I've been an F1 fan since high school. I somehow got my hands on an F1 magazine when I was about 16, read an interview with the great Gilles Villeneuve, and was hooked from then on.
F1 barely registers on the US motorsports consciousness, but it's ENORMOUS just about everywhere else in the world. Part of the problem in the US is that there's about zero name recognition, driver-wise, and about the same brand recognition for the sponsors. All the drivers are tiny little Frenchies or Finns, and what's an ELF or Magneti Marelli?
Another part of the problem in the US market, and an increasing one everywhere else, is that there isn't all that much competition in F1. One or two teams tend to dominate the sport for an entire season or string of seasons. For the past 5 years, no one has been able to compete with Ferrari. This past year, McLaren and Renault won 18 of 19 races.
This lack of competition is partly team dominance, but it's also part car construction. The aerodynamics of F1 cars are such that the lead car has the advantage, and the following car has to be much superior to be able to pass. Compare this to NASCAR, where the following cars actually get a boost from "drafting" and are thus able to pass much more easily, and you see a big difference in the excitement level of the sports.
F1 is looking to change all that by introducing the split rear wing. This article from Wired explains the potential problems that will have to be overcome, not the least of which is less real estate to sell to sponsors. Regardless, I hope FIA mandates this, and returns some competition to the greatest motor racing series on earth.
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