Formula One: The Historical Precedent of Red Bull’s Dominance
The beginning of the Formula One season has been as exciting as watching grass grow. The racing hasn’t been great in the second year of the new regulations. Max Verstappen’s lead is only 14 points over his teammate Sergio Perez, but each race hasn’t produced much drama.
As M.C. Hammer might say, "You can't touch this" -- namely, Max Verstappen. Photo: Jerome Miron / USA Today Sports
Red Bull has been so far ahead of the other constructors that the only battle at the front this season towards the end of a race was at Miami when Verstappen passed Perez. That only occurred because Verstappen started ninth due to a red flag in qualifying.
Beyond the front, the midfield of Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari haven’t done much fighting because there’s very little difference in race pace between the three constructors. Therefore, there’s not much overtaking as no one has the difference in pace to do it.
Red Bull’s dominance has produced a rare feat: It has won each of the opening five rounds of the championship. A constructor has only done this five other times in the past 31 years. Let’s look at those instances and how those years ended up playing out. Could history repeat itself?
2019-Mercedes
The duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas dominated the field, as a Mercedes driver led all 21 rounds of the championship. Hamilton led after five rounds with three wins and Bottas had two.
This was one of the more boring championships in recent memory. Hamilton cruised to the championship, winning by 87 points over Bottas, who never threatened in the second half of the season. Bottas cruised to a second-place finish in the championship as Mercedes had clearly the best car.
Will we ever see Lewis Hamilton celebrating atop the podium again? Photo: USA Today Sports / Jerome Miron
Unfortunately, 2023 looks like it could be a similar situation. Hamilton only had a seven-point lead over Bottas through five rounds, Verstappen has a 14-point lead over Perez. In both years, Ferrari took a step back after challenging the leading team the year before.
In 2019, it wasn’t until Round 9 that another team besides Mercedes won a race. If it doesn’t happen in Monaco this weekend, we could see something similar in 2023 as the other teams try and make up the ground to Red Bull.
2014-Mercedes
2014 was the beginning of a new era. After Red Bull dominated from 2010-2013, Mercedes took the new V6 hybrid power units by the throat and crushed the rest of the field. Lewis Hamilton won four of the first five races and Rosberg took the other one.
Although the final margin of 67 points between champion Hamilton and Nico Rosberg doesn’t show it, this was a close fight for the championship. The margin was larger because the final race was double points. Hamilton won and Rosberg didn’t score. But Rosberg held the lead of the championship as late as round 13.
Hopefully, 2023 has more variety than 2014 as Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was the only other driver to win a race besides the Mercedes’ duo. He won three times and finished 79 points behind Rosberg in third. Yikes.
2004-Ferrari
This was Michael Schumacher’s last title and his most dominant start of a season. He won the first five races of the season and 12 out of the first 13. Utterly ridiculous dominance. He set the record of 13 wins in a season which Verstappen passed last year with 15 wins.
Schumacher cruised to the championship with his teammate Rubens Barrichello finishing second. Although Schumacher won 13 out of 18 races, Renault, Williams and McLaren all had a driver win a race for them. Something similar could be on the cards at the end of the 2023 season for Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes.
1996-Williams
Some new fans to the sport must be thinking, really? Williams? Yes Williams. In the 1990s Williams was a championship contender, winning five constructors' championships and four drivers’ championships. In 1996, the duo of Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve blitzed the opposition with Hill winning four of the first five races and Villeneuve winning the other one.
Jacques Villeneuve talks to the press during 2022 Daytona 500 media day at Daytona International Speedway. Photo: Mike Dinovo / USA Today Sports
Hill had control of the championship for most of the year, although Villeneuve had a long shot going into the final round in Japan. However, Hill won the race and Villeneuve failed to score points.
Michael Schumacher won multiple races in his first season with Ferrari. The other driver to win a race was Olivier Panis in a Ligier in a wild race in Monaco. Williams’ fans and team members dream of years like this.
1992-Williams
Earlier in the decade Williams did it again but with one man. Nigel Mansell won the first five races of the season and never looked back. With 108 points, he nearly doubled his teammate Riccardo Patrese’s 56 points in second place.
Williams and Mansell’s dominance that year is especially impressive when you look at some of the legends they were beating like Michael Schumacher and Aryton Senna.
Like in 2004, there was a variety of winners beneath the champion’s dominance. Benetton and McLaren also took home race wins as four other drivers won races besides Mansell.