Formula 1 was not in rude health when it was acquired by Liberty Media in 2016. TV stations were haemorrhaging viewers all over the world, backmarker teams were facing extinction and an imperious Mercedes squad had relegated the title chase to an entirely internal affair. There was a bitter taste in the paddock, a quiet acknowledgement of the deep structural issues the sport was facing. At the core of F1’s many issues was an inherently flawed sporting and technical blueprint, one that stacked impossible odds against the smaller teams and, unsurprisingly, the paddock’s bigger turkeys never felt inclined to vote for Christmas. The loss of Manor from the grid ahead of the 2017 season...
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