Red Bull – Mercedes Fight Out in the Closest Constructors Championship Ever
This year’s Fromula1 has been incredible. The title is not yet decided with just two races remaining. Verstappen leads Hamilton with just 8 points. Even closer however is the race for constructor championship. Currently, Mercedes lead Red Bull with just 5 points. This is the closest constructors battle since the points system was introduced.
With just two races remaining, the championship is still wide open. A 1-2 win from Mercedes at Saudi Arabia on 5 December 2021, would win them the championship but given Red Bull’s form, it is a very unlikely outcome.
Rule change a good thing for F1?
FIA rules have favoured high rake cars this year. This rule change has been the most disadvantageous for the Mercedes team who were flying way ahead of the competition. In 2020, the gap between Mercedes and Red Bull was 259, the highest ever since 2010. The Mercedes cars were so quick that Ham-Bot-Ver became a literal meme given their frequency.
This year Red Bull and Mercedes are so close that anyone could be at the top come the end of the season. FIA nerfing Mercedes has certainly invigorated competition on the grid. There has been a great influx of viewers due to the competitiveness of this season’s races. Although a huge credit also goes to Netlfi’s show Drive to Survive which has brought in a huge number of new followers to F1.
The Middle East not worthy of title deciders
This year’s Formula 1 races have been very close and excited. Much of the credit goes to the huge number of fans who not only motivate the drivers but also bring so much content for online viewers. The more people attending the F1 weekend creates more buzz on the internet and hence races, as a result, are more exciting since there is so much going on all around the races.
Races in Qatar however have not garnered similar attention as European or North American counterparts. Some reports suggest that there were only 8,000 people in attendance for the Qatar GP. This when compared to more than 60,000 attendance from Brazil and a mammoth 400,000 3-day attendance from the US GP paint a very dull picture for the sport. Many fans are rightfully annoyed at FIA’s decision to host the title deciders at such uninteresting tracks.
The Middle East hosting the end of the season races however necessary for the sport. The middle east is chosen to host the end of the season races because of the extremely cold weather in the west. The schedule for these races are decided before the start of the season and does not depend on the competitiveness of the sport. The F1 fans would have to make do with a slightly boring atmosphere around the track since nothing can be done to change it now. We just hope the drivers
