This weekend, Formula One will stage the final race of its European season, the Italian Grand Prix, at one of its most historic tracks, Monza, which has hosted Grand Prix racing since the 1920s.

This circuit, 15 kilometers, or about 10 miles, north of Milan, is where the season frequently ended in the 1950s, and was the second or third race before the end for most of the next two and a half decades after that. Now, as the series expands around the world, there are still six more races to go this season: three in Asia, one in the Middle East, one in South America and the inaugural Indian Grand Prix.

There were only eight races in Europe this year among the 19 scheduled races, in a further reflection of Formula One living up to its self-title of world championship. But after nearly a decade of homogenizing the technology, slowing down the cars for safety reasons, reducing the costs in every area in response to reductions in team budgets after the global financial crises, another question remains: Is Formula One still the pinnacle of auto racing and one of the world’s greatest sporting spectacles?

Gone are the days — not so long ago — when the series grabbed front-page attention for cheating, spying and sex scandals. Gone are the half-billion-dollar team budgets, and racing cars so stuffed with advanced technology that they could race around the track without a driver. Gone are the blisters from the hands of drivers trying to deal with the most difficult cars in the world. Gone are the stories of sportsmen with personalities to rival the movie stars of the 1920s and 1930s.