F1 vs NASCAR: the world vs America

Now I’m going to just get this out there now I don’t feel like this is a fair comparison as on one end you have a totally spec series vs designing your own car. There will be a difference in how the cars race, but this is a pretty big topic so I share my opinion.

The racing

Now let’s start with the biggest difference. The racing in F1, on a good day, is quick overtakes through corners of various speed and angle. The overtakes happen so quickly if you look away for a second you miss it. Now NASCAR on the other hand go at consent speeds on faster tracks making overtakes that can be as quick as on corner or be a long as 1-2 laps. On shorter tracks they are a lot more aggressive and not afraid to move the other car out of the way to accomplish their goal. On plate tracks though its pretty unpredictable what could happen cars are usually 2-3 wide with lines going from first to last or last to first. Cautions are a lot more frequent in NASCAR as a stranded car can be a huge danger with car going around 150-200 mph on superspeedways. In F1 VSC or local yellows are deployed if there is a stranded car. SCs are most predominant in huge amounts of debris or an incident blocks the track. Pit strategies never play as much as a part as they do in F1. In F1 there are long green flag periods where pit stops are crucial to get right. In NASCAR if there happens to be a caution (which are very frequent) almost the entirety of the field dives down pit lane. In NASCAR there is a lot less predictability for the top 3 teams then there is in formula 1. In NASCAR you can have at least 3 different winners in the first 4 races where in the F1 2016 season there was only 1 driver who won the first 4 races.

Predicability

NASCAR is one of the most unpredictable series I have ever seen. One moment you are leading more than half a race, the next a caution and a pit road penalty puts you in last. In F1 it’s one of two teams Ferrari or Mercedes. Whoever gets into turn 1 first, most of the time, wins the race. Also it’s completely random if your going to get a great race with lots of overtaking or a follow the leader bore-fest. While NASCAR can have a caution that resets the field. No one is a clear winner until the checkered flag drops.

Media

NASCAR does everything it can to make it presentable to social media. For example they post full races and highlights on their YouTube channel. On the other hand F1 just recently started posting highlights on their YouTube channel. F1 does not come to non-subscriptional channels very often, they stick to channels like sky sports where you must pay to watch. NASCAR stays on NBCSN and FOX where you can get them for free depending on what kind of TV service you have.

Worldwide apeal

F1 is a favorite for most countries other than America. F1 can go around the world while the farthest Modern NASCAR has gone is Canada. NASCAR is also panned by many as cars making left turns and the fact that it is inconvenient for other countries to watch NASCAR. On the other hand F1 usually has a driver or team dominate every race making the races boring for newcomers. Also people complain about the sound of the new generation of F1 cars while NASCAR fan dislike the Toyota/Ford domination on resent years. Now what do I think?

Final thoughts

In my personal opinion I enjoy F1 more. When F1 is on a good day the action is intense and adrenaline filled. While NASCAR just feels a little bit slow to me. I love seeing the technological marvels that are the F1 cars and how fast they really are. But sometimes it’s totally random whether you get a good race or a bad race, which I can forgive. NASCAR just feels a little too long with races hitting the 3-hour mark. The cars in F1 feel sleeker as well vs the boxy NASCAR stock cars. But this is just my opinion, maybe F1 isn’t your cup of tea and maybe you want closer racing. Here’s my question for you in the comments F1 or NASCAR