Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes teams need to stop managing their drivers in such a way that they’re unable to express their true feelings and emotions.
It was highlighted recently that fans felt drivers had become too corporate, unlike the heroes of the past who were often free to speak their mind without the fear of upsetting the team or sponsors.
Formula 1 needs to return to that attitude if it’s to encourage fans to connect emotionally with drivers, according to Horner.
“We need to allow the drivers to express themselves more without them being hit by criticism,” he is quoted as saying by Autosport.
“We need to allow their personalities to come out. They have opinions, they have personalities and we should encourage them to see more of them.”
The Briton also reckons the increasing number of team radio broadcasts give the impression that races are managed by the pit wall, rather than the driver making their own decisions.
“Sometimes it feels that the races are a bit too managed,” he said.
“In conditions like we had in Hungary – just look at [Fernando] Alonso and how fantastic he was. [Lewis] Hamilton came from the back and look at Daniel making his passing around the outside and doing incredible things.
“F1 needs to be about the drivers being the heroes, and in Hungary they were. That is F1 at its best, not just in Hungary but in Germany as well.
“For me that is what I enjoy, what I love to see, and that is all part of competition. We need to keep going down that route and make sure that happens.”
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