Despite what most fans would hope for, the current season might become a carbon copy of the previous one, and all signs point toward it. So far, after four races, it’s been a one-team show. This domination from Red Bull has made many fans label the sport boring. In fact, even Lewis Hamilton shares his though, which he revealed in his Miami GP presser. However, as usual, his oldest rival has gone against him and defended this image of the sport.
We are talking about the outspoken Spaniard Fernando Alonso. Alonso is currently enjoying the most competitive period in his F1 career in the last decade. Despite that, a straightforward win isn’t in sight as Max Verstappen and Co. run riot. However, being part of the circus as long as Alonso has, he understands this aspect of Formula 1. In fact, opposing Hamilton, he defended the “boring” accusations in the Miami GP press conference as quoted by F1 Maximaal.
“If you have the fastest car at your disposal, but you start a bit further back, there are opportunities to overtake. But if you’re in one of the other cars, you’re more or less stuck behind your predecessor,” the Spaniard explained. “As a result, we don’t see many overtaking actions further in the race. That is normal for Formula 1. That should not come as a surprise.” (Translated by Google)
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“You will eventually finish the qualification in the place you deserve. In the race, everyone is more or less driving where they belong,” added Alonso.
Read More: Red Bull Outcast Predicts Mercedes & Ferrari To End Max Verstappen’s “Boring” Domination
There is an era of domination after every major rule change. Alonso explained that with Vettel-Webber and Hamilton-Bottas examples. However, Hamilton was more understanding of the fans’ perspective.
Lewis Hamilton sides with the fans in the “boring” debate
The Brit has enjoyed a complete era of dominance with Mercedes from 2014 until the 2021 season. Before him, there was the Red Bull era, which saw Sebastian Vettel win four consecutive titles. This is the law of nature in the world of Formula 1 after every major rule change. Hamilton understands this scenario, however, he is also sympathetic towards the fans.
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“It’s definitely not boring from my perspective but, as a racing fan, I can understand [the boredom factor] because there’s not as much competition as they’re used to. We need to do better as a sport. They have already tried to bring the teams closer, but it never seems to work. All I can say is that we’re working as hard as we can to close up and get back to that… and give them some more excitement,” confessed Hamilton.
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Even though the Red Bull taskmaster would want us to believe otherwise, the previous season was dominated by Verstappen. As things stand, the current season is on the same path. The regulations that promised closer racing are failing for now and there is a bit of boredom associated with racing so far.
However, for the sake of the sport, let’s hope that changes sooner rather than later.