Bull runs, a Mercedes farewell tour, driver churn: Formula One storylines to keep an eye on Premium

Formula One faced a crisis in 2020, but a documentary series sparked a resurgence, setting the stage for the 2024 season.

At the start of this decade, Formula One was on the precipice of a big crisis with the onset of the global pandemic in 2020. That year, the season shut down days before the first race in Melbourne after a few members of the McLaren team tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

The economic fallout could have been catastrophic for one of the most expensive sports on the planet. However, F1 struck gold in a bleak time when a humble documentary series about the 2019 season got a new set of people — cooped up in their homes because of lockdowns — to discover the sport.

In 2021, when things returned to normalcy, F1 had a season for the ages where the title was controversially decided on the last lap of the last race in favour of Max Verstappen. Since that season, which further boosted the sport’s popularity, Red Bull and Verstappen have only grown in strength. A cruise to the drivers and constructors’ titles in 2022 became an obliteration of the field in 2023. Red Bull won all but one race last year, Verstappen claiming 19 of the 22.

And so, the 2024 season finds F1 at a crossroads again. It may not be facing an existential threat but it’s certainly nursing some headaches. Ahead of the 75th year of the F1 World Championship, The Hindu explores the storylines set to play out over the next 10 months.

The big question on everyone’s mind is, who can stop — or even challenge — the Verstappen-Red Bull juggernaut? In sport, nothing good ever comes from predictability. When an audience feels that the result is a foregone conclusion, is there any incentive to tune in?

While it is essential to acknowledge, appreciate and even celebrate such feats of excellence, extended periods of dominance eventually turn off the neutral and casual fans.

Even for Red Bull and Verstappen, their achievements will have more lustre if they are made to work for it rather than just disappearing into the distance once the five red lights go out.