Quote:
Originally Posted by crmalcolm
Maybe - the article does say 'That reverses a long trend of decline in 2009 following two periods of domination by Red Bull and then Mercedes.'
But - did people come back to F1 because the dominance ended?
If people had left, why would they come back unless something attracted them? Before the 2021 season, what would have enticed people to watch again (if it was people who had left that returned)?
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I don't think people came back because Mercedes dominance ended.
I doubt that many of those who decried Mercedes dominance did so because of the brand dominance.
It may have been because of Hamilton dominance, which may have had other contingencies besides his results record, but we had seen periods almost as long in Vettel/RBR dominance and in Ferrari Schumacher dominance which did not alienate people as much as Hamilton's domination.
Now we are entering a period of RBR/ Verstappen dominance which will likely continue unabated until the end of 2025 barring a revision of rules and regulations that handicaps the leading protagonists.
This would be consistent with the gradual emergence of the technical side of the sport which has consistently demonstrated increasingly that even though the time gaps between the first and last car on the grid have decreased the probability of brand or team dominance across a season has gradually but steadily increased since the late 80's and early 90's.
The technical side in design and construction has become a dominant factor.
So despite attempts to split the differences and make the whole circus more open over the last thirty years there have been a persistent tendency to have one or two dominant teams across any given season.
We have still had some brilliant racing but a friend of mine posted a result sheet from the 67 Monanco GP the other day that highlighted the difference some 56 years ago when I was a boy.
1. Hulme (Brabham), G. Hill (Lotus-BRM), Amon (Ferrari), McLaren (McLaren-BRM), Rodreguez (Cooper Maserati) and Spence (BRM).
The starting Grid (first twelve)
Brabham (Brabham), Surtees (Honda), Bandini (Ferrari), Hulme (Brabham), Clark (Lotus), Gurney (Gurney), Stewart (BRM), Hill (Lotus), Siffert (Cooper), McLaren (McLaren), Servoz-Gavin (Matra), Spence (BRM).
That sort of variety and the unpredictability of an outcome made GP racing great in terms of outcome. It was a contest of titans.
Now it is a technical exercise and the drivers are simply players.
Perhaps the success of DTS is that it focusses on the drivers as personalities and gives a backdrop to the technical competition behind the scenes that most casual observers are not aware of.
What DTS has done is given a stage to the real 'Battle of the Titans', which is for most part behind the scenes, and the race is just the outplay on the stage.
That struggle to survive technically and build a career as a driver is now highlighted which gives meaning to the play on the stage.
Now people who would not normally attend the GP to watch a play, now understand the meaning and struggle behind it.
That struggle and battle is now comprehended.
That is what DTS has done to give meaning to the play, which is often not that entertaining if you don't have a context to give it meaning.