'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
NASCAR legend Kenny Wallace took a dog at F1 and Max Verstappen's dominance, highlighting the difference between the two sports' TV viewers on race weekends.
Recently, the GEICO 500 Cup Series race at Talladega gathered 4.307 million viewers (FOX TV), a decrease of 5% in viewership compared to the event in 2023. Meanwhile, the F1 Chinese Grand Prix held for the first time since 2019, had 626,000 viewers (ESPN). This was also a 133% increase in the numbers since the last time the race was held four years ago.
Kenny Wallace compared the two sports, indicating that there aren't too many takers for F1 in the US:
"So Adam Stern posts the Formula One TV numbers. Formula One, Max Verstappen has won every mother except the one he wrecked out in. So Max Verstappen has won every race. And the TV numbers for Formula One, 600,000 people in all of America, all of America. America, 300 million people, all of America, 600,000 people watched a Formula One race."
Further, he sarcastically mentioned that fans love to watch Max Verstappen win and dominate the grid while they find NASCAR boring despite the action it gives.
"So now you're all going to dream up how you can argue with me on this one. Don't even try. I win. I am the champion. I am. 'I don't like Talladega because they were side by side coming to the finish. I didn't like, I didn't like Michael MacDowell thrown a block trying to win the race. They wrecked too much. No excitement. The cars are all the same speed. In the meanwhile, I love Formula One when Max Verstappen wins by one mile.'"
Verstappen has dominated the sport since the 2022 season with Red Bull. He has won three consecutive world championships and leads the current championship.
Lando Norris feels Max Verstappen's domination is "frustrating for people"
While Verstappen's dominance makes him a historic driver in the F1 books, fans have debated over it multiple times. Many feel that this domination is making the sport boring because of the ease of predicting the winner in every race.
Max Verstappen's winning margin over his rivals is usually by a couple of seconds. The lack of action at the top can be "frustrating" for fans, as McLaren driver Lando Norris recently mentioned"
"It is frustrating for people watching but it has always been like this,” PlanetF1 quoted Norris. "Now, we are seeing more dominance than ever, so it is never going to be the best to watch and the only exciting races have been the ones that Max is not in."
The only non-Red Bull driver to win a race since the start of the 2023 season is Carlos Sainz of Ferrari. He won the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix and also won in Australia earlier this season when Verstappen retired early.
