Alex Albon Defends Max Verstappen as 600,000 US Viewers Drop out Amid Unprecedented Dominance

Since Max Verstappen picked up his maiden world championship at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, he’s won a whopping 36 out of 46 races. Last year, the Dutchman won 19 out of 22 races and has won the opening two races this year. Naturally, the narrative that Verstappen is killing the sport by making it boring has been gaining traction. Due to this, the sport reported a staggering drop in viewership. But as many started pointing fingers at the Dutchman for this, his ex-teammate, Alex Albon, defended Verstappen by explaining that the sport today is more exciting than ever.

On the Beyond the Grid podcast, Albon explained, “It’s a bit of a shame to see comments about Max, and it is a boring season because it isn’t. If you take him out of the equation, we have one of the best grids, one of the tightest grids ever in F1. Even if you include Max, it’s still the tightest grid.”  

The numbers that have been circulated on social media show that ESPN recorded a 40% dip in viewership from last year’s Saudi Arabian GP, which roughly translates to a drop in 600,000 viewers in the United States.

While many have been pointing fingers at Verstappen, other credible factors can explain the record-low number of viewers. For instance, this time, the Grand Prix was not held on a Sunday but on a Saturday. Further, the race was not broadcast on ESPN’s flagship channel but on ESPN2 instead.

Is Max Verstappen really making F1 boring?

Albon went on to stress about how close the F1 grid really was. The field is strung together very tightly and the British-Thai driver pointed out at his team’s strategy gaffe to make his point. At the Saudi Arabian GP, a two-lap late pitstop costed him a 6-place deficit when he came out of the pits.

Even during the Bahrain GP, Charles Leclerc emerged as the fastest driver over a single lap (during Q2). Admittedly, the single-lap pace of the RB20 is still something that the team needs to work on, and hence, Verstappen’s race pace and results do not show the entire picture.

Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur has tempered expectations that Red Bull will dominate the 2024 Formula 1 championship season

“If you compare last year, the last third of the season we did five pole positions out of the last seven races or something like this.”

“Between… pic.twitter.com/CKhZYZqOeZ

— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) March 5, 2024

With teams like Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren on the prowl, the Bulls might actually be faced with one of the strongest oppositions they’ve had to battle as the 2024 Formula 1 season progresses.