Fair points. I enjoyed the Schumacher era. But Hakkinen gave us just 2 years as double champion. Where as up until 2018 we had 3 multi champions racing against a new generation of highly talented drivers. 4 championships wasn’t enough to save Vettel a seat at Ferrari with the depth of talent we currently have on the grid.
It’s also getting tighter at the front. Knock Mercedes down a peg or two and 2021 could be a 4-way fight, with Maclaren joining Ferrari and Red Bull to challenge the Mercs.
Like many other drivers, Hakkinen was a bit short on luck. Similar to Raikkonen for that matter who missed out at least on a second championship because of an unreliable car. Don't get me wrong, I agree that today's cars are much faster, safer, yada-yada.
But I did mention Hakkinen-Schumacher for a reason - though they were direct competitors and had very different driving manners, you could see how they had immense respect for each other and acted like true sportsmen off the track. Whereas now you have a ton of spoiled brats (some multiple world champions at that) who cry like babies every time the wind isn't blowing their way, others who have seats only because they have rich daddies, while people like Hulkenberg are sitting in front of the TV at home... I mean look at teams alone - there are only two teams with solid relationships between drivers inside of them - Norris-Sainz and Raikkonen-Giovinazzi(I suspect because Raikkonen simply does not care and is only there because he enjoys driving).
And I don't see how this will improve in the future. What I'm trying to say is that I'd much rather watch a real race as opposed to a soap opera, which is what today's F1 resembles more. Not just from drivers' prospective but from teams themselves.
It’s also getting tighter at the front. Knock Mercedes down a peg or two and 2021 could be a 4-way fight, with Maclaren joining Ferrari and Red Bull to challenge the Mercs.