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F1 is a team sport and more often than not drivers are considered a part of that team.
However, there are a few occasions when there are some cogs in the machine that are unable to do their job properly. Sometimes it is the teams themselves that fail to do a good job and hence put the drivers in a position where they have to truly pull something out of the hat.
There are drivers on the F1 grid at the moment who are carrying their teams to recognition, points and other important things while the team hasn't done its part. So much so that in an ideal world, the drivers within the team would prefer going to some other team, but are essentially stuck.
Who are these teams that have become a burden on their driver? Let's take a look.
#1 Ferrari
What can anyone even say about Ferrari? Hiring some of the best drivers on the grid, the Italian team aspires to get back to its glory years when Michael Schumacher drove for the team.
However, contrary to hopes and expectations of a title challenge every season, the team has become a source of frustration for the viewers and drivers themselves.
Charles Leclerc cuts a sorry figure in front of the media, worn down by one poor strategic decision after the other. Out of the first seven races of the season, he's encountered one or the other kind of trouble in six of them.
In the other garage, Carlos Sainz has struggled with the same issues, and most of the races are spent with visible back-and-forths with his race engineer.
When the team itself is responsible for drivers being unable to maximize the results every weekend, it is safe to say it is not doing the job it is supposed to. Leclerc and Sainz have had to overcome the dead weight that Ferrari has become every weekend to have a good result and something like this is never ideal.
#2 McLaren
McLaren last challenged for a title in F1 was more than a decade ago. The last time the team was a consistent frontrunner was in 2012. It last had a world champion driving for it in 2018 and last won a title in 2008.
For the Woking-based squad, the last decade or so has been nothing but a decline in performance and stature in the sport.
For the new fans, it might be hard to believe but there was a time when the team won seven world titles in eight years. They did that with drivers like Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, and Niki Lauda driving for the team.
Fast forward to 2023, and the team continues to have the services of two excellent talents in Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. So much so that many F1 pundits tout them to be the future of the sport.
However, while the two drivers are trying their hardest to extract the best from the car, the team has been a disappointment.
After peaking in 2020 with a P3 finish in the championship, the team has taken a step back. It looks destined to finish P6 in the championship this season.
What's worse is that it kills the morale of talents like Norris, who is ready to fight at the sharp end of the grid now. Rather than winning races, he has been reduced to accomplishing as part of McLaren.
#3 Williams F1
There was a time when Williams held a position of an icon in F1. It was the most sought-after seat in the sport and there was a time that the team employed Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, and Ayrton Senna in quick succession.
Since those heights, however, it has been plunged into the dark hallows and has been taken over by Dorilton Capital.
Drivers now face an uphill task to drive for the Grove-based team. To grasp the extent of it, one simply needs to look at the complexity of the Red Bull, Ferrari, or Mercedes floors and compare it to Williams' almost two-dimensional floor.
The comparison almost makes one appreciate how Alex Albon scored an F1 championship point with that car. Williams has been a team on the slide for a while and has truly been a burden for an talent like Albon.
