.. is F1 as we knew it over?
There have always been back markers with financial problems, but the disease seems to be infecting the upper echelons these days. McLaren has no title sponsor. Sauber is on it's financial heels. Williams is flattered by lack of strong competition. The only teams making strong ground are Red Bull, who might take their ball home with them now they are uncompetitive, Mercedes, who are ruthlessly effective and have basically unlimited resources, and Ferrari, who have half the prize money locked forever.
I don't know where it goes from here. I have the feeling I am watching a dinosaur coming to terms with it's own death. I don't switch on the TV these days unless it is to watch free-to-air F1. If TV money declines, because 21st century video platforms like Youtube and Twitch and Lord knows what else pull eyeballs elsewhere, where literally thousands of kids are watching things like DOTA2 streams, what happens? It's surely game over even for the big teams if there is nothing in that TV honey pot available, and we saw the first big declines in key markets last year.
I think Red Bull, who are fundamentally a marketing company, understand this dynamic best of all. They are whinging for sure, but they also have a point about the "show". The problem is that they think of it as a "show", instead of focusing on dynamic sporting action. The core product is going wrong, not the packaging or presentation.
I've been into F1 most of my life, I've worked in motorsport, I've raced to F3 level, written books on the subject, and even I find it a turn off nowadays to be honest. I know there were always dominant teams, but it's beyond that - it's like they are too inwardly focussed these days, like a big corporation that forgot what made it big. If diehards like me turn away, where is the next generation? I can't honestly defend F1 to anyone these days, it is almost embarrassing to be connected.