OpinionSebastian Vettel's dominance creates vacuum in F1 talent
German champion's success is severely affecting the careers of rival drivers who seem to excel at underperforming and can't find right formula
Oh, that the Formula One season had been as exciting as the one MotoGP fans have just enjoyed. Those who prefer their action on two wheels have just witnessed a humdinger of a finale in Spain.
Marc Marquez, the 20-year-old Spaniard, won the title on the last race in his home country. He came in fourth, which was just enough to pip the defending champion Jorge Lorenzo, who actually won the race.
It is Marquez's first season in the top tier of motorcycling and, but for a monumental cock-up by Honda at the Australian Grand Prix where they pitted their riders outside of the permitted window, it would have been a lot more comfortable a ride to the title.
Of course, the danger is now that he will dominate the sport for several years in a Valentino Rossi style or, to come back to F1, like Sebastian Vettel. He, of course, has had a rather more leisurely route to a fourth title. Austin in Texas this weekend will be the second of three "dead rubbers" to borrow tennis parlance. His dominance has been complete this year and some of his peers, who previously suggested his success was down more to the Red Bull he drove, have been forced to admit they may have been wrong.
Lewis Hamilton has always thought that it was drivers like Fernando Alonso he should be compared to as being at the pinnacle of the drivers' art. He and others in the paddock have shifted their views this season to accommodate Vettel at the top table.
His dominance has been complete this year and some of his peers ... have been forced to admit they may have been wrong
Perhaps that is because the German's success is severely curtailing the résumés of the other world champions on the grid. Alonso must have thought he was going to be the one taking over Michael Schumacher's dominance when he reeled off back-to-back victories for Renault.