When I started watching F1 I thought it was about cars and racing. But it's really just a show about some of the richest people on earth failing desperately to control their own ego's. It's intriguing, all these interpersonal chess matches playing out. All this drama, and just to keep the drama going we have some cars driving some laps behind Max in a semi-random order every now and then.
This really is what F1 is all about. The cars going around is a nice backdrop, but F1 has always been more about engineering, rules loop holes, soap opera drama and Machiavellian power plays.
The way Ben Sulayem talked in interviews back then about how great he was for certifying the track "even though I could have refused so".. that just screams narcissistic manipulating person.