Could F1’s worst nightmare become its biggest selling point?

What once seemed like an impossible dream has now suddenly become a target. A complete season clean sweep of victories in Formula 1 is well within the grasp of Red Bull, whose dominant RB19 has shown little evidence of losing its advantage over its rivals who have already switched focus to their 2024 ambitions.

There still remains the possibility of bad luck derailing its bid – either through a crash or unexpected poor reliability – but if Red Bull keeps doing what it has so brilliantly done so far this year, that 100% feat can be ticked off. As Red Bull’s Helmut Marko said about the prospect of the clean sweep after Italy: "First of all our goal is to secure the world championships. But let’s say if we win in Singapore, then the chance is there that we can win all the races. Of course, it is becoming a goal now.

"In the beginning of the season, it was not realistic to win all the races and it has never happened before. McLaren was stopped here [in Italy], so the press constructed a story that the curse would hit us as well. But we didn’t let it hit us."

PLUS: Why Singapore's 2023 track changes should hurt Red Bull

The idea of one team winning every single race is not something that the promoter of any championship would embrace – let alone a series as big as F1. And with grand prix racing still riding the crest of a wave of popularity that has been triggered by a combination of the post-COVID uptick, the 2021 season spectacular/controversy and the Netflix effect, the unfolding of a fairly lacklustre campaign is not ideal.

Sure, F1 will eventually look back on this Verstappen masterclass with the same rose-tinted glasses that it uses to recall fondly McLaren’s 1988 and Ferrari’s 2002 campaigns, but that doesn’t help put bums on seats in the moment.

And there is no harder sell to convince spectators to come watch a sporting event than if they are already known who the winner is going to be. But there could be an inverse phenomenon to the whole thing right now in that the longer the Red Bull and Verstappen streak continues, then the more it actually becomes interesting seeing it play out.

Verstappen and Red Bull's dominance may one day be remembered fondly, but that won't boost popularity right now

Photo by: Erik Junius

The mindset of people could well shift from tuning in and hopefully seeing Red Bull being thrown off its perch, to switching on and appreciating seeing it continue its merry march.

Just as Tiger Woods at his peak in golfing, or Usain Bolt when he was the fastest man in the world, proved to be attractive prospects when they were dominating their field, is there a chance that the same thing could keep audiences coming back for more over the remainder of the 2023 season?

It’s something that Liberty CEO Greg Maffei made reference to in a recent investor call when he suggested that F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali was pushing the attraction of Red Bull’s dominance. Asked about the season spectacle in the face of the job Red Bull was doing, Maffei said: "The midfield is quite interesting, and we can show statistically there's more overtaking than has ever occurred.

Seeing out 2023 may not be a problem, because there is a latent interest in seeing something achieved for the very first time, but if F1 begins 2024 and it’s the same old story, then it may well face a much tougher challenge in trying to keep the audiences wanting to come back for more

"The challenge obviously is Max Verstappen is having an unbelievable year or record-setting year. Stefano Domenicali is rightly trying to pivot and say: ‘Come watch this historic event, you've never seen success like this. You don't want to miss it.’ We'll see if that works.

"But the reality is, we have a very attractive, competitive product other than the fact that Max is that fast. Short of breaking his leg, a la Tonya Harding. I'm not sure what we can do about that. But he's a phenom. He's driving what seems to be the fastest car and he's driving it very well. If you look at the lines he's taking, how aggressive those lines are, but how well he's able to navigate them, it is truly stunning. And you can see statistically why he is faster than anybody else."

It will certainly be interesting to know how the narrative plays out as the season nears its end. And especially whether, if Red Bull does keep its run going, the focus becomes a celebration of it achieving something no one has done in the past.

The novelty factor of one team winning everything is not sustainable

Photo by: Erik Junius

But however much F1 can play up the witnessing of history being made, there is little doubt that such levels of dominance cannot become something acceptable over the long term. The novelty factor of one team winning everything will not sit well for a second season.

For now, F1 ticket sales and interest appears to be holding up, although there seems to be a shift in how the audience is consuming the product. Suggestions that F1 is finding itself in a quite conflicted place – with TV viewership down but views on social media platforms up – was all but confirmed in Maffei’s call.

“Viewership is a little tough,” he said. “If you take the totality of interest as measured by growth, not only in linear TV… but how much we've grown, Instagram, YouTube views, TikTok views, the amount of interest in the sport has only catapulted greater, much greater than double digits. So, I'm convinced our demand is very high.”

But it is how long F1 can continue to anticipate that interest being there if Red Bull keeps marching on unopposed that is important here.

Seeing out 2023 may not be a problem, because there is a latent interest in seeing something achieved for the very first time, but if F1 begins 2024 and it’s the same old story, then it may well face a much tougher challenge in trying to keep the audiences wanting to come back for more.

But equally there is little that F1 chiefs can do right now to help their cause. The ball is very much in the court of Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin to ensure that any more records that Red Bull achieve this year are the only time they ever happen.

The ball is in Red Bull's rivals' court to stop it from steamrollering F1 for the next few years

Photo by: Erik Junius