F1: Is Mercedes Domination Hurting Formula One?

Can an F1 team as dominant as Mercedes actually be hurting the series? It’s more likely than you might think.

Either it might have come at a moment when the new Star Wars film is out, or he might even be a fan of the major motion picture, but Mercedes Team Manager Toto Wolff is concerned that any more domination by his drivers Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg could make the sport of formula one become bad for the Mercedes brand.

Speaking to London, England’s major newspaper, The Daily Mail, Wolff believes that any more victories could make the sport close to a famous phrase in the science fiction movie.

“Our dominance is bad for Formula One,” Wolff said. “It is. It makes the racing boring. It becomes predictable how the result is going to be. The sport needs multiple winners. It needs the odd freak result. It needs the underdog to win. The moment you become a dominant force, you suffer and your brand suffers. You become the dark side of the force.”

Since the new hybrid rules of formula one engines came out in 2014, Mercedes has dominated in winning two world constructor’s titles and two driver championships, with Lewis Hamilton triumphing two years in a row. But the only competition for the Briton has been his German teammate Rosberg, who in fact, after Hamilton clinched his third world title, suddenly won the last three races of the season, finishing the season in second place.

Wolff went into his Star Wars phase again to the British paper, claiming that another team started before they did, and took a little time before becoming a powerhouse squad.

“It even happened to Red Bull.” Wolff added. “They joined the sport. They were the Jedis. They jumped in the pool when they finished third in Monaco with Coulthard. They had the Formula Unas, the girls around the paddock. They had the Red Bulletin. They were controversial. They had a superb brand. But after winning the world title four times in a row, they developed into an unsympathetic brand. Nobody wants the establishment.

If you start to behave like the establishment, you are finished and people will have animosity against you. So our dominance is bad for Formula One and it’s bad for us, but what can I do? The only thing you can do yourself is stay humble, keep both feet on the ground, acknowledge that these are special circumstances and it might be different in the future and try to enjoy the moment.”

Wolff stated that he would like to stay at the top of the team’s game, and feels that today’s society does not believe in being happy with the misery of other people. The Austrian believes that having this idea is wrong and if the team needs to be dominate again, then it has to have ideas to make the show more entertaining to the audience that views it. But Wolff believes that having healthy competition between his drivers is one of his suggestions.

“I still believe that our pairing has done the team a lot of good in accelerating the development of our car,” says Wolff. “If that were to become not limited to the track and the usual spiel with the media, the solution would be to have what happened to McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari and have a No 1 and No 2.

That would be my second best option. I would rather continue like it is. For F1 the volcanic eruptions may be what’s needed between them. Maybe the big fall-out ending in a crash and animosity, in terms of the entertainment factor, maybe that’s what’s missing with Mercedes being so dominant. Maybe you need that, but fundamentally, I don’t think we need that as a team.”

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Wolff is certainly hoping as well as the fans of this sport that teams like Ferrari and Red Bull will find their form to compete against Mercedes. And with Renault returning as a works manufacturer and newer rules for 2017, then maybe formula one can grow into the sport it is familiar with.