It didn't take long, did it? Even before the flag had fallen in Sochi, F1's critics were at it, polishing the 'snooze-fest' clichés and letting rip. And not just on social media.
The Independent stuck the boot in by comparing F1 to MotoGP, Touring Cars and just about any form of motor sport that has one competitor passing another as readily as Eddie Jordan ties himself in verbal knots. The fact that the populist piece had been written by the deputy sports editor merely added to the regret that this national daily had not taken the opportunity to give a more balanced and considered view.
There is indeed much that needs sorting on the F1 front. Cars were never going to find it easy running in close company from the moment we saw the 2017 regulations allowing complex and just plain stupid front wings the size of a kitchen table with knobs on. Throw in Sochi, a bland, political device masquerading as a racetrack, and you have 53 laps of not very much.
And yet...I wouldn't run that thought past Valtteri Bottas. For more than 80 minutes, the guy who made a silly mistake behind the safety car in China was put through the mental wringer. The final 15 laps were riveting as he somehow coped with a huge front vibration caused by a lock-up when under relentless pressure.
For top drivers on the absolute edge, you're never going to get passing at every corner. If you want that, then switch to racing with artifices such as success ballast and reverse grids. The fight for the lead of the Russian Grand Prix was a contest of top quality.
Elsewhere in the field? Okay, it was dull. Just as it had been in Australia. And, regrettably, probably will be next week in Barcelona, where the slim hope of racing has been diluted further by the selection of a tyre no one will use. But that's another story.
As is the drama we had in Shanghai and Bahrain due to a variety of circumstances. Precisely because braking distances are shorter and DRS did not appear to be working (result!), the overtaking -- and plenty of it -- was committed, brave and tyre smoking. To be honest, I never expected it to be that good.
That's not to say everything is rosy; far from it. But the good thing is that Ross Brawn -- on our behalf, never mind that of Liberty Media -- has been watching this closely and making notes. There will be no immediate cure and further processional races are likely to give commentators more scope for their unoriginal thought.
But let's not forget that from time to time races will always be uneventful. Very uneventful. Like any number of grands prix from the early 2000s when Ferrari not only dominated but prevented their drivers from racing each other.
Going back further, the dreariest race I ever saw was the 1971 British Grand Prix when Jackie Stewart won by half a minute and lapped everyone up to third place. What made it seem even worse was the fact that this had come two years after one of the greatest-ever F1 fights at the same track, the Tyrrell of Stewart and Jochen Rindt's Lotus going at it wheel-to-wheel for an hour and a quarter. It was simply mind-blowing.
Hence the huge sense of disappointment when the grand prix returned to Silverstone in 1971 and Stewart stroked home. Just as well the social media of the day was no more than journalists having post-race pints in the beer tent, otherwise this race and F1 would have been rubbished.
As it was, the Daily Express (long-time sponsor of Silverstone events) described the prospects for the grand prix as being 'really thrilling'. Just goes to show, you can never believe all you read in the newspapers.