Hope vs. Reality: the new F1 teams

I love the new F1 teams. They've been going all-out this season (some more than others) to win our loyalties. Innovative competitions, fun publicity stunts, and great twitter feeds (again, excluding Hispania, but their drivers make up for that) have been the order of the day since winter testing. However, on-track...well, take a look at this tweet.

That's what it's been on-track all year. The three back-marker teams (although it's often just Virgin and Lotus) are only really competing against each other. Thrilling is the moment when one of them is in front of a Toro Rosso or Sauber. Now, before you misinterpret what I'm saying, I don't think that the 107% rule is necessarily a positive thing (we'll have to see how it plays out, like the refuelling ban). I think they're doing a great job in being on the grid and getting to the end and being positive about coming 17th.

However, I'm starting to want more. I do love supporting the underdog (because it's so much more rewarding when they do well), but I'm starting to crave action from them that draws the attention of the TV feed director. Because all they do is lap around at the back, a few seconds off-pace, they never get any screen-time. Twice this year, I've noticed that Senna retired before the commentators did (although, not when Chandhok was commentating. Then all the Bruno-info was, understandably, up-to-date).

I'm not sure what they can really do to grab more screen-time, apart from build a faster car or crash spectacularly every race (although that would be counter-productive in the attempt to keep operating costs down). I do sincerely hope that they build a faster car next year so that 1) we actually see our boys on-screen during the race, 2) they have a chance of scoring a championship point, and 3) so the rookies can show us what they're really capable of.