Fernando Alonso Says F1 Not Exciting Like IndyCar, 'It's Little Bit Sad'

Fernando Alonso says "it’s a little bit sad" talking about the predictability of Formula 1 at the moment where it is almost guaranteed that Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing will occupy the top six places after qualifying unless one of the cars of the top three teams suffers a reliability issue or on track mishap.

Mercedes have been the dominant team since the new V6 turbo era was introduced in 2014 and have won four constructors’ and drivers’ titles in as many years. During the same period, Ferrari and Red Bull have been their closest challengers fighting for wins and podiums, but not coming too close to winning the title.

After the top three, come the teams, namely McLaren, Force India, Renault and Williams, battling for supremacy in the midfield for fourth, fifth and sixth places in the constructors’ championship. While Williams and Force India managed a few podium finishes in the last four years, the gulf between the top three teams and the midfield has widened as the cars continued their evolution as the seasons progressed.

Alonso was speaking at the press conference ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday where the new owners of F1 — Liberty Media — were putting forth their plan for the future of F1 when the current Concorde agreement binding all the teams expires in 2020.

The former Renault and Ferrari driver feels the sport has always been dominated by two or three top teams with the rest unable to compete at the sharp end of the grid. The two-time world champion is keen for more teams to be involved in the battle for race wins rather than just the predicted three from the start to the end of the season.

The Spaniard took part in the Indy 500 event in 2017 and compared F1 to the American IndyCar Series, where the unpredictability is high. It is unclear until the final laps, which driver will win as they all have an equal chance to battle for the top step of the podium.

Alonso was unhappy that he could sit at the press conference on Thursday and all but put down the qualifying order owing to the supremacy of the top three teams at the moment.

“Well, I think it could be a closer battle, that will always be welcome but it has always been like that in F1. I remember watching the TV in the very old days… it was on television last week a race from ’90 or ’89 and apart from the first four cars, everyone was flat,” Alonso said Thursday when asked what he would change about F1 if he had the power, as quoted on F1’s official site.

“We remember that era like a golden era, with big names etc and they’ve always been a big spread but I think if you see now, other series, if you watch a race of IndyCars or whatever, that unpredictable result until the last ten laps makes you excited in front of the television and now we can put (down) the qualifying order for this race right now, on Thursday and that’s a little bit sad,” the Spaniard added.