrari for a multitude of reasons. But its drivers that get under my skin for one reason or another and I follow them if they change teams. My teams have been Williams, Jordan, McLaren and Mercedes as I've followed my chosen drivers. I'm loving supporting Mercedes, I like how they go about business, I like how they let their drivers race and how they treat them equally and fairly all important things to me. A great team with a passionate racing history that goes back further than Ferrari But if Lewis left I would follow him wherever he went in a heartbeat.

So Cigar man, do you have a driver tugging at your heartstrings? One who occasionally makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up by the audacity of his moves, by what he can make a car do? One who renders you a gibbering wreck at crucial times of the season? Anyone doing that for you yet? If not can I put in a starting offer that you come on board the Hamilton train for a roller coaster ride of emotion and excitement that you won't regret! I'll walk you through the minefield that is being a Lewis fan
If you decline and are already spoken for by one Mr. Alonso, then you've made a good choice.

[Ferrari man 009]

My favourite colour growing up was red, so of course when I was 4 and didnt know any better I wanted the red car to win. Only when I grew up did I realise it was Ferrari

The only driver I have really ever supported was Schumacher, and that was mainly because he was always in the Ferrari when I was growing up. When he retired I decided I would continue to support whoever drove for Ferrari, so I went for the team but I respect those who prefer to support a driver.

[What's Burning?]

I actually don't buy the support of a team explanation. I know a lot of people feel that way, but it's just not how I"m built from a processing standpoint. I can understand that explanation if someone was to say I'm a fan of the sport as a whole. But in the end, a team is just a team. We're not fanatical about a certain engineer or a TP or somethign like that in other sports.

There are people that follow a team in Football let's say. But what if an entire football team was traded away and went to play for another team. The exact same staff. Would you then not support them? It's would be puzzling if the answer was no. In F1 it's doubly so because it's the drivers that are the stars of the show. A team puts a car on the grid I know and the drivers don't win it on their own.

I respect teams for the way they do business or what they represent or perhaps in the case of Ferrari someone can have respect for the legacy or the past achievements but in your example CG Alonso leaves. If you really were a fan of him as a drive, it's not like he's losing his skill because he's now moving to McLaren. It's the same guy. Likewise if we only cheered for the teams then why not have automated cars driving themselves around a track? If you like Ferrari then you'd have to say that you'd prefer two Alonsos driving for the team instead of two Kimis, because that would have netted them a better result, and from that you can project that clearly a driver makes a distinct difference for to a team.

Everyone is built differently, but I'm glad I know what I like, and I've never had a problem knowing what I liked and have my own reasons for it. In then end as long as you're happy and enjoy the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat for whomever or whatever you support, then it's all good.

[myownalias]

Personally, I am a driver supporter, currently Jenson Button and Daniel Ricciardo, but I do like Williams as a team, they are racers with no agenda other than to go racing!

[CookinFlat6]

Traditionally and statistically something like 80 - 90 percent follow drivers and not teams - racing is about the sportsmen - the gladiators the drivers - always has been always will be

In the old days a driver would build his own car, then he needed help but not many turned round to support the help instead

In fact it was Enzo Ferrari who noticed that Alfa Romeo had collected a following of mainly Italian fans willing to travel to the various european GPS while he was an alfa engine customer. When Enzo became an engine maker in his own right and Alfa started to wane, Enzo hijacked the fans and created the first racing brand for the public. This was ofcourse to make a profit from those members of the public attracted to racing but couldnt afford to travel to watch races. Instead they could be sold a piece of the glamour - a road version of a Gp car, and so ferrari the myth was created. As a gimmick compared to the real winning teams like Auto union and Mercedes. Of course the Germans got 'distracted' and excluded in the forties and ferrari was suddenly the face of racing for the public with little knowledge

Enzo was not sure exactly what to do with this myth he had created and bumbled about trying to do something with it, from using it as a vehicle to promote Italian nationalism and pride (to be fair Ferrari and Italy came out of the 2nd world war smelling of roses despite having spent most of time on the side of the fascists) never mind it was the German team who payed the price, finally allowed back in the early fifties.

So Ferrari became the pop idol of hard core racing and made a fortune selling the allure of GP racing in expensive road cars. of course because of this myth they were always vunerable, for example When Ford tried to buy them and Enzo had a last minute nationalistic tantrum, Ford simply went out and built their own car and trashed then on track

The WCC is a recent invention, and before that only the WDC mattered, as it still does a lot more to the public.

So Ferrari the myth has always been way ahead of Ferrari the racing team and thats why they uniquely have followers who are encouraged to support the team not the drivers 'Ferrari is bigger than any driver the saying goes' ofcourse it is, if you make your living selling merchandise rather than racing prize money

And so, today this explains why Ferrari are the only team with supporters who dont follow drivers instead and ofcourse Ferrari are the team of choice to the casual F1 observer or to the public or to those more interested in how things look than in how they are made or how fast they go - as their first contact with F1 is highly likely to be Ferrari merchandise

[What's Burning?]

You mean like this?

[CookinFlat6]

The smell of failure no doubt

[sagi58]

... I just kinda picked Alonso/Ferrari, having no history with anything and
had to pick someone besides Mercedes...

Stick with your gut. Regardless of what some people think of Ferrari and supporting teams,
in the end, you should make your own choice. But, since you asked, when in doubt don't change.

[sagi58]

The smell of failure no doubt

I'm starting to believe you were bullied as a child!
Probably by someone wearing red!

[Jabberwocky]

Or maybe a Trekky and got upset everytime someone on the away team did not make it home lol

[What's Burning?]

The smell of failure no doubt

I'm starting to believe you bullied as a child!
Probably by someone wearing red!

It's okay if you bought it for your husband. Probably smells nice. Nothing says fabled F1 legacy more than discount store perfume.

[CigarGuy]

Cigar man when I first started really following F1 had i chosen a team it may well have been Ferrari, all the romance charisma, blood red passion ets etc. But I found myself drawn to drivers, and it's drivers I stick with. And now if I did chose to stick with a team it wouldn't be Ferrari for a multitude of reasons. But its drivers that get under my skin for one reason or another and I follow them if they change teams. My teams have been Williams, Jordan, McLaren and Mercedes as I've followed my chosen drivers. I'm loving supporting Mercedes, I like how they go about business, I like how they let their drivers race and how they treat them equally and fairly all important things to me. A great team with a passionate racing history that goes back further than Ferrari But if Lewis left I would follow him wherever he went in a heartbeat.

So Cigar man, do you have a driver tugging at your heartstrings? One who occasionally makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up by the audacity of his moves, by what he can make a car do? One who renders you a gibbering wreck at crucial times of the season? Anyone doing that for you yet? If not can I put in a starting offer that you come on board the Hamilton train for a roller coaster ride of emotion and excitement that you won't regret! I'll walk you through the minefield that is being a Lewis fan
If you decline and are already spoken for by one Mr. Alonso, then you've made a good choice.

The only ones I remember exclaiming "Whoa!" on, other then the two front runners, are Alonso and Ricciardo. I'm kinda a "counter"
guy, so wouldn't jump on Mercedes while they dominate. Williams seems so unassuming but I haven't warmed to either
of their drivers. I guess I'm leaning McLaren at this point, hoping the new engine and driver can compete with Mercedes next year.
I think I like Lotus, but because I must have had a little Lotus racecar when I was a wee lad? And, they seem like they are going nowhere,
fast.

[The Second Coming]

I've always admired and respected the history and heritage of two teams, Williams and McLaren but without question, I follow the drivers. I was a big JPM fan...followed him from Williams to McLaren...right up until he left for NASCAR, at which point I immediately threw up in my shoes. I followed Lewis from his first day of testing with McLaren all the way through to his current pastures. I'll likely still be following him when he's old and gray, riding around on those 8 horsepower senior citizen three-wheel buggies. If you see him in a grocery store shopping in his buggy and there is a tall man in the next aisle, moving the cans of green peas on the shelf to sneak a peek (creepy, I know ), that'll be me.

Such fun!