The sport I love has died...

From where I sit it looks like the sport that I once loved has been destroyed by the very man employed to fix it many, many years ago. (Bernie)

I have sat and watched as the very soul of F1 has been weighed up and sold to the highest bidder no matter the morales and ethics of the persons, countries or organisations.

The classic tracks that gave F1 its prestige have slowly been removed from the every increasing racing calendar and instead the powers that be are gifting them to the highest bidder regardless of if the people or places are allegedly in breech of human rights, fighting in controversial covert wars or to places that couldn't give a damn about a sport and instead use it as a corporate meeting place as the grandstands are empty. An F1 without Monza is not F1.

The real fans who have followed this sport for many decades have been betrayed by the greed of this corruption machine. The teams and the drivers seem to put this barrier out there that feels like it distances you from them. There is an attempt to connect with social media but it's not the same as an invitational event. Cars driving up and down the street, testing sessions with open pit lanes, race factories with non corporation tours...

If you have a spare £600 and don't mind sitting on a patch of grass you can bring a family of 4 and spend a Sunday afternoon watching the British GP. By the way, bring your own seat. Bring a picnic as well as food for the day will probably be another £100. It's a rubbish feeling walking around this great place and feeling like a giant wallet as everybody wants your money. At no point on a Sunday do you feel like a fan at that event. It sickens me that Silverstone has had to resort to this as it tries desperately to bring the F1 circus to its home country. This is what it has been left with since renegotiating it's rights. It will get worse as year on year it gets more expensive and we could eventually have another German GP issue.

Talking of which, no German GP? This country has the most drivers on the grid and has won the most WDC in the past 15 years. This is a disgrace.

If you want to watch every race on TV then that'll cost £600 for a years subscription. Thanks very much Sky TV.

Let's put this into context...

For £100 you can take a family of four to the Touring Cars at Silverstone and wonder up the pit lane, meet the drivers, take some great pictures and have a great day. A fantastic day with bangs, scrapes and excitement. Yes the tracks are small and overtaking is limited but the full on contact of this version of motor sport makes the fans feel alive. That electricity, that sense of danger, it all comes flooding back.

F1 used to be a series of innovation, dreams and vision. The cars made in sheds by men half cut on home made cider. The drivers were the on track gladiators of their time. It was literally do or die and the public respected their bravery as they put wheels in places that would not seem possible.

F1 needs to look at itself. From the top of its heirachy and then down towards the racing. Does anybody know who on earth is in charge? Seriously? When it all goes wrong who is the man that comes out and holds up their hands and says "I messed up."

The racing in F1 is terrible. It's like watching an economy drive by a bunch of tight wad students as they try make £10 of fuel last a week. It's just not possible students! And making racing about tyre and fuel conservation is dull as well. Driving on the M6 at 73mph is more enjoyable purely because there are overtaking lanes.

What can the sport do to save itself?

I'm sorry but the element of danger needs to come back in. Faster cars are required. The Malaysian GP winner of this year was lapping 8 seconds a lap slower than 10 years ago. That would of seen him lapped 8 times. What a disgrace. GP2 cars are nearly faster for crying out loud.

Refuelling is needed. We want accidents, fires, thrills and spills in the pitlane. Fuel strategy was great back in the day. Out inner math child was treated trying to work out how much fuel was added to the car. Oh, how I long for the phrase 'splash and dash' to be uttered on TV again.

Tyres made of cheese that over heat in one corner have no place on the roads and have absolutely no place in this great sport. Let's give the drivers grip and some longevity. Let them smash that car round the track for 20 laps flat out.

What's this token engine rubbish? Just let the engine manufactures make the engines. Do I care if the engine lasts 2 or 22 races? No and neither does anybody else. The last time I checked it was racing. Race the cars, break the engine, fix the engine, develop the engine and repeat. This is a showcase of engineering talent, let the engineers make something spectacular.

I season testing has to come back. Unlimited. The big boys can pump their unlimited money into the sport to catch up and level the playing field. The test tracks can be anywhere. They could be outside the factory, Silverstone, Monza, wherever they decide. Again the teams big and small can use these days to connect with the fans by filling the grandstand and opening the pit lane. Perhaps offering the chances to go out on track with drivers or drive older machines. What ever they want.

I don't mind the noise, the DRS, the aggressive styling, car size, different compounds etc. I just want the sport to have a soul again.

Right now it's had a massive power unit failure. Let's use these tokens to change the broken parts and bring this sport back to forefront of Motorsport racing.

I'm sorry for the rant but I needed to write this. Sooooo much frustration at something I so passionate about.

Great post Roberto (though with a name like that, surely the sport you love features a round, spherical object, a pitch and 11 players a side? )

Seriously though, I can only agree with most of your points.

From a practical and sustainability point of view, F1 does need to curb costs. In real terms, the costs of designing and building cars, running teams, shipping equipment all over the world has become astronomical.

I am fully behind F1 reducing costs wherever possible and I think limiting the amount of engines and tyres and R&D are all sensible measures.

Don't forget, this is one of the excuses used when the ever increasing costs are passed on to the circuits, which in turn pass them on to the ticket and subscription-paying fans.

However, this could be done without turning F1 into the bore-fest it currently is...see my thread entitled "My 6-Point Plan to make F1 Exciting Again".

*shameless plug*

I believe F1 could be restored to something like its former glory with some fairly sensible and easy to implement measures.

The sad facts are though that the top 5 teams are only interested in looking out for themselves and Bernie is only interested in squeezing every penny he can out of the sport.

Until people start acknowledging this "herd of elephants in the room", any other measures introuduced, such as the planned rule changes for 2017 are little more than sticking plasters, holding a broken arm together.

Unless some pretty fundamental changes are made to the way the sport is run, the on-track spectacle isn't going to improve much.