Is F1 a sport? Grosjean’s comparison to a ping-pong racket
F1 is the sport that we love. But is it really a sport?
Formula 1 is nowadays one of the most controversial and beloved sports. It has several fans, it costs a giant amount of money and it is famous because of its capacity to test the limit in the automotive world by inventing new solutions.
The other side of the moon is experimenting a predictable sport, which is losing even more fans because of the continuous lead of one and only team. Another negative side is that the rules are too strict, so cars are all equals- except Mercedes.
The Haas driver Romain Grosjean recently talked about the sport he loves- a sport that he does not consider as such.
“Formula 1 as a sport? I don’t think so” – the Frenchman said in an interview.
Don't miss your chance! Join me at the #FrenchGP @GPFranceF1
— Romain Grosjean (@RGrosjean) January 14, 2020
👉 https://t.co/9T094X8uuA pic.twitter.com/1M5bX3jYn5
The reason why he looks at F1 in this way is really sad – “A sport is supposed to be fair and Formula 1 is not.”
“Would you call tennis a sport if they did not use the same rackets? Driving a Formula 1 car is very physical. It is hard, and demanding, it requires a lot of efforts from everyone, but at the end of the day it is like asking Roger Federer to go and play to Roland Garros with a ping-pong racket. He wouldn’t have a chance.”
Grosjean motivates his disenchanted view by talking about Daniel Ricciardo’s hard situation – “I mean, just look at Daniel Ricciardo. If you only look at his career at Renault, you would think he is not a great driver, he hasn’t scored a podium. But he won several races and conquered several podiums with Red Bull. It only depends on what you got between your hands”.
The Frenchman looks at himself ending his F1 career without scoring a single podium and he is willing to retire quite quickly. It is a matter of fact that F1 is too strict on regulations and it is not as entertaining as it was some time ago. But calling it a non-sport when there are people who are risking their life? We don’t think so.
