Four-time Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel lashed out at the critics of “boring” Formula 1 races following the Canadian Grand Prix.
The Canadian Grand Prix at the 14-turn, 2.710-mile (4.361-kilometer) Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, Quebec, Canada was the seventh race of the 21-race 2018 Formula 1 season, and it was the third consecutive race that featured the top two drivers finishing the race in the same positions in which they started.
In fact, in the Canadian Grand Prix, each of the drivers who started the race in the top three finished it in the same positions in which they started. In the sixth race of the season, the Monaco Grand Prix, this was the case for the top six drivers, and in the fifth race of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix, this was the case for the top two drivers.
In both the Monaco Grand Prix and the Canadian Grand Prix, the race polesitters led every lap of the races. As such, there has not been a single lead change in a Formula 1 race since two lead changes occurred in the Spanish Grand Prix, which took place more than one month ago now.
Even still, the only lead changes that occurred in that race took place as a result of the fact that race polesitter Lewis Hamilton, who had led every lap of the race before he came into the pits, came into the pits before Max Verstappen did.
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Verstappen ended up leading eight laps of the 66-lap race before he came into the pits and Hamilton inherited the lead once again. Hamilton led the race the rest of the way and won it by 20.593 seconds over second place finisher Valtteri Bottas.
Drivers who have not won the past three races have combined to lead just eight of the 214 (212 officially with the Canadian Grand Prix checkered flag blunder in mind) laps in those three races, while the race winners have led 206 of those 214 (or 204 of those 212). As result of this, there has been a lot of criticism directed at Formula 1 for putting on “boring” races as of late, especially after the Canadian Grand Prix. However, Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, a four-time champion of the sport, is having none of it.
Here is what Vettel had to say about the matter, according to ESPN.
"“It’s not justified to criticise the racing or criticise the race. I don’t know if it was boring. From my point of view, you’re still busy inside the car. I don’t know why people today are so short-sighted. We’ve had seven races this year, I think some were phenomenal, some were boring.“But next week the World Cup is starting, and I promise you that a lot of the games won’t be exciting, but still people will watch it. Some games will probably be incredible. That’s what we always look forward to, but it can’t just always continue to go up and get better. I don’t know. There’s no reason, so don’t look for an answer.“Don’t write anything. Write about something else. I think we do our job inside the car, and if we can race, we race. But obviously we also do our job inside the car to try and avoid racing, disappear or stay in front and not get overtaken. And some races are just exciting and others are not.”"
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Do you agree with Sebastian Vettel that it is not justified for people to criticize Formula 1 races, or do you feel that it is justified to call certain Formula 1 races “boring”?