Is Formula 1 Down Hill? – Formula 1 Abu Dhabi GP

Abu Dhabi, Formula 1 Grand Prix; was a very smooth race for the most part with minor incidents but still many consider it is not an interesting race because of tire degradation but the most important aspect to consider are DRS trains that form up because of the circuit lay out, the mayor factor the first sector with very long sections making it boring specially when a team, car and driver have been so dominant in all aspects this year, thats the case of Red Bull Team, the RB19 and Max Vertappen but before I get into that point I would like to talk about what was interesting on Abu Dhabi, yes there were moments that made the race interesting its not all about Verstappen and this is the part that I understand many viewers wont pay attention too, something I consider is ok because what is really interesting is the drivers at the top fighting for the number one spot.

 

 

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Checo Perez, the Red Bull driver who started 9th on the grid for Sunday Race and end up third after a great race became the key man for Ferrari on the race for the Constructor Championship Second Place, there was a very close fight between Mercedes and Ferrari for the second place that represent a lot of money for the team, with one lap to go, I don't know WHY Ferrari never suggested this strategy with five laps to go; Charles Leclerc ask his engineer where was Perez so he could slow down to give him DRS and let him pass if needed because then Russell would stay out of the podium with less points, I think Ferrari should have seen this happening since lap 55 when Perez over take Russell so Leclerc could start to slow down and give Perez DRS and let him go, after all the Drivers Championship is over the two first places are lock down no matter what happens, I want to stop there because the real problem for Ferrari was Sainz, the option to give up track position to Perez was a last resource to try to stop Russel from getting third place, the gap between Ferrari and Mercedes ended up in three points mainly because of Sainz extremely poor performance who could not finish the race since he was on a HOPES AND DREAMS strategy.

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Moving forward with more Checo Perez controversy, the reason he was out of the podium was an incident with Lando Norris after they had contact on lap 51, on the two images above we can see how Perez did had the inside but doesn't necessarily take the apex, one thing is dive into the apex the other is to get in and out this will depend on the speed the car is carrying at the moment and I think that's exactly why Perez got the five second Penalty, he could not slow down the car enough so he kept going and when the car finally stops Norris also try to turn so they make contact, yes Perez never push him out but that doesn't justify some one going dive bomb into a corner, this is not Forza. Perez gets mad at it and call the stewards a joke on radio, because of this last comments he gets a warning after the race to what he answers with an apology, Perez mention all he said was in the heat of the moment and it was not his intention to be disrespectful.

 

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Compared to what Perez did with Lando here we have a perfect example of how both Leclerc on the inside and Verstappen on the outside manage to take the apex, Leclerc slowing down enough to control the car and not crash into Verstappen, I saw some people online commenting why Leclerc didn't pay back back Verstappen for Texas and Vegas after he got push hard twice, the first intentional and the last "not intentional" but Leclerc decided not to, there is a thin line between been an aggressive but still within the rules and I think rules need to change, they have to be more strict when it comes to the first lap, its ok for drivers to be aggressive at the start of the race but contact must be avoid at all cost and any sign of aggression should be penalize so we can have clean starts and not all the carnage we got on 2023, specially in Australia, on Abu Dhabi Leclerc put up the Good Driver shirt and left enough space for Verstappen on the outside, he probably just wanted this race to finish same as Hamilton.

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Speaking of Hamilton we got also have to talk about Alonso since they had a fare battle, well not on Hamilton opinion, but Alonso did brake test Hamilton, both long time rivals, not necessarily fighting over a spot on the championship since Hamilton was way ahead of Alonso he was not going to miss the opportunity to beat him on this race and piss him off, Hamilton has openly say how he wanted so bad for the season to be over and he gets a new car, how this season has been so bad for him, then what can we say about Alonso and Aston Martin??, on one had Hamilton is probably complaining the most about how hard he has to battle the car but he still end up third on the championship, considering this he could very well bring the fight to Red Bull next year if Mercedes get things right with their new car. Alonso has not complain much about the balance of the car but about how slow it is, at the start of the season they had the advantage with great balance, Ferrari was destroying tires with degradation problems and Mercedes was a total disaster having all kind of problems specially the bouncing that wont let them perform but once this two teams some what took care of their problems then Aston Martin started to stay behind.

 

 

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Viewers are starting to get tired of Formula 1, I agree with anyone saying Formula 1 is boring and not worth watching, this from a regular viewer opinion, they are the ones going to races, paying tickets, buying merch, average viewers are the ones who make the sport possible no the nerds watching free practice but there have been previous dominance before the most recent Hamilton with Mercedes and Schumacher wtih Ferrari, but Red Bull has taken it to another level specially this season.

• Win 21 out of 22 races
• One and Two on Drivers Championship
• Constructor Championship with six races to go
• Drivers Championship with five race to go

Just to mention the records Verstappen, Perez and Red Bull achieve this season, the ones with most impact because Verstappen alone was way worst keep braking all kind of records, its only been two years of the new generation of rules, we still have two more to go; on 2026 a new set of rules will be introduce along with a new car, does this means Red Bull continue to dominate for two more years? can spectators take more of it? it would not be a surprise if they continue wining, probably not at this pace because what they have done is record braking, the team only lost one race and Verstappen alone three races that's insane, next year we need Mercedes, Mclaren and Aston Martin get their shit together, next year Yuki and Ricciardo are getting the RB19 so this could get worst in terms of Red Bull dominance if now they also start getting Alphatauri or what ever their new name will be taking podiums with Verstappen, so is Formula 1 really getting worst? I think so but there are still two more years of suffering before rules change that could take out some of their advantage.