Formula 1 is becoming too predictable and that’s putting fans off, according to Silverstone managing director Patrick Allen, despite increased ticket sales for this year’s British Grand Prix.
Allen, who recently took over at the historic Silverstone circuit, believes the sport has lost its way recently and has called upon the powers that be to bring back the excitement.
“If I can predict, before I get out of bed, that Lewis will win by four seconds, followed by Rosberg, Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas and Massa, and that’s every race, then the product isn’t good enough,” he is quoted as saying by the Guardian.
“My opinion is we need a sport that’s a bit more exciting than that. We mustn’t lose sight of what the fans come here for, and they come here to watch their heroes in a gladiatorial sense, not a guy on a data screen. When it gets to that, we’ve lost the very soul of the sport.
“We need some help from the FIA and Formula One Management (FOM) in terms of the rules to make it more exciting,” he added. “I don’t know what the answer is but my feeling is that it’s not as exciting as it could be. It’s more about the technical development of the car and not about the drivers’ skill.”
Allen’s concerns are justified. Falling ticket sales has already led to the loss of the German GP ealier this year, whilst races like Italy and Belgium are also under threat due to financial concerns.
That could spread to Silverstone which can’t simply rely on its historic status to draw crowds in.
“If we start to see it slip away, for circuits like this F1 is a large chunk of our business and the whole thing starts to unravel.
“If we get to a point where, five, six, seven years from now the fans are dwindling away because the product isn’t interesting we have a problem,” he admitted.
“This is a heritage site so it strengthens our hand. But you can’t rely on it. As you get fewer and fewer, it becomes like the World Wildlife Fund – you need to protect it.”
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