Domination is something that most sports deal with in one shape or another at some stage.
Be it Tiger Woods in golf, Roger Federer in tennis or Manchester United in the English Premier League, there are countless examples of one individual or team proving far too good for their opponents and picking up trophy after trophy.
But in Formula One it is apparently a turn off, at least to the world’s television audience.
Figures cited earlier this month in the 2013 Global Media Report, published by F1’s commercial rights owners, confirmed that 450 million viewers tuned in to watch races last year, a drop of 50 million from the year before.
Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing were almost unstoppable in 2013, winning 13 of the 19 races, with the German driver triumphing in the final nine races of the season to break the record for most successive victories in one F1 season.
Historic stuff, but not the kind of entertainment that makes people reach for their remote control, statistics show.
Interestingly, the figures revealed that there was a 10 per cent drop in Germany, indicating that watching a compatriot run rings around the opposition was not construed as great viewing in German households.
Vettel and Red Bull have won the last four drivers’ and constructors’ titles, winning 41 of the past 77 races and claiming pole position 52 times.
The fast assumption is that viewers are sick of Red Bull and Vettel’s success and want a change.
If that is an accurate assessment, they could be in luck. The Austrian team has had an abysmal start to testing in preparation for the new season.
A flurry of mechanical breakdowns and technical problems, both with the RB10 chassis and with the new V6 engine from Renault, led to the team completing only 21 laps in four days in Jerez last month, the fewest of the 10 teams who took part.
Given the new regulations this season, with the turbo-charged engines and changes to car designs, testing is more important than usual ahead of the opening race of the season in Melbourne, Australia, on March 16.
Having to sit out four days of precious track time, while watching Mercedes-GP, McLaren-Mercedes and Ferrari racking up the laps, is not good news for Red Bull, making the second four-day test in Bahrain, which begins on Wednesday in Sakhir, even more crucial.
It is vital that Red Bull log some quality time on track during the next four days to assess the car and begin working on any defects or changes needed to improve the raw package.
Jerez saw many teams suffer problems, and the aim for most teams was simply to run the car reliably rather than looking for speed and quick lap times.
Mercedes did that better than anyone, with 309 laps during the four days between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, giving them a good base with which to push on in Bahrain, though it is unclear just how fast they truly are.
Red Bull have a lot of work to do this week, but they should not be written off at this early stage. Since they have been unable to string any laps together, nobody knows the speed of the car, good or bad.
It is highly unlikely that Adrian Newey, the team’s chief technical designer and the brains behind the victorious machinery of the past, has created a noncompetitive car.
They are on the back foot, unquestionably, and the two tests in Bahrain, the second of which takes place between March 1 and 4, may not be enough time to put it right before the season starts.
We may be looking at a season that is similar to 2012, when Red Bull improved as the season progressed, in which case it is imperative that their rivals strike early, while the champions are off their game.
That is a potentially positive development for F1 and their bid to get TV viewers clicking the green button on their remote controls again this year.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
