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Formula 1 has problems, but they are not Formula 1’s problems to fix

By Kyle Funderburk

SHANGHAI, CHINA - APRIL 14: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W10 leads the field at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on April 14, 2019 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
SHANGHAI, CHINA - APRIL 14: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W10 leads the field at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on April 14, 2019 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /
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The gap between Mercedes and the rest of the field hasn’t begun to shrink yet in the 2019 Formula 1 season, and no one aside of the top three teams seems to have a chance at finishing on the podium.

At the Chinese Grand Prix, Formula 1’s 1000th Grand Prix, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport dominated once again with another 1-2 finish. Lewis Hamilton won his second consecutive race, with Australian Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas trailing him in second place for the second consecutive race.

For Mercedes, it was just another average race considering how the last five seasons have gone.

Formula 1 has a problem. Mercedes’ stranglehold on wins, podium finishes and championships is hurting the on-track product. Races will remain an attraction for a live audience, but the television product is failing.

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It’s one thing for one team to dominate with five consecutive championships, but by winning an average of three out of every four races and claiming three-quarters of the maximum possible podium positions, Mercedes are killing the intrigue of the sport.

There is no championship battle right now, and there hasn’t been for quite a while. The battle is for second place between Scuderia Ferrari and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing. The other teams are just trying to stay relevant.

Despite these issues, Formula 1 shouldn’t try to fix them at all, not to appease broadcasters or mid-pack teams and definitely not to appease new fans. Don’t follow NASCAR’s “guidance”. Don’t mess with the rules or place strict restrictions on the engines to make races more competitive. Don’t try to rubber-band the field. That’s NASCAR’s problem; when fans say jump, NASCAR asks how high.

But with millions of fans, there are many thousands of opinions in Formula 1, and most of them don’t mesh well. Take it from someone who grew up watching NASCAR and has lived long enough to remember seeing Ernie Irvan race at a high level: this ain’t a rabbit hole that Formula 1 wants to go down.

If Formula 1 is to be competitive for more than two races in a row again, it should be because everyone else starts bringing better cars to the track. It should be because Ferrari stop micromanaging races. It should be for a number of reasons, but changes by the governing body shouldn’t be one of them. Let constructors and engine manufacturers build to their liking, and if they fail on race day and Mercedes win again, so be it.

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This isn’t assuming that Formula 1 is about to make such mandates. I don’t believe the organizers are about to resort to extreme measures to keep the races entertaining. But if they have even the slightest idea that rule changes need to made to make fans happy and to keep them from being bored, they should purge such thoughts from their minds.

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