Former race winner Gerhard Berger thinks Mercedes' current dominance of F1 is worse than previous examples because the sport is now too "perfect".
Mercedes has dominated F1 for two years since the introduction of V6 turbos, winning 32 of the 38 races and claiming back-to-back drivers' and constructors' championships. Such success has led to comparisons to the all-conquering 1988 McLaren which won all but one of the 16 races that season with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
Berger won ten races in a career which ran from 1984 until 1997, which included stints at Benetton and Ferrari as well as a three-year spell as Senna's team-mate at McLaren from 1990, and he does not think the Mercedes comparisons are fair due to the current nature of the sport.
"There are differences to the McLaren winning streak in my time," Berger told German publication Auto Motor und Sport. "Firstly, the fans were still entertained by the driving spectacle. Secondly, the races were more unpredictable back then, because there were so many failures, or because there were so many mistakes. Who runs out of fuel nowadays? The sport is now so perfect that dominance affects the entertainment value more.
"Thirdly, mistakes were punished. If you were too fast you ended up in the gravel. Today, this is prevented by huge run-off areas. You can return to track, usually without losing a place. It is too polished, too controlled, too nice and too over-regulated."
Berger thinks one of the biggest issues facing F1 now is the uneven split of revenues which makes it impossible for the smaller teams to compete.
"For me, cost control is imperative, and the money should be equally split. Ferrari and Mercedes want others to compete, but they prefer them not to be competitive. Because of that, the sport needs a police force that says everyone must have the chance to be competitive.
"It's no use giving more to the teams which are always winning."