This season the Formula One World Championship has ten different constructors participating the tournament: Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Williams, Lotus, Manor, Toro Rosso, Sauber, Force India and McLaren.
Rewind a few years and the World Championship had an extra two teams battling it out, adding four more drivers to the field. Teams like HRT, Caterham and Renault being recent teams to drop out of the famous racing series.
In these days, twenty-four drivers would battle out every race, each driver desperate for the best possible outcome for themselves and their team. This was a huge benefit for the sport, there wouldn’t be just one back-marker team such as Manor. You may have had a couple or even a few teams battling out at the back, making races a little more competitive – knowing that the team who lost the battle could end up losing their spot in Formula One.
Instead of this, though, we see the Manor Marussia drivers cruising around at the back of the field every race, usually failing to keep up with the teams in front of them. However, this may not mean there isn’t a future for that team. Mid-table team Force India started off at the back of the field before building their way up to where they are now.
But, was racing better with twelve teams? Now we have Mercedes dominance, sometimes Ferrari will beat them like they did in Hungary and Singapore. I think the answer is: depends on what the team is or who is running it’. Haas F1 team will make their début in the 2016 Formula One World Championship, a team that has been successful in other motorsports including Nascar. Haas is a famous name and I will expect them to be a mid-table team next season. They will also be the first F1 team to use Dallara chassis since HRT did before they left the sport.
Maybe more teams wouldn’t affect the front running teams, but it will change the mid-table scrap. Teams such as Force India, Williams and Toro Rosso are competing with each other in order to acquire the highest possible finish they can.
I personally don’t believe more teams will make that much of a difference, but if you look at how Red Bull have progressed it makes more sense for there to be more teams. Red Bull made their F1 début in the 2005 season at Australia. Since then they have won numerous constructors’ and driver’s championships – despite this season not being their strongest.
This goes back to the original question, do we need more drivers on the grid? I believe it will make racing a lot more interesting and competitive, but not necessarily at the front of the grid.
Post your opinions in the comments!
