F1 face problem not seen for over 30 years and it's creeping up fast
No more heroes anymore...
Whatever you think of modern Formula 1, including the engines’ Mario Kart buy-in, and what the product should be instead, one problem is being ignored.
Now there is a good reason for this because it’s not exactly visible right now, but Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix gave us a glimpse into F1’s future and when you scratch under the surface of the awesome start to the season Kimi Antonelli is having, there is something worrying up ahead.
As Metallica might say, that soothing light at the end of the tunnel? It’s just a freight train coming your way.
The issue is while F1 certainly have talented drivers at their disposal, who are the charisma magnets ready to become the face of the sport in the future?
Hamilton, Verstappen and Alonso are the stars
Right now, that isn’t a problem. Lewis Hamilton is a global superstar and could do the job single handed. But he is also 41 years old. Fernando Alonso was the breakout star of the 2000s as the Spanish star that ended Michael Schumacher’s dominance. But he is 44 years old. These guys are not going to be around for long.
Max Verstappen you may argue can carry the sport, and you would be right. But how long is he going to stick around for while F1 continues to do everything it can to make racing as sanitised and marketable to a casual fan as possible while ignoring how to make it look like the pinnacle motor racing series? Take those quit threats seriously.
Verstappen, Hamilton and Alonso were not at the front on Sunday and without them, F1’s visible lack of star power was exposed.
Who is F1’s next big star?
What does that leave us with? The super quick drivers that would step up include Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli, Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri.
The issue these drivers currently have is they don’t command the authority and possess the gravitas the likes of Verstappen, Hamilton and Alonso earn as soon as they enter a room.
F1’s always had them. Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell were all huge marketable figures with personality and just about any driver on the grid before 1985 was, let’s say, a ‘character’ too. To add to this, F1 wasn’t the corporate behemoth it is now where public image is everything.
This doesn’t just stick to champions by the way. Even Daniel Ricciardo became a fan favourite for petrol heads and casuals alike for his positive upbeat yet incredibly charismatic persona before he departed in 2024.
If he came back today to drive for anyone he would probably command more attention than the current top four in the championship.
Where are the personalities going to come from in F1’s future? Who’s going to walk into a press conference like Hamilton blinged out in any jewellery he can find to prove a point to the FIA?
Who’s going to shoot from the hip with no filtered comments and no consideration for formal politeness at perceived injustice like Verstappen? Whether he is correct or not, he is blockbuster on and off the track.
Not many drivers on the grid seem ready to fill this potential void, Norris has already admitted his output off the track is in the hands of his media team. Russell’s ‘Jack the Lad’ persona isn’t to everyone’s taste.
Antonelli doesn’t look like he will say boo to a goose and Leclerc is far too much of a genuinely reserved and nice guy to ever have that spikey side to him that creates drama and gossip.
Furthermore, Norris (really sorry to keep picking on you, Lando) and Piastri somehow made an intra-team McLaren title fight look like a pre-season tiddlywinks fixture when it should have been the gladiatorial deathmatch served up by Alonso and Hamilton.
F1’s last big major star problem
F1 hasn’t had this problem since the immediate aftermath of the death of Senna in 1994, the last time a grid didn’t feature a world champion. Schumacher was the next big thing but still without the authority. Then F1 leader Bernie Ecclestone was so desperate he had to bring back Mansell to use as a poster boy and even that was part time.
MotoGP have a similar issue right now in trying to find a rider who has the talent and casual appeal that the great Valentino Rossi had. Viewing figures are going up again but for a couple of years after the legendary Italian’s 2021 retirement, trying to grow an audience was tricky. In what could be a lesson to F1, Marc Marquez has the talent, is a nice guy, but not the marketing ticket of Rossi (at least outside of Spain).
To be fair to F1, this isn’t their fault. Personalities can’t be created on the spot, neither can they be faked. Maybe drivers are too media trained and are afraid to offend anyone or anything (and let’s be honest, for some people being offended is a hobby).
But right now, if Verstappen, Hamilton or Alonso depart who are you really backing to carry the sport in the same manner?
Charles LeClerc. Beautiful wife, Manaco, Ferrari,tri lingual, great French accent, handsome, concert pianist, and whatever else. If he was a word champion he would be huge. Norris , meh.