For years now i have always saved races to my harddrive in the afternoon and then watched l1 to l3 in real time and fast forward from there with maybe a lap or two watched during pit window and then the last lap watched whole again. That way, it's fun. I also love to talk shop with my son, he reads all the background while I don't, and he bought all the Codemaster games while I didn't, so I always learn something from him.
I watched a couple of races from my youth, so late 70s, on YouTube and they weren't thast thrilling either, to be honest. It was mostly a question of who would make it to the line and who would not, but cars were quite evenly spread, many with more than a lap between them.