Indycar or F1? Pros and cons of both?

DanicaFreak

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Trying to watch more open wheel. I like Indycar cause they have a couple of Canucks - HInch and Wicky but I like the power of F1.

Can some of you hardcore Openwheelers tellme how to get into one or the other more?

I used to follow F1 alot when Senna was alive.
 
F1 has gotten a lot better, but the tracks are super sterile in my opinion and parity isn’t great yet. I like that in IndyCar and NASCAR there’s probably 4-8 people who realistically win on a yearly basis, meanwhile in F1 we’re pumped that maybe 2 people could win this season
 
I've been a casual fan of both the past 10 years. Indycar has quite literally everything going for it right now. F1 is doing what NASCAR did in the late 2010s- trying to fix issues that had been building the previous decade but no one did anything about. Indycar fields are growing, money is being pumped into the sport, the schedule is always changing with new and exciting venues, and the racing is close and competitive.
 
I've been a casual fan of both the past 10 years. Indycar has quite literally everything going for it right now. F1 is doing what NASCAR did in the late 2010s- trying to fix issues that had been building the previous decade but no one did anything about. Indycar fields are growing, money is being pumped into the sport, the schedule is always changing with new and exciting venues, and the racing is close and competitive.
Agreed. Guys like Rossi and Newgarden have been so important, need those new stars coming in. It's what fueled the NBA's growth, a surge of great young talent to go up against its old pros (Lebron trying to take down Celtics, Spurs fending off newcomers, Durant/Westbrook vs Curry/Thompson, Cavs/Warriors) has led to incredible excitement over the last decade or so. I'd say both IndyCar and NASCAR are there, especially with both Chase Elliott and Josef Newgarden winning championships.
 
I see no reason to pick one over the other but I happen to like Indycar better because there's a better chance of someone different winning on any given weekend.

I watch every race from both series but find myself disappointed in F1 races a lot. Still won't miss any though.
 
What got me hooked on F1 in 1983 was the Sunday morning broadcasts,
they did not interfere with the Nascar and Indycar broadcasts.

Then after attending my first F1 race in Montreal/1995, I have been fully committed
to it ever since. The Montreal experience was just awesome.
 
I watch both.

they both have their pros and cons. Any sports when compared will so is not about whether which is better. If you’re a racing junkie than you can’t go wrong getting more mileage for you buck.

F1 in particular this year will be tight so watch.
 
What got me hooked on F1 in 1983 was the Sunday morning broadcasts,
they did not interfere with the Nascar and Indycar broadcasts.

Then after attending my first F1 race in Montreal/1995, I have been fully committed
to it ever since. The Montreal experience was just awesome.
who was the british guy that did commentary back in the 80s? I loved listening to him
 

OMG a cross over team! Used to love cheering for the yellow helmet in F1!
 
I've never given F1 much of a chance. I'm already spending a sufficient amount of time in front of the tube with three NASCAR series, Indy, and IMSA. I've been told too many times that qualifying is where the real action is; then why watch the races? I haven't memorized who drives for which team / sponsor; I can't tell who is who and thus have trouble following the race.
 
I prefer Indycar push-to-pass over F1 DRS. P2P gives the drivers control over when to use it rather than a specific rule when to use it. F1 is the pinnacle of technology but the racing isn't competitive.
 
I've never given F1 much of a chance. I'm already spending a sufficient amount of time in front of the tube with three NASCAR series, Indy, and IMSA. I've been told too many times that qualifying is where the real action is; then why watch the races? I haven't memorized who drives for which team / sponsor; I can't tell who is who and thus have trouble following the race.
I've given it a chance and it bores me. I'll rank it one notch above curling.
 
F1 is more competitive than it has been for many years. The last few have been a slog, but it's set up well this season with a real rivalry at the front and a close mid-pack. The first two races have been excellent. The next generation of regulation changes should shake things up further starting next year. It's a pretty good time to be getting into (or back into) F1.

IndyCar doesn't compare in terms of prestige (except for the Indy 500), technology, or the quality of the broadcasts (Sky F1 coverage is a high bar for all of motorsports, NBC IndyCar keeps getting worse). However, the series is gaining momentum, has a nice field of drivers, and features cars that are real beasts to wheel around.
 
IndyCar doesn't compare in terms of prestige (except for the Indy 500), technology, or the quality of the broadcasts
None of those matter in whether I find the on-track racing entertaining, esp not prestige. They don't get more prestigious than Monaco, and they don't get more 'follow the leader's either.
 
I watch every F1 and Indycar race and for the most part F1 is way more boring. You never know who's going to win the next race in Indycar.

This is a strecth.

More often than not you know who is going to win an indycar race a good 30-40 minutes in or have a pretty decent idea.

Its fair to say you dont know who might win coming into any given weekend though. But like Gnome said already, the unpredictability this year in F1 is at an all time high. McLaren looks like they can sneak in a win this year.
 
For years, F1 was all Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. You could pretty much assume that on any given weekend he would out-qualify everyone else and win the pole. Once he started on the pole, he would almost always pull in front of the field and would stay there for the rest of the race. I often wouldn't bother to watch the rest of the F1 race. On those rare occasions when Lewis got beaten at the start, someone else could sometimes win. Usually it would be Vettel when he was still at Ferrari or Bottas at Mercedes. I haven't liked F1 for the reason that I was tired of seeing Hamilton win everything in sight.

F1 has started to improve in the past 2-3 years in my opinion however. McClaren is looking stronger and so is Red Bull. Verstappen has been becoming more and more competitive with Hamilton. I also enjoyed watching George Russell drive the 44 Mercedes car last year when Hamilton was out quarantining because of covid. Russell will probably become the next big Mercedes name. After years of boredom and frustration with F1, I am finally starting to become optimistic and enthusiastic about it.

Here is a link to a good recent article about it below and there is a good series about it on Netflix called "Formula 1: Drive To Survive". The Netflix series is getting a little dated by now though.


I've been following Indycar for much much longer than I have F1, since way back before the IRL/CART split (which i thought was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in racing). I have always preferred it to F1 because of my aforementioned comments about lack of competition in F1. There is much more parity in Indycar in my opinion and you are much less likely to see one driver dominate a season. I also like its lineups of drivers, team owners, and tracks. There's no way I would miss any Indycar race while I have quite often in the past been willing to miss F1 races.

I also think that Indycar has the best broadcast team in auto racing with Leigh Diffey, Paul Tracy and Townsend Bell. I really think they do a great job of broadcasting a race. Back when NBC was still covering F1 races, I thought THAT was the best broadcast team in racing (Leigh Diffey, David Hobbs and Steve Machett). I've always especially enjoyed listening to Steve Machett broadcast a race. I don't really care for ESPN's F1 coverage that much although I do like that they don't have commercials.

One thing about BOTH F1 and Indycar is that there is a likelihood that whoever wins the pole in either series is likely to win the race. I think that is much more likely to happen in F1 than in Indycar though. In NASCAR, the pole winner is very much less likely to win the race of course.
 
great answers people!

Thanks!

I want to watch more motor sports and cant watch everything. The Canadian contingent makes Indycar attractive. Although I see Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi are Canucks in F1. Not sure how good they are.
 
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