Max Verstappen's dominance starting to hurt F1 as the sport's social media mentions nosedive: Reports

There is no doubt that Max Verstappen is in the most dominant era of his Formula One career. The double world champion is on his way to clinch his third championship in the upcoming races.

Amidst the Red Bull dominance, Formula 1 has seen a sharp decline in social media mentions and new followers, according to a recent study by Buzz Radar.

Buzz Radar's analysis in a recently published case study titled "Have we reached Peak F1?" reported that the 2022 F1 season's popularity increased as a result of the thrilling title battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in the 2021 season and the new car regulations. But there has been a recent drop in the numbers since Red Bull's dominance in the sport.

The report states:

"The data comparison between 2022 and 2023 revealed significant drops in the overall mentions of F1, along with dismal numbers in the growth of new followers of high-profile accounts."

It continues:

"The social data from 2023 also offered insight into a fundamental shift in conversation about F1: a noticeable upswing in the use of negative adjectives associated with the sport."

The report also stated that the usage of the words 'boring' and 'annoying' has relatively increased. According to the Buzz Radar analysis, the reason for this decline is simply single-team dominance, with Red Bull and Max Verstappen winning all but two races in the previous year. The last time there was such a drop was in 2018 when Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes were dominating the sport.

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Max Verstappen can clinch his third world championship in Qatar

After the win at the Japanese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen increased his lead over teammate Sergio Perez, who is currently second in the driver's championship standings at 177 points.

Verstappen only needs three more points to win his third world championship, which can be attained by winning the sprint race at Qatar's Lusail International Circuit.

If Verstappen finishes sixth or higher in the sprint race on Saturday, he will become the first driver to win a title in a sprint race. Even if Verstappen fails to score any points during the sprint race, he only needs three points to win the championship on race day.