At the start of this decade, Formula One was on the precipice of a big crisis with the onset of the global pandemic in 2020. That year, the season shut down days before the first race in Melbourne after a few members of the McLaren team tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
The economic fallout could have been catastrophic for one of the most expensive sports on the planet. However, F1 struck gold in a bleak time when a humble documentary series about the 2019 season got a new set of people — cooped up in their homes because of lockdowns — to discover the sport.
In 2021, when things returned to normalcy, F1 had a season for the ages where the title was controversially decided on the last lap of the last race in favour of Max Verstappen. Since that season, which further boosted the sport’s popularity, Red Bull and Verstappen have only grown in strength. A cruise to the drivers and constructors’ titles in 2022 became an obliteration of the field in 2023. Red Bull won all but one race last year, Verstappen claiming 19 of the 22.
