Lewis Hamilton is the undisputed GOAT.
Hamilton has had one of the most impressive careers of all time. His rookie season alone is evidence of his skill as he was only one point away from winning the Worlds Drivers championship, going on to win it in his second year in Formula 1. He then won 6 more championships with Mercedes. Just because he is having one bad season doesn’t erase his impact and dominance for almost a decade. Lewis Hamilton is bigger than Formula 1, whether you like it or not.
Ferrari is unreliable and don’t deserve loyalty.
Charles Leclerc and many f1 fans have dedicated their lives to Ferrari and I simply cannot wrap my head around it because Ferrari has done nothing BUT disappoint. A win here and there wasn’t promised. Fans were promised that Ferrari will win all the time.
These are the most impressive group of Rookies ever.
The 2025 rookies have impressed everyone for the entire year. Even when half of them were doubted continuously by the media, they have proved everyone wrong by scoring high in midfield cars (Apart from Kimi Antonelli who drives for Mercedes).
Alonso isn’t as impressive as people make him seem to be.
This might seem very crude but in my opinion, Fernando Alonso was good for 2 years and has just declined from then on. He hasn’t been on the podium since 2023 and hasn’t won a race since 2013. I feel like he is the definition of not hanging it up when the sport leaves you.
Sponsor VS Nepotism
Being sponsored doesn’t mean they aren’t a good driver. There is a difference between being sponsored by a company that wants to see that driver in Formula one, to having your billionaire father buy you a whole Formula One team just so you can continuously be on the grid. I’m not saying Stroll doesn’t have talent, I’m just talking about the unfair nature of his position on the grid, as it reduces the opportunity for other upcoming drivers.
Alpine’s management is worse than Red Bull.
Most people hate the way Redbull manage their drivers and team, which is very valid and understandable, but in my opinion, Alpine is much worse and almost psychological in the way they degrade their drivers. They ridicule their drivers (especially the ‘second driver’ through videos of them slamming chairs and shaking their heads in despair. Yes, they have every right to be disappointed but instead of just blaming the drivers, they should start looking inward and fix their car.
Parasocial Fans and the damage of it.
I have seen and watched fans defend their favourite drivers through thick and thin and it is fine if they are defending them from something that isn’t true. But when a driver does something that isn’t right, I think there should be a space where you are allowed to criticise them despite them being your favourite driver.
VCARB has changed how F1 teams market their drivers.
By catering to Gen Z with their TikTok trends and overall fun videos, VCARB have gained many fans this year simply because of the light-hearted nature of their social media accounts. Both their drivers, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, are presented to be fun drivers who get the job done at the end of the weekend, not pushing their drivers to do awkward and quite frankly, embarrassing videos during Media day. I love VCARB’s social media team so much. They genuinely have a way to bring your mood up after a bad race week.
2 responses to “My F1 opinions/Hot takes”
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Overall great blog post with great points! Particularly the point about parasocial fans was interesting. I’ve been in other fandoms (bands, youtubers, etc) that have very parasocial fans. But the F1 fandom in my experience seems particularly unhinged, but also very conservative (and often racist, misogynistic!!! etc). I think because of this people let their drivers get away with almost anything, which I wasn’t as used to in other fandoms. Also, slight side tangent, I think wag culture is idolized in such a strange and parasocial way. It almost makes me think of trad wife tiktokers. And I’m not saying that to diminish their work, but rather the way fans view them. It’s like they view wags as these perfect, clean girl, soft, conservative, women who are attached to the driver. Not as individuals. Whereas in reality most of the wags are standing on their own feet without the driver. They’re models, students, actors, etc but people kind of turn them into self insert fanfiction.. Because f1 drivers and wags are very rich and untouchable, much more than say, youtubers, fans reallyyyy put them on a pedestal and ignore any mistakes they make. They defend them over anything when they already hold so much power… But also I think that lends into the fact that they are so rich, so conservative, so white, so quiet against social issues, that their fans refuse to see their wrongs… I wish more drivers stood for things outside of themselves, and I wish more fans expected that of them. Anyways I’m just rambling. None of this was well organized or planned out, nor complete thoughts. This was all just a tangent.
Though there was one thing I disagreed with, and that was your point on Alonso. While I understand why people view Alonso as overhyped, he hasn’t won in over a decade. But when you say “I feel like he is the definition of not hanging it up when the sport leaves you” I think you misunderstand the reason he’s driving, or maybe you just value different things. He knows he isn’t going to be winning for the rest of his career, he’s said that. He joined AM to help develop a new team, saying that he’s here because he enjoys driving and he hopes that by being one of the first in AM, he’s setting up future drivers at a chance of winning with the team. So while he isn’t winning, I don’t think the sport got away from him, I think he’s just enjoying it from a different perspective.
Anyways, overall loved the blog!!! Super interesting points and I would love to see you expand on them more in the future if thats something you wish to do!! :)))
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i completely agree with you about the wag culture argument!! I have always felt that the media uses their girlfriends/wives as an identity instead of a human with a job like the rest. Also, I remember when Isack was having girlfriend allegations, ‘fans’ immediately jumped to make a fanpage of the poor woman even though nothing was confirmed. They are so quick to jump to conclusions about things like this and its quite embarassing. I also agree with what you said about defending drivers, especially those who haven’t stated their opinions clearly or at all.
With the Alonso thing, I was a bit harsh with my wording and I can totally see your side of the argument. I love seeing different opinions about drivers so THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE COMMENT!!!!
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