Norris understands if F1 fans lose interest with Verstappen's dominance
08:13, 21 Apr 2024
14 Comments
Lando Norris fears Formula 1 fans will increasingly lose interest due to Max Verstappen's and Red Bull Racing's dominance. According to Norris, Verstappen's dominance is greater than ever in the sport's history.
Verstappen took his fifth pole position in as many qualifying sessions this season on Saturday. The Dutchman has also already won three of the four races held and also picked up the sprint race win in China. The fact that Verstappen wins so much and how easily he achieves it is a problem for the sport, according to his close friend.
Norris reacts to Verstappen's dominance
"Of course," Norris replied when asked if fans will start to lose interest. "If you see the same driver winning every single time without a fight then of course it does start to become boring and that is obvious. It is frustrating for people watching but that is the sport. It has always been like this. Now, we are seeing more dominance than ever so it is never going to be the best to watch and the only exciting races have been the ones that Max is not in."
"As a field, from first to last, it is almost the closest it has ever been. But you have just got one of the best drivers ever in Formula One in one of the most dominant cars and it is a combination that is deadly."
According to Norris, the solution is not easy either. Red Bull is simply doing better than the rest, and so it is up to the rest to close that gap. The most important part seems to be the sporting regulations. Norris offered a suggestion: "We need to make it more simple by opening up or closing the regulations."
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I don't understand it. If Djocovic wins every tennis event or Messi wins every golden shoe, it's great and fantastic. Even when Lewis won almost every race it was pure magic. Now its boring? Not from my point of view..
But Djokovic and Messi don't always win. Total domination by one person or team is damaging to any sport.
Sport is about unpredictability. That is what creates excitement amongst fans. Predictable results turns fans away. You may enjoy it, but the psyche of the sports fan suggests otherwise!
Max doesn't always win either. Just like in tennis were 1 or 2 others win the odd Open, Perez and Sainz have won the odd race. The racing behind has been far more exciting this year than it has in the last 10yrs. If Hamilton fans are finding it boring, then I say they aren't real F1 fans anyway.
I'm not a Hamilton fan, and I am finding it boring. As a fan of any sport, does one get excited about who comes 9th or 10th? No, we want to see close competition for the win.
I am a real F1 fan, for many years and I have never seen it as predictable as it is now!
Fair enough. Most fans of Hamilton didn't find his dominating boring. It's only boring as he is just scraping into the points now with zero chance of winning.
Sadly, the teams and money will always lead to boring. Until the wings on the cars are no longer a factor in downforce, we will always have this issue with cars at the front disappearing in clean air. The teams don't want to give that up. They instead want these rules in the hope that they are the lucky recipient of being at the front and dominating.
As a Ferrari fan, I did find it boring, even though Schumacher only won 40% of the races with Ferrari and his most in a season was 11 or 12.
Max won 19 out of 22! F1 has gone wrong and although Max is a great talent, and I don't mind him winning, I would just like to see him being challenged. The lead he built up after 1 lap in China was ridiculous.
Did you find it boring when Schumacher was dominating and his teammate had to give up race wins?
Well it is actually a big deal. That is what turns fans away. That is what makes it boring. The excitement of sport is its unpredictability. Watching a nail biting sports event, not knowing who is going to win, is what gets our adrenaline going. Knowing Max is going to win is what puts you asleep on the couch!
So Max is guaranteed to win. Not a big deal. It was a given that Schumacher was going to win during the glory years of Ferrari or Hamilton was going to win during the domination years of Merc. The difference is that now the fight between the rest of the top 15 is a guess. Back then, qualifying predicted the outcome completely bar failures. Now, it's a lottery.
Please don't be patronizing!
What's different nowadays. F1 is still a parade, with Max driving off into the sunset.
I'm not talking about DRS or overtaking. I'm talking about predictable dominance. Where are the years where you had 12 different winners in a season? You never knew who was going to win.
I play a F1 prediction game and I have put Max as winner for every race this year. I've already got 4 out of 5. The problem is everyone playing the game has also chosen Max! Wow, so predictable.
You realise DRS was introduced due to lack of overtaking and procession races?
There was overtaking, and in 2012, 7 different winners in first 7 races. Snorefest? I think not.
One driver winning 22 out of 24 races. Snorefest? Yes definitely.
You mustn't have been watching F1. All the countless rule changes since the 2000s were because it was predictable snorefests with hardly any overtaking
I'm going to agree with you Toni. Max waited 7 years to win his first championship. Now he has the car to match his talent and the Netflix fans whine on and on.
It''s up to the other teams to get faster. They can catch and pass Sergio, but great talent like Max is something we are both privileged to see, and probably only once in a lifetime.
If they're whining about it, they've never really been a fan of the sport, which is really a series of periods of domination.