The joy that exposes F1’s key weakness

It’s been good to see the smile back on the faces of some former Formula 1 drivers this year.

Marcus Ericsson’s maiden IndyCar victory and Kevin Magnussen’s first IMSA Sportscar Championship success in Detroit last weekend, a few weeks after Romain Grosjean captured his first IndyCar pole position in the Indy GP, showed just how much they had forgotten what it felt like to be on top. As Grosjean remarked recently about seeing his name against P1 after so long being mired in F1's midfield, “it’s like being alive again.”

In fact, you have to go back quite a way to find the last time any of them achieved such a feat. Prior to last weekend, Ericsson’s most recent victory was at the Nurburgring in GP2 in 2013, while his Chip Ganassi Racing stablemate Magnussen’s last triumph was in the same year in the season finale of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series at Barcelona.

For Grosjean, there was a pole position in an Andros Trophy round in December 2016, but in terms of single-seaters you have to rewind to the GP2 round in Hungary 2011 to find his last pole.

It is quite remarkable that in the trio's combined 395 grands prix starts between the 2009 European Grand Prix and last year’s Abu Dhabi season finale, they never managed a single pole position nor victory between them.

#01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi: Renger van der Zande, Kevin Magnussen

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

On the one hand, you could argue that such a run proves the quality of F1, and that to get on top in qualifying or in the race is something only the very best-of-the-best can do. By spreading it out to everybody, you end up devaluing the success.

There is certainly some merit in F1 needing to ensure that not anybody can turn up and win (especially in an era where seats can be bought), but equally there is a big difference between good drivers having at least a shot at being on top on the right day and them being forever consigned to never getting there.

Speaking after his triumph at Detroit last weekend, Ericsson singled out the contrast between racing in IndyCar that offered him at least the chance of success when the cards fell right, and in F1 where winning was never really on the cards.

"Days that I completely forgot about are when you get to race weekend, you got those butterflies because you know if you do everything right, you may end up on pole or trying to win the race" Romain Grosjean

“I came over here after five years of F1,” he said. “One of the big goals coming over here was to win races again. Obviously in F1 I was in smaller teams where it was not any chance realistically to win a race. That was the big thing when I came over here, to have that opportunity again.”

Speaking after his pole at the Indy road course earlier this year, Grosjean said that there had been some moments in F1 where he had known he had done a good job, but that was still a world away from being P1.

“I take the example of Germany last year where I finished ninth, with the Haas car, that was quite special,” he said. “I think Germany 2018 as well, we were like 12th after the last safety car. I came back finishing sixth or something in the last 10 laps. That was quite cool.

“Even though you're not winning, you've got that feeling. Days that I completely forgot about are when you get to race weekend, you got those butterflies because you know if you do everything right, you may end up on pole or trying to win the race. That's definitely something I had no chance to do over the last few years.”

Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda wins the NTT Pole Award

Photo by: Barry Cantrell / Motorsport Images

But while the difficulty of winning in F1 is certainly part of its attraction, it’s fair to say that grand prix racing went too far down a path where success was limited to barely a handful of people.

In fact, there was a remarkable period in 2017 and 2018 where the top three teams of Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari locked out the podium spots from virtually everybody else. It was only some crazy races in Baku, with Lance Stroll finishing third in 2017 and Sergio Perez taking a similar result in 2018, that broke the stranglehold.

Such form was a huge driving force for F1 making efforts to level up the playing field with new financial regulations, a better spread of commercial rights income and fairer technical rules longer term. As Ross Brawn said at the time: “Two podiums from a total of 123 [across the two seasons] is unacceptable, especially when it comes with an ever increasing technical and financial divide.

"It's a problem we are tackling together with the FIA and the teams, because the future of Formula 1 depends on it. There are various solutions on the table and we must all accept that we can't go on like this for too much longer."

The proof of F1’s work will be unleashed next year when new F1 cars, which are aimed at improving the racing, are raced for the first time. But perhaps already we are getting a taster of how it’s some of the off-track processes, like the impact of the cost cap, that are starting to level the playing field a little bit.

That Racing Point (now Aston Martin) and AlphaTauri won races last year, and McLaren is back fighting for podiums, shows that F1’s low point of those 2017/2018 campaigns have proved to be the bottom.

What the more mixed up order, and midfielders coming away with the wins, shows also is that F1’s value is not weakened by there being different winners. In fact, it makes it better.

Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin, 2nd position, the Red Bull trophy delegate, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, and Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri, 3rd position, on the podium

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Having Gasly and Perez as race winners adds stature to them and their teams, which lifts the quality of the whole grid. Plus, it’s not as if such success comes easily and regularly so nothing is being handed out for free.

A more even playing field with F1’s new post-2022 rules, once they eventually settle down, are aimed at making it possible for every team to go into a weekend with at least a sniff of doing something great if the cards fall the right way.

The changing tides under Liberty Media should at least offer hopes to many of F1’s youngsters that they won’t need to head elsewhere if they want to feel ‘alive’ with success over the next few years

It is those very circumstances, the potential to be P1 on your best day, that is exactly what the likes of Ericsson, Magnussen and Grosjean missed during their lengthy F1 careers.

And while it may be too late now for them to achieve that in grand prix racing, the changing tides under Liberty Media should at least offer hopes to many of F1’s youngsters that they won’t need to head elsewhere if they want to feel ‘alive’ with success over the next few years.

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M, Nicholas Latifi, Williams FW43B, Mick Schumacher, Haas VF-21, and Nikita Mazepin, Haas VF-21, chase the pack at the start

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images