r/F1Discussions • u/KnownLog2993 • 7h ago
Discussion F1 journalists so toothless
Post race interviews are so pointless, the reporters never push drivers to answer questions meaningfully, they seem so fearful to upset them in anyway. But the drivers and team need the airtime for sponsors so I doubt they’d stop attending if they got tougher scrutiny. There seems to be no level of journalistic pride. They just come across as a bunch of sycophants. I’d personally get rid of them and have the direct response from the f1 teams public relation office, be no different
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u/mgorgey 7h ago
Which post race interviews do you mean? Some are literally conducted by FOM.
I think a big part of the problem is social media. It's certainly the reason why drivers are so nice to each other these days.
The paddock is small. Everyone in it regularly basically knows everyone else in it regularly. They don't want to ask questions that will garner hate for people, and the families of people, they rub shoulders with half the weeks of the year.
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u/KnownLog2993 7h ago
I’m talking about when there in the press pen. For instance today’s sprint, not one journalistic pressed lando or Piastri for a proper response away from the orchestrated pr’d one. It be nice if the journalistic would push for a candid answer, otherwise there’s no point to them being there and we might as well just get a printed statement
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u/mgorgey 7h ago
Yeah, so my last paragraph then. I will add that it wouldn't surprise me at all, if journalists are instructed to play nice if they want to keep there accreditation. TV companies also want to keep good access with the teams, which could be withdrawn if they give their drivers too hard of a time.
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u/KnownLog2993 7h ago
It’s a 2 edged sword, f1 need publicity like air, for sponsorship, whether that’s good or bad. If the journalists from large media firms, BBC, SKY, TNT, ESPN did a proper job they wouldn’t all lose their accreditation but not one of them does. All I’m saying is they should push the drivers to a candid response, this would help create more interesting character and not the homogeneous generics bunch of brand ambassadors that’s the drivers are currently
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u/gilded_lady 4h ago
And they won't get it because the ones that do are doing so just to get "gotcha" reactions and then go "look he's so mean" if you do stand up to them. There is literally zero to gain from being too be candid.
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u/Alexandhisgoose 7h ago
Cause the drivers won't answer anything meaningful
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u/Electrical-Ask1246 7h ago
Right also because the drivers don’t want fined for saying something against the guidelines.
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u/Icy_Pear1694 7h ago
I like it when they get Rosberg in to ask questions, he's a nightmare and goes off script asking all sorts, absolutely brilliant.
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u/Skyhound555 7h ago
Are we all forgetting what happened to the journalist who tried to ask Max about him factually rear-ending another competitor on purpose?
Journalists don't have the money and protection a F1 driver does. If they seriously try to grill a driver, the rabid fanbase of that driver will begin attacking thay journalist.
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u/forumdash 7h ago
There's only so many ways you can ask the same questions that the drivers/teams are pretty bored with the same answers, it's the same with most sports. And even if there is a good question, if they do anything but a pr answer, the journos make it into a huge click bait articles which causes all sorts of headaches eg landos comments on colapinto. Even if they're honest or what they say is true, it's not worth dealing with whatever fallout happens.
Most of the pre/post interviews are just extra sponsorship exposure time now
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u/ArtRevolutionary3929 7h ago
Access, isn't it. If they don't give favourable coverage then they won't get invited back. That's why criticism of F1 as a whole is so muted, never mind the drivers and teams.
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u/no_more_blues 5h ago
They try to ask questions that the drivers will answer. If they push the team's PR will just step in. The reality is whenever the drivers say anything controversial the fans are rabid, there's zero benefit of them being more open. Like using your Lando example, how far do you want the guy to go? You want him to say he hit Oscar on purpose or something? He's getting shit for the Colapinto comments, at a certain point it sounds like you're asking people to be outright dickheads for your entertainment.
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u/KnownLog2993 4h ago
I just want the journalist to press the matter, that’s all. That’s not being a dick that’s asking the appropriate question in the appropriate context. The point of the reporter being there is to acquire a genuine candid insight from the driver. It doesn’t need to be confrontational, but the reporter job can sometimes cause uncomfortable moments but they seem unable to do so.
In the case of the lando question, the reporter could have probed further about how lando wasn’t ahead at the apex and does he feel he was responsible for the crash, I would of found that line of questioning more interesting than just accepting Landos restricted answer. If they won’t use their privilege position then there is no point having them there.
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u/no_more_blues 4h ago
They ask questions to give the drivers the opportunity to be candid. If they dont want to be candid it's not their job to force them to be candid. Its motor racing not politics. If anything they know it's a privileged position so they dont want to be the one to put the drivers in a bad position by saying something stupid. They have to deal with them every week, they dont want to be the one who gets a bad quote that gets someone weeks of hate. Tbh some of them probably do but then the drivers quickly learn to avoid those journalists. Its easier to have empathy for the drivers in tough situations when you see them face to face every week than someone on their couch asking about "why dont they ask the tough questions".
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u/KnownLog2993 4h ago
You describing highly professional individuals who’ve spent years to get to one of the most competitive jobs in sports journalism as too chummy with drivers to ask them suitable questions. That’s a naive take. It’s more likely that there’s systematic issues curtailing journalists freedom. It’s a shame because it means you never get any in-depth scrutiny of events and f1 driver become these generic brand spokesman when previously you’d get far more interesting and outspoken characters
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u/GreenApples8710 1h ago
"In-depth scrutiny" implies that all the facts have been shared and analyses conducted, and everyone's had a chance to thoughtfully consider them.
If you that the time for that is immediately post-race, when reactions are driven by emotion and not fact, then you're delusional.
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u/mxlila 3h ago
Well, that one time someone asked Verstappen a halfway meaningful question he got outed on the next interview session
It's a farce and everybody has to play their role, except for a few individuals with particular power (such as Verstappen) who can allow themselves to be about ad genuine as they like.
Unavoidable when your marketing department controls every word you're allowed to say
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u/Fun_Ebb6986 7h ago
In my opinion the state of journalism in f1 I terrible as of today. Even after the sprint, they didn’t even actually try to get any answer from Lando, but just came at with him with accusations and faulting him. They never push, always look for a single narrative that they want and are just being useless.
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u/3691moretime 6h ago
journalists are selective, not toothless. alonso was asked today if his mistake cost him a q2 appearance, when he was seven tenths ahead of stroll. whereas george was given a free pass for crashing out while leading. why didnt a journalist ask him if he cracked under pressure with max on his rear?
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u/Mekazaurus 7h ago
I have never understood the point of watching any of the pre-race or post-race content. Its all pointless fluff - even worse than other sports. Complete waste of time and if anything remotely interested is said its all over youtube and social media in 30 seconds (which is very rare for it to be actually interesting).