Team and driver dominance over the rest of the field isn’t new to Formula One. In fact, dominance has played a big factor in the sport for some time now, with several drivers winning two or more consecutive championships since the late 90s/early 2000s. Because of this, you can easily see why I, someone who has watched F1 for more than two decades, is perplexed that so many “aficionados” are disgruntled at the fact dominance is big in Formula One.
Take the current form of Max Verstappen and Red Bull. When the regulations changed for 2022, they got it very right, whereas other teams got it, not wrong, but just not right. You could the say the same for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton in 2014 onwards and Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel before that. And, then there is the big and probably the most infamous duo - Ferrari and Michael Schumacher. Dominance has become a normality and has proved itself to be part of the force that makes legends within our sport, but could things be about to change?
As already discussed, although in little context, since 2022 Formula One has been all about Red Bull and Max Verstappen. Sure, Verstappen’s Championship win in 2021 helped to propel the team into their “comeback era,” but with a change of regulations, Adrian Newey at the helm of design/engineering and Verstappen at the wheel, they were always going to be a force to be reckoned with. However, did anyone actually expect them to become as dominant as they have been? Even so, while their second driver; Sergio Perez, went through, and is still going through, some tough and demanding times on track? I’ll let you perceive it how you want.
Let’s jump to the present day - 2024, and, as of writing, it’s the eve of the highly anticipated British Grand Prix, where the top three on the starting grid consists of George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris. Two Mercedes and a McLaren. But, where is Verstappen and Red Bull, I hear you ask? A difficult qualifying session saw them make Q3 by the skin of their teeth, with an eventual starting position of 4th. Sure, Verstappen had floor damage, after a short trip across the gravel in Q1, but all weekend Red Bull have been off the pace, something we’re starting to see all too often over the course of race weekends. But, are they really as off the pace as they look? Or, are other teams FINALLY bringing packages that can rival the best? Either way, Red Bull’s dominance seems to be teetering on the edge of being over. Something that could be, in some sense, a godsend for the sport.
As we know, Formula One, in recent years, has grown a HUGE community over several social media platforms such as X and TikTok, and many users have made no secret of their distaste of Red Bull dominance, with some calling it boring and too predictable. Others, however, seem to dislike Red Bull and Verstappen’s dominance due to the fact that they dislike just that; Red Bull and Verstappen.
It’s an interesting aspect, seeing how social media can have a chain reaction effect on people, with the hatred of Red Bull/Verstappen becoming almost mandatory to join the fan base of Lewis Hamilton, as an example and from my observations, but not a given. That’s my disclaimer. This does suggest that social media has a big influence on fan behaviour and that maybe dominance in F1 isn’t as bad as it is being perceived by some people. I mean, it hasn’t stopped them watching, no?
Perhaps it’s easy to forget that F1 isn’t just a race between drivers, but also an engineering race between teams. This isn’t Formula Two or Formula Three where each chassis is provided by one supplier, oh no, everything in F1 is done individually by each team. It’s a case of fending for themselves. Surely, it’s a given that one or two will reign highly above the rest? But still, people watch for the racing and, specifically at the front of the grid, it’s been lacking.
Regardless, for the FIA and Formula One Management, team and driver dominance seems to be the least of their concerns. Drive to Survive is consistently bringing in new fans from the streaming platform; Netflix, social media is abuzz with F1 chatter, race weekends are selling out and the owners are richer than ever. Why should they change something that isn’t broken in their eyes? From a fans perspective however, it may seem broken, as we watch, what seems to be, a driver parade each race day. It does get tiresome. But, as recent race weekends have shown, a resurgence is coming. With, McLaren, Mercedes and occasionally Ferrari, bringing the fight to Red Bull, F1 is starting to become exciting again. And, that’s exactly the type of resurgence F1 needs. But, let’s make the most of it while we can. With a change in regulations in 2026, we could find ourselves back to square one and in another era of pure dominance.
At the end of the day though, we can’t take away what Red Bull and Verstappen have achieved. We’re extremely lucky to have witnessed such greatness, just as we witnessed Mercedes and Hamilton, Red Bull and Vettel, Ferrari and Schumacher. F1 is an exciting sport, and it still can be, and still will be regardless of one team/driver's dominance.
コメント