Briatore: Formula 1 needs change fast
Formula 1 needs to implement a fast overhaul to make it more exciting or there is a serious risk of fans turning away, reckons former team boss Flavio Briatore.
Ahead of a crunch Strategy Group meeting at Biggin Hill on Thursday to discuss an F1 revamp, Briatore believes that the sport cannot afford to carry on as it is.
"Formula 1 needs change because at this moment it is not the F1 we know," Briatore told Motorsport.com.
"We just need a race. F1 is about the race and at the moment it is not a real race as we know. It is now about saving fuel, saving tyres. It needs to be changed and fast too."
Briatore bemoaned the current emphasis on preservation of the car and its key components.
"It should be 60 laps of qualifying with the best drivers in the world, simple," he explained. "This is what grand prix racing should be in my opinion. From what I read, I say many agree with me.
"Changes must be made before more people switch off the TV."
Briatore also believes that a new commercial structure is needed, because the sport is being hurt by the richer teams automatically getting more income than the smaller outfits.
"Of course the distribution of the money should be equal for the teams, this is crucial," he continued.
"If you keep giving money to the rich, well they just get richer and then the poor will get poorer."
Briatore also gave his opinion on the lack of physicality demanded by modern F1 cars.
"You remember seeing Ayrton (Senna), Nigel (Mansell), Fernando (Alonso) and others after they won races, they were exhausted, totally destroyed," he said.
"Now is like they just been for a walk in the park, so you must say physically it is not the same for sure."
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