Analysis: F1 - Boring or Brilliant?

At what point does brilliance become boring?

The question is not one that Ferrari's Michael Schumacher will waste too much time on, as he steams towards a record-equalling fifth Formula One title and writes himself ever further into the record books. But it is being asked by others.

Pundits, particularly in Britain where the German has never been the fans' most popular driver after past battles with Damon Hill and David Coulthard, have been pondering an increased boredom factor.

Schumacher's fourth win in five races last weekend intensified the feeling that Formula One had hit the snooze control, with Schumacher ever more superlative and the new Ferrari F2002 in a Championship of its own.

"Has Schu made F1 too boring?," asked the Sun newspaper after a weekend in Spain punctuated by similar questions around the Barcelona paddock.

An older generation, recalling far more dangerous and carefree days, might suggest that the excitement was watered down years ago. The reply from Formula One folk, who have a vested interest in the health of the world's pre-eminent glamour sport, is invariably upbeat.

The deepening chasm between top teams and the rest is another matter but the enthusiasm that surrounds Schumacher's talent is genuine.

Absolute Genius

"We are seeing an absolute genius at work," Eddie Jordan told reporters last Friday when asked whether Schumacher's prowess was damaging Formula One's popularity. "Michael is a treasure and a star and it is a pleasure to witness what he is doing.

"You wouldn't criticise Tiger Woods for dominating in golf so why criticise Michael? He is making the players in Formula One, who are unbelievably talented, look inferior."

"How anyone can be bored at watching the greatest Grand Prix driver that has ever lived is simply beyond me," declared Britain's former racer John Watson.

Austrian Gerhard Berger said simply that he did not believe Schumacher's domination was bad for the sport while International Automobile Federation (FIA) head Max Mosley bounced the question back.

"All sport is boring from time to time," he said. "That's the difference between sport and a circus or the theatre. Yet the season is still very young and it would be wrong to assume that the rest of the year will necessarily develop in the same way."

Schumacher's run of success is not new for Formula One and is not even his own best start to a year. In the tragic 1994 season, overshadowed by the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, he won the first four races and finished second in the fifth. He then won the next two races as well.

In 1992, Nigel Mansell reeled off five straight wins in succession while fellow Briton Damon Hill notched up four wins in the first five races of 1996. There were not many Britons complaining then, just as Italians and Germans were still glued to their television sets on Sunday to watch Ferrari triumph.

Williams reigned in the mid 1990s, McLaren then took over before Ferrari celebrated their first drivers' title in 21 years with Schumacher's triumph in 2000.

It is only a few races since Schumacher and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya were banging their cars into each other and fighting for track space. Austria, where they had a big coming-to last season, is next up on the calendar. If history teaches anything about Formula One, it is that fortunes change and nothing lasts forever.

That includes 'boredom'.