Formula 1 runs risk of going stale unless the racing matches the off-track drama
Formula 1 has off-track storylines galore but the racing itself is far less compelling. Is F1 going stale?
With the position Formula 1 as a sport finds itself in at the moment, drowning in allegations, the only potentially distracting part of the travelling circus – the racing itself – is struggling to shine through.
The Christian Horner saga, claims of race tampering by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and the anti-expansion position against Andretti has given Box to Box Films, the talented production team behind Netflix hit Drive to Survive, a plethora of content.
But none of it is about a pretty key cog in the Formula 1 machine: the racing. And while the “Formula 1 has had one dominant team each season recently” argument is true, it is no excuse.
F1 gone stale?
Since 2010 only two constructors – Red Bull and Mercedes – have won the team championship, with just four drivers claiming a solo title in the same period.
Formula 1’s competitiveness has gone stale. And in the two memorable seasons where it’s been close – Nico Rosberg’s 2016 victory and Max Verstappen’s inaugural title in 2021 – there was a cloud of controversy.
And with the huge increase in dedicated fandom that’s come with the Netflix series and F1’s brilliant attempts to make the drivers more human and relatable – a pub in central London was last weekend packed with fans donning branded merchandise only to moan when a superb Verstappen drove off into the Bahrain sunset – the viewers are demanding more than ever.
A Guenther Steiner tantrum here (please come back, Mr Steiner) or a heightened contract talk there (good afternoon Mr Lewis Hamilton and Mr Carlos Sainz) just isn’t enough anymore.
Spice up your life
Where’s the satisfaction when the F1 product has become so diluted? Are we going to need to cling on until the rules change in 2026 and new, exciting brands enter the party?
Will we need to live with such painful race viewing for another two years, like what a protracted divorce must feel like? Let’s hope not.
Formula 1 has gone through such a radical transformation off the track in the post-Bernie Ecclestone days but even the off-track drama is becoming a little tedious.
But that’s what happens when two teams win 14 constructors’ championships and just four drivers claim the equivalent solo crowns; you look elsewhere for the drama.
Cause for concern
Eventually the off-track storms will die down and, unless more episodes of tension, arguments and wars of words are exchanged in front of conveniently placed cameras, fans will get bored of the sport in its entirety.
So strap in, boys and girls, because this season could be one of the longest yet – literally, with its 24 races, and metaphorically.
F1 thrives on the drama, but without the competitiveness on track it may as well be shouting at a mirror in an empty room.
Fans get bored quickly. They will go elsewhere. Formula 1 cannot afford to let that happen.