IGNITION

The current state of Formula 1

Breathless. That’s how Formula 1 feels right now. Already we have the fastest-ever cars to have contested the championship – three seconds per lap quicker at Barcelona, a new circuit record at Monaco; already we have the (equal) longest-ever race calendar (21 rounds); and as for the budgets of the big-three teams? Well, they’re nudging $500m per season for a top-team total spend.

Then there’s F1’s owners, Liberty Media, turning the marketing dial up to 11 and pushing the sport’s promotion in ways and into territories never explored. Vietnam and Miami? Almost certainly on the way. The imminent triple-header – France, Austria, Britain: hell for teams, but nectar for fans.

And – praise be! – a forced-through regulation change for 2019 to make front wings simpler and in theory render cars less sensitive to each other’s aerodynamic wake and thereby promote better racing. Superficially, then, all seems well. But there’s a nagging sense that perhaps F1 has become as big as it can – or even should – be.

Consider the finances. Let’s say, hypothetically, that Mercedes win another title double this year, equalling records set by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari from 2000-2004. What if they set a new mark with a further ‘double’ in 2019? How perfect the timing would be for this image-conscious manufacturer to switch their efforts entirely to Formula E – the sustainability focused all-electric championship they will anyway enter for the 201920 season? As team boss Toto Wolff admits in this issue: “If you don’t consider all options, you’re not doing your job properly… at the moment, F1 works well for us. But equally, all options are open for us after 2020. It could be that we go on for ever, it could be that we do something else with the structure… and these are things that I’m considering.”

Without Mercedes setting the financial and performance bar, Ferrari would surely cut their spend and Red Bull – hugely committed but not as an engine maker – would seek to reduce some costs.

And then what? Might a happier equilibrium be established, one where former titans Mclaren and Williams can afford to compete? One where a great independent team such as Force India don’t have to hang on to existence by their financial fingernails? Or not…?

This is a poised moment for F1, a period when its future shape and direction – and indeed its future health and viability – are up for grabs. Heresy to write this, in the context of ‘the world’s fastest sport’, but with so much at stake, might this be a time not for ‘fast forward’, but to pause for breath?