To the casual F1 observer who wants unpredictability and several drivers winning Grand Prix each season, the current Red Bull dominance is more than a mild irritation. Yet for this who have followed the sport for 25 years or more, there is an understanding that one team dominating for a while is inevitable ever since Ferrari claimed a record six consecutive titles 1999-2004.
Renault took over Ferrari’s King of the Hill mantle in 2005/6 giving F1 its youngest world champion at the time in Fernando Alonso as the French team claimed both championships.
Longest period of dominance in F1
Ferrari were back as team winners for the next two seasons before the anomaly that was Brawn won their infamous F1 titles in 2009.
Red Bull then mastered the engine mapping war and associated car design to claim four driver and team titles on the bounce.
The sport was then set for the longest periods of dominance ever seen as Mercedes were to rule the roost for almost a decade.
Having spent vast sums of cash, Mercedes then became the dominant force as the new V6 Turbo Hybrid power units came into existence. The performance gap was so vast team members have admitted since they turned down the engines in Bahrain qualifying in fear the FIA would regulate against their massive advantage.
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Eight consecutive team championships ensued for the Silver arrows before Red Bull returned to the front of the field with their RB18 challenger. Since the radical new aerodynamic car design rules came into force in 2022, no team can lay a glove on the Milton Keynes outfit who have been accused of similarly managing the gap to the rest of the field.
Jean Todt is credited as being the mastermind that revived Ferrari’s fortunes in the 1990’s. He built a technical team of par exclenece at Maranello and recruited the ruthless Michael Schumacher to front up his driver pairings.
Having arrived in 1993 Todt became one of the longest ever serving team principals in the sport as his reign spanned 15 years until 2007. The Frenchman oversaw 14 championships for the team and handed over to Stefano Domeicali who benefitted from the last car design under Todt. 2008 was the last time Ferrari won an F1 championship though it was Lewis Hamilton who saw driver honours with McLaren.
Jean Todt went on to serve as FIA president for three terms and his retirement came at the dramatic 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Todt speaks little on F1 these days, but now claims Red Bull may be about to suffer a similar fate to his Ferrari team.
Claims Red Bull may falter this year
“I see similarities between both eras,” he told the Italian newspaper La Stampa. “Red Bull has created a winning team with a driver who is extraordinary, very professional, intelligent and fantastic.”
Of course Michael Schumacher was key to Ferrari’s success under Todt just as Perez has proven is Verstappen to the current Adrian Newey design world beaters.
“Do you remember 2005?” he asked the assembled media. “The same team, the same drivers after a season full of victories and although we still had Michael, we were no longer competitive.
“The following year we were fast again, but ultimately we lost the title due to reliability problems,” Todt added.
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Ferrari failed to deliver on the new power unit regulations in 2005 which Renault mastered better than the rest of the field. In fact the McLaren was quicker than Renault’s car and even outscored them 10-8 in the race win tally.
Yet the R25 was uber reliable and picked up points when the rest of its rivals failed ton finish the race. Ferrari returned to winning ways after Renault’s two years at the top of F1, then due to Honda’s mega budget spend their car branded as Brawn stole a march on the field on 2009 and was over the championship line before the rest could catch up.
Fourteen years have passed since and just Red Bull drivers and cars have claimed the titles since then. It could be said that the Milton Keynes era of 2010-2013 came to an end for similar reasons to Ferrari as Mercedes aced the new power unit regulations and Renault were left in the shadows.
However, Todd’s remarks about a Red Bull downfall this year appear bizarre or maybe the Frenchman was being provocative. There’s no power unit changes – in fact engine designs are frozen – and the car design regulations remain the same; something Red Bull has proven to be the master of.
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It is easily conceivable that Red Bull Racing will continue their dominance throughout this year and next. Only in 2026 when new F1 power units and as yet undecided car design regulations come into force is there hope that Red Bull will trip up.
There is hope however that the Mercedes/Red Bull alternating of F1 titles will cease in two years time. By then the midfield teams will have been allowed to catch up in terms of production facilities and the budget cap on racing spend will remain.
While the entire eight years of Mercedes dominance was not merely due to their power unit, it is arguable for three years their chassis and aero were not even amongst the top three. This changed form 2016 onwards as the team threw big bucks at improving their aero performance and delivered at least two chassis that were market leading.
Mercedes can’t rely on financial muscle anymore and the likes of McLaren and Aston Martin a nipping at their heels. For that reason 2026 may see another team claiming the season’s plaudits because if its not Red Bull, Mercedes are no longer the default choice to replace them.
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