Max Verstappen has won a staggering 22 of the last 26 races since the start of last season. Since the Dutchman has been so dominant, many believe that the sport has now become “boring“. However, Dale Earnhardt Jr is not one of them. The NASCAR driver used examples from the past to explain why fans should embrace Verstappen’s domination. Earnhardt Jr gave the example of his father, who won six of the nine championships he competed in. When asked to comment on Verstappen’s current domination in a recent interview, Earnhardt Jr said,
“Why aren’t we amazed and just in awe of what he accomplished tonight? But instead, we thought ‘Oh man this is the worst. Gosh, I hope that never happens again.’ I thought that wasn’t the case 30/40/50 years ago. Somebody went out and did something truly unique and was quite a bit better than the rest of the competitors, we celebrated that for decades. That made that person an icon and somebody that we’ll remember forever”.
The NASCAR racer then concluded his remarks by stating that F1 will not always witness a driver who is so dominant. Hence, Earnhardt Jr believes that when a driver like Verstappen comes along, his domination “should be celebrated“.
Since Verstappen has already won three of the opening four races this season, 2024 could be another year when he dominates. The statistic could have been even better for him had he not retired in Melbourne due to an issue with his RB20’s brakes.
While experts like Earnhardt Jr may be in awe of Verstappen’s current domination, the F1 owners are not happy.
F1 bosses admit Max Verstappen’s dominance is slowly yet surely becoming a problem
According to viewership data, F1 have lost several fans ever since Max Verstappen began dominating the sport week in and week out. Even though the United States are now hosting three races, ESPN reported that 650,000 fewer fans tuned in to catch the action compared to 2022.
This significant drop in viewership concerned F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali as well. However, the sport could once again become ‘interesting’ this season since teams seem to have closed down the gap to Red Bull.
Ferrari proved the same as they registered a dominant 1-2 in Australia. Carlos Sainz won the race, while Charles Leclerc finished second in the other Ferrari. Moreover, McLaren also seemed to have enough pace to challenge Red Bull during qualifying in Melbourne.
Therefore, if Ferrari and McLaren were to bring more successful upgrades over the course of the 2024 season, then they could perhaps threaten Red Bull for more victories as the campaign progresses. If that were to happen, then F1 could once again witness an increase in viewership.
