[FatalLogic]

>peak manufactured drama

That's largely true. There is at least one, wonderful, reward from all the rule-fiddling, though it might be orthogonal to the issues you've highlighted, but driver deaths and severe injuries are much less common than they used to be.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Formula_One_fatalities

A cynic would say that, if the arena no longer offers us the ever-present possibility of death, then the drama needs to be enhanced in other ways, even if they are artificial.

[breve]

Romain Grosjean survived his car being torn in half:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ7_En2xEm4