Credits: IMAGO / HochZwei

F1’s lack of competitiveness has always been difficult for neutral fans to digest. Over the years, the sport has seen several eras, with each having a team superior to its rivals. Currently, it is Red Bull, before which we had Mercedes, who followed Ferrari’s dominant phase in the 2000s. Speaking about the former two teams, at least one driver from each has featured on the podium in 205 of the last 208 races, as per a Reddit post on the Formula 1 subreddit.

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The turbo-hybrid era started in 2014, which is when Mercedes became F1’s strongest team. Led by Toto Wolff off-track and Lewis Hamilton on it, the Brackley-based outfit won eight consecutive constructors’ world titles between 2014 and 2021. First, it was the duo of Hamilton and Nico Rosberg getting the podium places for Mercedes, which after 2016 turned into the duo of Hamilton and Bottas.

Mercedes seemed like a constant on the podium, but there was one team always on its toes – Red Bull. The Milton-Keynes-based outfit had the fastest car between 2010 and 2013, after which Mercedes’ time came. But, Red Bull never really went away from the limelight. Their drivers over those years – Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen in particular – always stuck to the podium places, keeping Mercedes under pressure.

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This means that the F1 podium has been dominated by Mercedes and Red Bull since 2014. The only three races that did not feature a Red Bull or Mercedes driver finishing on the podium at this time are:

2020 Italian GP: P1- Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), P2- Carlos Sainz (McLaren), P3- Lance Stroll (Racing Point)
2020 Sakhir GP: P1- Sergio Perez (Racing Point), P2- Esteban Ocon (Renault), P3- Lance Stroll (Racing Point)
2024 Australian GP: P1- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), P2- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), P3- Lando Norris (McLaren)

Ferrari replacing Mercedes as Red Bull’s rival

Unlike Red Bull’s slump in 2014, Mercedes’ failure to cope with the 2022 regulation changes pushed them out of podium contention altogether. In 2022 and 2023, they were still competitive on this front. But 2024 has been woeful for the Brackley-based outfit.

The situation, in terms of the mechanical package, keeps going from bad to worse, and if this goes on, they won’t be joining Red Bull on the podium even once this season. A team that is making its way to being the Austrian stable’s direct rival, however, is Ferrari.

They showed good progress in the latter half of 2023, and this season, are the undisputed second-best behind Red Bull. With considerable development and further regulation changes set to kick in in 2026, Ferrari could be the team to end Red Bull’s dominance.