With the current COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of racing, not only many of the fans but also drivers and team staff have turned to other sources of racing-induced entertainment.

We’ve got a plethora of options: from drivers like Charles Leclerc, Alexander Albon, Lando Norris, George Russel and many more turning into sim-racing and streaming on Twitch to separate broadcasters and even Formula One itself showcasing older races for fans. 

It turns out not only the fans have been entertained with the classic (and not-so-classic) races shown online and on TV.

In a recent interview with Spanish daily AS, Carlos Sainz Jr admitted he’s tuning in for some race watching when he cant sleep. 

As he said: “I have a hard time sleeping and at night I am watching races and things from other years. I saw the entire 2012 season on mobile and I was impressed with the equality.”

He added: “Not long ago that F1 was a more equal sport with Maldonado, Perez, Grosjean, Raikkonen, both McLaren, both Ferrari, both Mercedes winning and fighting for poles. It can be achieved again in the near future.”

Since the season of 2014 only three teams were able to win races: Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

F1 aimed at achieving more equal racing through the new regulations that were set to come into light from the season of 2021, but those rules have been put on hold till 2022. The F1 bosses are still trying to push the budget cap from 2021, but there are still disagreements with the teams on the actual limit. 

In comparison to the current power-dynamics in F1, in season of 2013 four teams won races, and the year before in 2012 we had a crazy season with six different teams winning GP’s and seven different drivers winning the first seven races. 

With the big hope in the regulation changes for 2022, we might see a more diverse racing in Formula One in the upcoming years.