There was no Formula 1 racing on this weekend just gone. For many that will be a relief. Firstly, it offers respite from the messy off-track political quagmire the sport has dragged itself into and secondly, the racing spectacle has left little impression after the first two rounds of the season.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull are poised to romp away with things again in 2024 after the Dutchman led back-to-back 1-2 finishes at a canter.
Still, the sentiment from the rest of the field is ‘take Max away and this is the closest F1 has ever been’. There are multiple issues with these sorts of statements.
One, you can’t take Max away. The second your argument enters the realm of fiction you’re on wobbly ground. Also, the closeness that F1’s chasing pack is shouting about is merely a fight for second best and only really offers up any real excitement in qualifying, which becomes tiresome when the same individual has been on top for a prolonged period.
In a race format, F1’s closest-ever field is a train of cumbersome, aero-dependent, tyre-managing vessels that struggle to overtake one another as the following reaches pre-2022 difficulty.
Take the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for example and how Kevin Magnussen was able to circulate up to two seconds slower than he later managed to hold up a gaggle of cars long enough so that his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg could profit and scrape a treasured point for Haas. Therefore, what use is a close field if nobody overtakes one another regardless of the speeds on show?
Formula E is the very antithesis of F1 in its current state. Smaller, more agile, less aero dependent and less powerful cars with low grip tyres. There’s also a balanced playing field.
Forget removing a dominant force to reveal a tight chasing pack, Formula E has provided four different winners in the first four races of the season from four separate teams, and the latest in Sam Bird and McLaren served up a stunner. The Sao Paulo E-Prix was an admittedly quiet affair in the majority, but it saved buckets of drama for the closing stages. Down to the wire with drivers up and down the field making last-ditch, outrageous moves for position prompted the commentary team to mass hysteria.
Sceptics can say what they like about the all-electric series, but that is what racing is about, not knowing the final outcome until the very end of the race. Bird’s last-lap move to snatch victory from the clutches of Jaguar’s Mitch Evans was so extraordinary that Oliver Rowland’s last corner undercut to go from fifth to third at the finish line was nearly missed.
In F1, Verstappen in the all-conquering RB20, an aggressive evolution of the formidable RB19, is grabbing the holeshot from pole and that is all she wrote. That needs to change.
IMSA, meanwhile, enjoyed a suitable chaotic 12 Hours of Sebring in front of a record crowd.
Balance of Performance, multiple manufacturers, classes and drivers of varying backgrounds, combined with Full Course Cautions and the lumps and bumps of the famous Florida circuit made the enduro an enthralling spectacle.
Again, like Formula E, IMSA’s fight for overall victory went down to the end with an outcome nobody could have predicted beforehand. After approximately 11 hours and 55 minutes of racing, victory came down to a firm but fair move by Acura’s Louis Deletraz to rob Sebastien Bourdais and Cadillac of victory.
Further down the order in GTD Pro, Vasser Sullivan’s Jack Hawksworth stamped his authority after the final restart with just over 20 minutes of the race left to run, forcing his way from third to first with gutsy moves in his trusty old Lexus RC F GT3. Again, this is what racing is all about.
So, how can Formula 1 improve upon its current spectacle and replicate the drama of its racing cousins? It is important to state that F1 will never be quite like Formula E and IMSA. It is a high-cost, high-concept pursuit of engineering excellence. Henceforth, you won’t see a spec chassis or Balance of Performance wiggling its way into the equation.
It is also important to note that Red Bull is simply doing a better job than everybody else. It is up to the Milton Keynes-based squad’s competitors to do better but considering the likes of eight-time Constructors’ champions Mercedes continue to have correlation issues with simulator and on-track findings, that doesn’t look like happening anytime soon.
Instead, hopes turn toward the 2026 regulations to reset the pecking order and inject some unpredictability back into the sport. Updated power unit rules relying more on energy recovery and electrification may have engineers worried, but that could be just what fans need.
The current generation of F1 cars, or at least the ones near the front, appear to be bulletproof. Red Bull’s RB20 is metronomic and never looks like faltering compared to dominant cars of previous decades, including the Mercedes cars that marked an era between 2014 and 2021. Maybe that won’t be the case with a Red Bull Powertrains motor in the back.
What is desperately needed is lighter, nimble cars to give drivers more room to do daring manoeuvres out on track. A lesser reliance on aero wouldn’t hurt either, placing the onus on driver skill to make the difference.
F1 and the FIA have targeted weight saving as a goal for the 2026 regulations, but a 40kg reduction isn’t the dramatic diet that is truly required to add a touch of spice to Grand Prix racing. But while that will be somewhat troublesome to achieve, F1 must exhaust whatever methods are viable to make it happen and return the thrill to the series.
