Why Magnus Carlsen said F1 is the ‘most boring sport imaginable': ‘You just drive around in circles'

Indian Express

6 hours ago

There is a renewed interest in the sport of Formula 1 these days, particularly since there is a Brad Pitt-starrer Hollywood flick 'F1' out in theatres that's getting rave reviews. But the sport itself has copped some criticism, particularly from the likes of Magnus Carlsen, one of the greatest chess players in history.
Recently, while talking during the press conference of Norway Chess in Stavanger, Carlsen had expressed some strong opinions about F1, calling it the 'most boring sport imaginable'. That had gotten some strong reactions from F1 faithful, who pointed out that Carlsen plays a sport that requires just hours and hours of two people sitting across a wooden board and sometimes the board position not changing for long durations.
But why had Carlsen called F1 the 'most boring sport imaginable'. We explain:
The hilarious part about Carlsen's rant was that he was not even asked about F1. Carlsen was actually answering a question about which player from the line up at Norway Chess would do better than him and Hikaru Nakamura in the Confessional Booth, which is an innovation used by the Norway Chess tournament where a player can walk into a small room, known as a Confessional Booth, in the middle of their game and give their opinion on their ongoing game without actually being asked by anyone. Players like Carlsen and Nakamura were frequent visitors at the Confessional Booth at Norway Chess 2024, a tradition which they continued this time too.
So when asked which player he thought would do better than Nakamura and him in the confessional, Carlsen went on a little detour.
'I personally think Formula 1 is like the most boring sport imaginable. Like you just drive around in a circle for a long time. To be fair, the start is exhilarating for the pure power of the cars but after that, very little happens,' said Carlsen as other players seated next to him like Nakamura, world champion Gukesh, women's world champion Ju Wenjun, Arjun Erigaisi and Anna Muzychuk grinned.
You can read our analysis of how Gukesh defeated Magnus Carlsen here.
But Carlsen soon came to the point about why he was taking a shot at F1.
'It's quite long winded and most people don't really follow what's going on. People watch F1 — as Hikaru was alluding to — because of personalities and marketing. I think very few things in themselves, for most sports, there are other reasons why people get engaged (in the sport). In terms of personalities, Hikaru is a streamer and you know it comes very naturally to him personally. I get bored during games sometimes. That's why I go (to the Confessional Booth). But I think we shouldn't force anybody to (visit the Confessional). This is for voluntary entertainment. I think for some people it can help when all of a sudden as you start talking about certain things that you're calculating it might free up your mind. Or some people work that way that they need to sort of spell it out. But you know it's an additional tool, it's one of many chances that we as players have to showcase what we have.'
It must also be explained what Nakamura had said earlier at the same press conference that Carlsen was referring to. Nakamura was replying to a question about how boring chess press conferences and interviews are for the players.
READ MORE | Magnus Carlsen reacts to Gukesh defeat: 'Poor from me, got soundly punished… but all credit to Gukesh'
There, while admitting that press conferences are very boring for players, Nakamura had said that he understood the need for having them. 'It's very rarely something that we want to do as a collective. But at the end of the day, it comes down to what does the future of chess look like, whether interviews and showcasing our personality can really push the sport in a direction where there are more sponsors and more general interest. If you look at India as a very specific example, definitely these interviews like today will be in the newspapers, they will generate interest as there are a lot of fans who love the game of chess. So that's definitely a big benefit. When you look at the US or England or some of these Western countries, I'm not so sure the interest is at that level yet. But if you want to move in a direction where you hope chess can become bigger, then I think interviews are a necessary part of it. So for me, I don't really mind.'
READ MORE | Garry Kasparov explains why playing Gukesh is 'like playing a computer': Have to beat him 5 times… he has many lives in each game
Then, Nakamura had elaborated further.
'What do we want to see? If you want chess to become bigger, you need more interest. The only way I think you can really do that is with personality. I mean to give a nice quote. I think fundamentally, for most people, chess is very boring. If you're not very serious about the game, you can't really follow it very closely. I know there are a lot of things in chess — like heart rate monitors — to try and make it more interesting. But for most people it's just a very boring game. So the only way I think you can get beyond that is to find a way to showcase personalities that make the fans want to cheer for some of the players. Especially in India you see it, when you have a Gukesh or Arjun Erigaisi or Praggnanandhaa playing in say a World Cup, these sorts of events the Indians flock to and they will watch it. So I think that's more about the personality and who the players are and the country they represent. So if you can get the general public or the fans from countries behind the players, then the sky is the limit in terms of potential.'