I am / was like you, huge F-1 fan and went away from it for quite awhile, drivers becoming to commercial at one point, cars
mattered, drivers did not and a few years ago, got back into it.
I have watched drive to survice series, I enjoy it, but know enough to know,
they shoot 1500 hours to give us 8 hours, heavily edited and design to give us drama.
That said, does give some insight of the behind the scenes working of the sport.
F-1 has always impressed me with the amount of time, energy and money that goes into
making 2 cars go this quick, I have also been forunate enough to have gone to 5-6 races
along with a few indy car races back in the day when indy was real big ( before Tony George)
seeing these cars live, gives you a very different perspective, they are far faster than TV can show,
in every aspect, from accelration to braking, is absolutely insane.
Also in last few years, drivers and teams are much are more competitive and fun to watch.
I also relaize with rules changes the gap becomes bigger for awhile, but hopefully
it makes racing more interesting and more ability to pass.