F1 Has Blown Up in Recent Years. What’s the Appeal to an Average Driver?

Every driver sometimes daydreams about being behind the wheel of a powerful race car and competing for a trophy in front of adoring fans. While this is certainly not safe to do while in traffic, watching an F1 race provides the perfect opportunity to live out this fantasy. With super-fast cars and flawless drivers, there is plenty to tickle the fancy of a car enthusiast who has a taste for speed and adventure.

With this in mind, it’s not a surprise that ratings for Formula 1 race broadcasts are spiking, as more and more casual fans start following this exciting competition. Let’s try to understand some of the reasons why everyday people are so fascinated by this dazzling display of driving excellence and calculated risk taking in the era when so many alternatives are available.

Racecar Drivers are Easy to Identify With

Unlike sprinters or basketball players, F1 drivers look like average people. They have no visible athletic traits that would instantly separate them from mere mortals and place them into a special category of athletic wonders. Racing is mostly a skill-based sport, and you don’t have to be born with superior genetics to stand a chance. Some of the best drivers are undoubtedly gifted with great peripheral vision and lightning-quick reflexes, but you can’t really see that from afar.

As a result, people watching at home can easily imagine switching places with top F1 stars. The speed and the setting might be different from their everyday experience, but the general principle is the same, right? Drivers tend to understand the nuances of racing better than others, so they can find plenty of details to focus on during a race that may seem uneventful to the untrained eye. They might even spot a mistake that the competitor made – at least in their opinion.

F1 Races Are more Exciting on TV than in Person

There are sports that have to be experienced firsthand to be truly appreciated, but auto racing is not really one of them. The race tracks are very long and those who attend in person can only see one stretch of the road, so they miss a lot of the action. TV viewers have the luxury of seeing the most interesting events of the race thanks to multiple cameras present on the track and dynamic editing in the studio. Watching from home also eliminates the risk of bad weather, which can be a real issue for visitors at the venue.

These days you can play a live broadcast of a Formula 1 race on a flat-screen TV or smartphone, with live updates about lead changes, crashes, and other notable events. This makes onboarding of new fans very easy and inexpensive. Since there is a limited number of F1 races during a season, it’s easier to catch every one and become familiar with the standings. The convenience of following F1 is certainly one of the reasons why the number of fans is growing so rapidly.

Betting on F1 Races Is Widely Available

For many people, a race is more interesting if there is some money on the line. Easy availability of online sports betting (including on F1 and other racing events) contributes to the overall race day experience and gives the fans a chance to test their bold predictions. A good prediction can earn the fan some easy cash, especially if he makes the bet at the right moment and takes advantage of favourable Canada F1 odds offered by some online sportsbooks

As the legal sports betting landscape in North America continues to expand, the range of betting propositions is widening as well. At the same time, bettors have instant access to lots of insider information through Formula 1 blogs and social media accounts of racing reporters, helping them to notice overlooked details and hidden patterns. Many betting sites even accept bets after the race starts, so fans can use their own observations and make smart bets on undervalued drivers. All of this improves fan experience and entices new people to pay attention to Formula 1.

Formula 1 Is As Good As It Has Ever Been

In case you haven’t noticed, this is not your grandfather’s Formula 1. The field of constructors is getting more crowded as innovations are copied almost instantly, resulting in very small differences in performance between cars on the circuit. The quality of drivers is steadily rising too, with lots of young blood coming in to challenge the established names.  Overall, the product is much improved compared to just a decade ago, which naturally translates into increased fan interest.

At the same time, this competition is oozing with tradition and prestige, as its uninterrupted legacy is unmatched in the racing world. Fans who grew up watching Formula 1 are happy to welcome the newcomers and share a sense of history with them. This unique mix of time-tested grandeur and cutting-edge technology and tactics is difficult to resist from the perspective of a fan, especially one who has an interest in car mechanics and driving finesse.