Post by Alex on Jun 24, 2023 10:23:47 GMT
So we're 8 races into the 2023 season and anyone betting on a driver other than Max to be champion might as well just burn their money instead. I dont think it would be ludicrous to suggest Red Bull could well win all 23 races - assuming Max doesn't get bored after he's crowned champion with 6 to go.
This is not a dig at Max. Clearly he's arguably the greatest driver of his generation. I don't even dislike him for how he won his first championship. It wasn't his fault that Masi f**ked it up and had the shoe been on the other foot Lewis would have done exactly the same. (Although Jos Verstappen and Whinger Spice's gloating was rather insufferable).
But after the mess they made of the ending to one of the most exciting seasons ever, the saviour was meant to be the new for 22 cars which promised to make racing closer and more exiting and stop one team from dominating. Alas so far that seems to have failed and worse, the one team purported to have breached the cost cap rules is the one doing the dominating. In the same way that in football we should be celebrating the greatness of the treble winning Man City team, the way they've done it whilst if not breaking, certainly bending the financial fair play rules leaves a lot of fans cold, the dominance of Max is causing fans to turn off (I've not bothered watching this years races as I know the result even before free practice).
We can of course praise RB for producing such a great car and perhaps criticise Mercedes for their hubristic approach but even if you stymie RBs ongoing development they appear too far ahead for anyone to catch and can afford to not waste time on upgrades this year to offset any such punishment. So what is F1 to do? I'm not in favour of doing reverse grids or sandbagging based on previous results as I just don't see it working and in any case Max will probably still come through from the back to win. We already have pauses on engine development but that doesn't seem to have done a lot. Is the cost cap the problem? Clearly given more funds Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin and even McLaren could pour enough resources into matching the RB but then you have to arguments about sustainability and pricing smaller teams out. Are the regs to vague meaning one team with the right brains car figure out how to best interpret them but there's just too many other ways of making a car that fits but most just don't work? But do we want to go down the equivalent of a one make series where all cars are the same? Great for really finding out who the best drivers are but completely at odds with the innovation in car design which F1 is famous for. Or am I just missing the point and if I just ignored who's won the race, there's some pretty enjoyable and exiting racing going on from 2nd to 20th?
So what can be done? Or can anything be done? Do we just have to hope the next set of rule changes (for 2026?) do provide closer racing and less one car dominance?
This is not a dig at Max. Clearly he's arguably the greatest driver of his generation. I don't even dislike him for how he won his first championship. It wasn't his fault that Masi f**ked it up and had the shoe been on the other foot Lewis would have done exactly the same. (Although Jos Verstappen and Whinger Spice's gloating was rather insufferable).
But after the mess they made of the ending to one of the most exciting seasons ever, the saviour was meant to be the new for 22 cars which promised to make racing closer and more exiting and stop one team from dominating. Alas so far that seems to have failed and worse, the one team purported to have breached the cost cap rules is the one doing the dominating. In the same way that in football we should be celebrating the greatness of the treble winning Man City team, the way they've done it whilst if not breaking, certainly bending the financial fair play rules leaves a lot of fans cold, the dominance of Max is causing fans to turn off (I've not bothered watching this years races as I know the result even before free practice).
We can of course praise RB for producing such a great car and perhaps criticise Mercedes for their hubristic approach but even if you stymie RBs ongoing development they appear too far ahead for anyone to catch and can afford to not waste time on upgrades this year to offset any such punishment. So what is F1 to do? I'm not in favour of doing reverse grids or sandbagging based on previous results as I just don't see it working and in any case Max will probably still come through from the back to win. We already have pauses on engine development but that doesn't seem to have done a lot. Is the cost cap the problem? Clearly given more funds Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin and even McLaren could pour enough resources into matching the RB but then you have to arguments about sustainability and pricing smaller teams out. Are the regs to vague meaning one team with the right brains car figure out how to best interpret them but there's just too many other ways of making a car that fits but most just don't work? But do we want to go down the equivalent of a one make series where all cars are the same? Great for really finding out who the best drivers are but completely at odds with the innovation in car design which F1 is famous for. Or am I just missing the point and if I just ignored who's won the race, there's some pretty enjoyable and exiting racing going on from 2nd to 20th?
So what can be done? Or can anything be done? Do we just have to hope the next set of rule changes (for 2026?) do provide closer racing and less one car dominance?
