Why Formula One needs to up its game

The 1000th Grand Prix was sold as the spectacle of the era. The Chinese festival and the Shanghai Paddock made it exciting for those there. To the millions of viewers across the world, it was nothing more than a bore-fest.

The Chinese Grand Prix usually is a true spectacle. The circuit has many tight corners, followed by two long straights in the third sector. It usually gives viewers an overtaking show, but that wasn’t the case in 2019.

The win was fought out before the first corner of the first lap. Lewis Hamilton passed his teammate Valtteri Bottas. The Mercedes drivers then drove off, leaving the rest behind.

The third 1-2 for Mercedes this season.

Hamilton and Bottas have been closed match throughout the season with the Brit having the upper hand

The dominance of Mercedes

Petronas Mercedes has been dominant ever since the Hybrid era began in 2014. Since then nobody has been able to fully match the German team. Ferrari has been a close second through the years but lacks development and speed. This year it’s no different, with the Italian squad struggling to catch up.

Dominance isn’t anything new in Formula One. In the early 2000s, Ferrari was the winner, with McLaren close, but never quite there due to reliability issues. It was followed by Vettel’s dominance with RedBull for four years straight (2010-2013).

Even during those years, there was excitement. Qualifying wasn’t straightforward. Many drivers ended on pole position. There were different teams fighting for pole and win.

Since 2014 it became the battle between then Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg and current five-time world champion and Merc driver Lewis Hamilton. It became a close battle in 2014 with Hamilton taking the crown. 2015 was more of Hamilton winning with him taking the Driver’s Championship in Austin, United States.

2016 was a different story with Rosberg fighting for wins more often and eventually taking the crown in Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately that winter, Rosberg announced his retirement of the sport leaving the question open to who would fill in the second seat. After lots of speculation, it became Valtteri Bottas. The Finn showed in the 2017 season that he wasn’t quite a match to Hamilton’s talent. He won just three races.

2018 looked quite good with Ferrari leading the charge with Vettel during the early parts of the season. Mercedes seemed to lack pace and reliability and it seemed as if the dominance had ended. It couldn’t be any less the case. Once the fifth race in Spain rolled around, Mercedes was back on full speed and eventually took another WDC and WCC.

It seems as if this year is more of the same story. With no new regulation changes until 2021, it’ll probably stay like this. A lot of complaints come from the fans who are getting bored of watching the top six cars following each other more often than not. The midfield battle is tighter than ever, but it’s not the battle fans want.

No longer the pinnacle?

More and more Formula One fans are looking for a new autosport to watch. With Formula E having its best season yet – seven different winners of seven different teams in the first seven races of the season – and sportscars having tight battles in WEC and Blancpain it seems like Formula One is losing its high status. MotoGP is growing as well with its tight battles on track and everyone being able to fight for the win.

Owner Liberty Media is trying to bring the sport closer to the fans. The Youtube channel has had an upgrade with more frequent and better-edited videos. The site has new posts every day and the Fantasy league is loved by many.

Broadcasting is, however, a problem. Due to contracts with different countries, Liberty Media isn’t able to bring the sports practice sessions, qualifying, and races to the internet. Most broadcasters being pay TV causes a lot of fans to quit watching as well. They thought to have found F1 TV to be a possible solution, but being an expensive – and not really working – system isn’t really motivating to buy either.

Formula One has to overthink what they’re going to change to satisfy the majority of fans. It’s sad to see a great sport becoming dull and forgettable. Luckily with Baku, Azerbaijan up next a spectacle can be expected.