“Breaking the Rules Gives You Advantages”: Max Verstappen and His Team’s Shocking $4.4 Billion Damage to F1 Sparks Outrage Among Fans.
In 2022, as the F1 era began, there were expectations for a shift in power between Red Bull and Mercedes. However, despite hopes that the intense competition seen in 2021 would continue, Red Bull emerged as the dominant force on the grid. Max Verstappen’s exceptional performance last year has continued, reaching new levels of fascination and breaking records. However, this dominance is causing concern for F1’s owners, Liberty Media, and is frustrating fans who want to see a more competitive race.
Autosport & Motorsport recently shared a graphic that highlights the significant decline in F1’s social media metrics from 2022 to 2023. The number of mentions has drastically decreased from 6.14 million to 1.83 million. Additionally, there has been a 46.29% drop in new followers. In comparison, F1’s overall reach has only been 22.16 billion, which is significantly lower than the 61.73 billion it achieved last year. These numbers indicate that fans are losing interest in F1 due to the dominance of one team and driver.
Check out this post on Instagram.
This is a post from Autosport’s Instagram account.
As a result of Verstappen and Red Bull’s domination, there has been a decrease in social media activity. This could also lead to a decrease in viewers and followers of the sport. In 2017, Liberty Media invested $4.4 billion to take ownership of Formula 1 and since then, their main focus has been expanding the sport’s reach to new audiences. Therefore, a decline in numbers is not ideal for them as it could negatively impact their significant investment and potentially result in financial losses.
Several Twitter users offered their opinions on the potential factors contributing to the negative statistics in Formula 1. The main targets of criticism were Red Bull, Verstappen, and their supporters, who received a barrage of controversial comments in response.
Fans criticize Max Verstappen and Red Bull for previous errors, putting Formula 1’s popularity in jeopardy.
The controversy surrounding Red Bull has been ongoing since the events of Abu Dhabi in 2021. The team faced backlash for violating the cost cap, leading to negative comments from fans on social media. The 2023 season has only added fuel to the fire, as Verstappen’s dominating performance and breaking of F1 records has reminded fans of the team’s past mistakes and social media backlash.
Although cheating may provide an advantage, it does not seem to increase viewership numbers. Max is not the one responsible for this.
Everyone knows!#RedBullCheats #F1 https://t.co/rGHiuRXzmf
— Henry Mill (@_HenryMill) September 28, 2023
There is disagreement over the extent of Red Bull’s benefit from the 2021 cost cap violation. However, some fans continue to come up with theories to support the accusations of cheating, especially given their significant advantage.
Several supporters provided an explanation and logical breakdown of the reasons behind the decrease in numbers, attributing it to a combination of heightened expectations from fans after 2021 and Red Bull’s exceptional performance in the past two years.
The 400k viewership does not sustain until the first race due to domination. The numbers remain elevated. Those with high expectations for the 2021 season are leaving because they were disappointed by the reality of Formula 1.
Max is the designated driver, while RB is fulfilling the responsibilities expected of a team and they executed it successfully.
— iaiaiaiaiaiaiaiaiaia (@butter_dawg) September 29, 2023
A fan brought up Verstappen’s first title win in the post-Abu Dhabi story.
Never was…
Never will be !#taintedchamp— Mach55 (@iMach55) September 28, 2023
Another used just amplified the pain of this dominance for many others, citing what if the regulations came in 2021 as planned. Oh, the massacre for Mercedes!
Max Verstappen proudly boasts about his dominant performance in F1 without considering the greater good.
What if the recent regulations had been implemented in 2021 as originally planned? Mercedes would currently be in their third year of underperforming and the Abu Dhabi race probably would not have taken place. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes were fortunate in the 2021 season.
— Steve Tadman (@Steve777eng) September 29, 2023
Naturally, there are always differing viewpoints. F1 has a history of dominant periods. The most recent one was not too far in the past. As previously stated, Mercedes was the team that struggled after 2021. A fan made a comment about this, defending Red Bull and accusing Mercedes of the same actions as RBR.
Red Bull did not engage in cheating.
The number of people watching and attending events this season is exceptionally high.
The number of viewers decreased during the time when the merc team was dominating. Some may point fingers at the other teams for not putting in enough effort to be competitive.
— Andrew (@ItsAndyy) September 29, 2023
Despite this, the conversation on social media will continue until Red Bull’s dominance ends. Although fans hope this will happen in 2024 and result in a title fight like two years ago, it remains uncertain.
Do you have any thoughts on whether Verstappen and Red Bull’s domination is causing fans to lose interest in F1?
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The post “Cheating Gives You Wings”: Max Verstappen & Co.’s Dramatic $4,400,000,000 Damage to F1 Leaves Fans Fuming appeared first on EssentiallySports.
