F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has dismissed any possibility of the sport stepping in to put the brake on the dominance of Red Bull and Max Verstappen.
In winning all seven grands prix this year, Red Bull has opened up a 135-point gap over nearest rival Mercedes.
As for Verstappen, in taking the chequered flag in five of those seven races, and finishing runner-up in the other two, the Dutch driver has built a 53-point cushion to team-mate Sergio Perez.
The closest driver to Verstappen from another team is Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who is 71 points off the pace, with Lewis Hamilton a further 12 points back.
At this stage, there appears no stopping Red Bull from cruising to another constructors’ and drivers’ title double, as was the case last year.
It has led to whispered suggestions that F1 and the FIA need to get their heads together to stop the Red Bull juggernaut, and in turn, the fans turning away and switching off at a time when the sport is riding the crest of a popularity wave.
Asked whether changing the regulations mid-season crossed his mind in order to slow Red Bull, speaking to the Beyond the Grid podcast, Domenicali said: “It is not fair to say that, it is not correct.
“We cannot be seen as a sport of manipulation. As I said, this is not correct, this is not fair. I am not envisioning at all this kind of approach.”
Domenicali feels that under the aerodynamic regulations that were introduced at the start of last year, the only fair solution is to wait for a convergence he is convinced will occur.
“That’s the right approach now, also because the rules were changed not many years ago, and therefore, this will happen for sure,” he said.
As to whether more could be done to assist those teams further down the grid, potentially providing them with more wind tunnel time, again Domenicali felt this would also ‘not be fair’.
Instead, he remarked: “I would say F1 has been always a sport where there have been cycles, where teams were very dominant and then some others came into the equation.
“So, I would say our objectives should be – if you take this strategic approach – to make sure these cycles are shorter in the future.”
Unfortunately for F1, the fact Red Bull is dominating is overshadowing the close competitive nature of the teams behind.
Remove Red Bull from the equation, and the championship battle would be viewed as thrilling, rather than dull as it is seen at present.
“The gap is between one team and the others,” assessed Domenicali. “While the gap is very, very close (between the other teams), one team – Red Bull – has done an incredible job, and this is a job of meritocracy.
“It is true that the gap seems to be big, but we need to be prudent because we know in life things can change very quickly.
“I’m sure the other teams are watching how they can catch up with their development in the context of the budget cap.
“It will be interesting to see if the development curve of the team that today is leading will slow down because, at the end of the day, they did a better job in the shorter term. So that will be very interesting to see in the next couple of months.”
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