Is Formula 1 boring if a team is dominating?

Red Bull have entered the summer break winning all of the first twelve races, with the opportunity to become the first ever team to complete an invincible F1 season with their unwavering dominance and Max Verstappen’s undeniable greatness. Does domination in the sport affect the quality and engagement of the sport though?

Domination periods of teams in sport is not uncommon whatsoever, but with the nature and uniqueness of Formula 1, races can be negatively affected by teams walking away with wins, particularly how Red Bull are doing so at the moment. The burden is that the advantage is particularly locked in for years, such as what we saw with Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in the early 2000’s and Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes in the past decade.

This piece is in no way a jibe at Red Bull or Max Verstappen, who have been remarkably consistent and have perfected the ground-effect cars. Investigating the reasons for why teams run away with consecutive championships is worthwhile, so the sport becomes ultimately a greater spectacle.

It is a fact that a close championship battle produces the greatest engagement, and if you ask anyone involved in the sport, they will tell you the greatest Formula 1 years included great drivers from different teams fighting until the very last race for the accolade of world champion.

The regulations are certainly more restricted, along with the cost cap, which restrict technical innovation and great time gains. Ross Brawn was very clear that the regulations aim to close up the field, which is somewhat true with the midfield, but a team dominating the field is still a problem.

It feels as if the cost cap did not have the benefit it was supposed to. Teams are now having to make redundancies, cut back on factors which have no correlation to car development and earn a petty punishment for their crimes. The benefits Red Bull had from breaking the cost cap are not visible, but the punishment certainly has not impacted their ability to dominate.

The angle and perception at which the majority of fans view the sport is worrying though. Most of the newer fans were introduced to the famous Lewis Hamilton vs Max Verstappen battle in 2021, which was one of the best seasons of all time. The sport does need a championship battle to keep younger fans engaged, that is undoubtable.

The hardcore petrolheads who love watching the twenty fastest drivers and most intelligent engineers on the planet certainly find a different angle to enjoy the sport. What fans must realise is each team and driver have a story, and the front team only accounts for a tenth of everything that is happening in the sport.

Formula 1 is a great spectacle in that sense, and the fact it has become so individual and tribalistic recently is a positive overall, but newer fans must search for a purpose greater than the frontrunners to truly appreciate the sport, and therefore it can never be boring.