The supermarket wine advice that even F1 cannot escape

When it is time to reflect on a Formula 1 season gone, it is inevitable that the moments that stand out in our memories are either the great races or the spectacular occurrences.

For 2022, we will think of George Russell’s barnstorming win in Brazil, Max Verstappen’s charges through the field in Hungary and Belgium, or incidents like Guanyu Zhou’s Silverstone crash and Charles Leclerc’s cruel engine blow ups in Spain and Baku.

What tends to quickly get erased are the boring races where fans tuned in for two hours and, quite literally, nothing happened. Not many people are going to want to watch a replay of the Mexican Grand Prix, nor go back over those dull afternoons in Baku and Italy.

It is those bad days that often lead to calls for F1 to have a rethink and get an answer to why the same cars and drivers that can deliver thrillers one weekend can equally be left struggling to unlock any entertainment just a few days later. It could be argued that, surely in this era where fans are paying for the privilege of watching F1 behind paywalls, the championship’s bosses should be doing everything in their power to ensure that every race on the calendar is a thriller?

Well, in actual fact, no. One of the core attractions of live sport is that it is unpredictable and unscripted. It is not like a Netflix series that guarantees each episode ends with a cliff hanger and everything gears up for a nail-biting end-of-season finale that will be sure to have a twist or two in the tale.

Verstappen's charge through the field in the Belgium GP was a season highlight

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Instead, whether you are tuning in to a motor race or a football match, you do so with the firm knowledge that you could be about to watch the greatest 90 minutes of action in your life, or it could be an absolute dud. But the scale of that unpredictability is exactly what makes it so appealing in the first place. In fact, what adds to the allure, is that the smallest of events can help turn what looked like being a guaranteed disappointment into an absolute banger.

Just look at the World Cup final last Sunday. Up until the 80th minute, the match had been a bit lacking as France was subpar and Argentina had appeared to have engaged cruise control after going 2-0 up early on.

But those two rapid goals from Kylian Mbappe completely turned the game on its head, lifted the spirits of the French and helped ignite an end to the thriller that some have suggested was the greatest World Cup final of all time.

“I’m a wine enthusiast and a very good friend of mine reminded me you should occasionally have some supermarket plonk to remind you how good your good stuff is. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with supermarket plonk, but it’s just to get your references” Ross Brawn

F1 also has that capability of turning the mundane into the brilliant in the blink of an eye. Whether it is the arrival of rain (2019 German GP), runaway race leaders hitting trouble (2014 Canadian GP) or an unexpected late safety car (Abu Dhabi 2021), what can sometimes be looking like a dull afternoon turns into a magic one.

But the other truth of the extremes of sport is that it is impossible to know what a good spectacle is if you don’t endure some bad ones along the way. The 3-3 World Cup final thriller was so great because there have been plenty of 0-0 duds in the past. And the best races are so utterly brilliant because we get our fair share of processions, too.

The 2014 Canadian GP turned on its head when the leading Mercedes cars unexpectedly hit trouble

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

It is that understanding which drives F1’s outgoing managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn to feel that there is no need for alarm about the way that 2022 appeared to have as many boring races as it did entertaining ones.

“I think it’s degrees, isn’t it?” he said when we spoke at the end of the season.

“I’m a bit old-school and I sort of feel if you had a brilliant race every weekend they’d become normal. And we need a sort of average race to remind us how good the good ones are.”

He then made a very interesting analogy about how there are many aspects of life where we need to be reminded about bad things to truly appreciate what the good things are like.

“I’m a wine enthusiast and a very good friend of mine reminded me you should occasionally have some supermarket plonk to remind you how good your good stuff is,” he smiled.

“It’s not that there’s anything wrong with supermarket plonk, but it’s just to get your references. And if you have spectacular races every weekend, I wonder…

Brawn believes the duller races help make the thrillers more enjoyable

Photo by: Patrick Vinet / Motorsport Images

“But there’s not been many [bad races] have there? Monza was a bit dull, wasn’t it? It’s a blur. But I can remember we had some great racing in Brazil – that was great. Austin was great. It’s more the majority. I think the majority are great races and that’s what we want.

“If we can have a majority, people will watch through. And even races that look like they’re going to be a bit mundane suddenly burst into life with a safety car. Suddenly they’re all there, they can race again. So, I think it’s been a good balance, actually, in terms of exciting races and I’m pleased.”

Brawn is correct that targeting every race to be a thriller would be a hiding to nothing. To achieve it would probably mean an element of unpopular manipulation to add some artificial drama - be it elements like reversed grids or success ballast.

And, while there would be some short-term uptick in smashing out some spectacular races, it would not take very long before the thrillers became the norm. And then trying to deliver something extra special would be impossible.

Instead, maintaining F1’s meritocracy, and delivering a set of rules that ensures – more times than not – that the action is something to get excited about, is a much more solid foundation for a successful long-term future. That seems very much the approach of F1’s current bosses who are realistic about what can and cannot be achieved when it comes to delivering the right spectacle.

It’s something we should all raise our glasses of cheap supermarket plonk (or something a bit posher) to, as we wave goodbye to both the highlights and the lowlights of the 2022 season that has gone.

The Mexican GP won't be remembered as a 2022 highlight, but these races still have a role to play

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images