I tend to agree.
For me, DRS/KERS etc. was never necessary. I watched all the seasons from 1991 to 2006 in full again last year, and the most notable thing for me was in some races there were less than 3 overtakes in total, yet I enjoyed it a whole lot more than any races I have since 2010 - mostly because today's overtakes feel like a formality, while those were amazing back then, and had meaning. Today, a good defend has more value than a DRS overtake. Surely this can't be right, but it is.
The battles that some drivers had raging on lap for lap - I think one was Schumacher vs Berger at Hungaroring, which carried on for about 20 laps, at least, and Schumacher made a couple of crazy overtakes at turn one, just to be re-passed. When he finally overtook him for good, you got the sense he really deserved it. It felt "significant" in the end.
Refueling also had a lot to do with the interest of the sport for me from 1994, since you never really knew who was on which strategy. It kept you on the edge of the seat for most of the race.
When there were very few overtakes, I used to follow gaps closely, see who's doing what before pitstops, or conversely who was struggling with tires or balance, and basically calculated for myself where people might end up. Or just watch to see who's doing better in which corners, or try to figure out whether somebody has enough straight line speed to have a chance of overtaking. Either way, there is always something that I found intriguing, no matter what.
I am sure the above goes for most real F1 fans. Unfortunately, today they're few and far between, and most people that watch F1 - not many of you, of course
- want instant satisfaction and overtakes etc., because they don't get most of the nuances of Formula 1, and they never will.
This is sad, but it is also reality. Bernie needs to sell advertising space, and if he caters exclusively to us, F1 will die a commercial death.