Ferrari’s new team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has called for a radical overhaul of the sport in order to win back Formula 1 fans who have recently fled.
With viewing figures down, partly because of one team dominating over the past few seasons and partly because the sport is less spectacular thanks to the slower, quieter engines, a portion of fans have lost interest.
The sport is looking to address the issue with 1,000 horse power engines, a radical overhaul of the aerodynamics and wider tyres, but Arrivabene says a simple evolution of what we have at present isn’t enough.
“I’ve read what our friend Niki has to say: he’s top of the class, whereas I’m sitting about four desks further back,” said the Italian in reference to Lauda’s support of more powerful engines and faster F1 cars.
“I share Niki’s view that Formula 1 needs to be more spectacular and I believe that the risk he evokes of the sport losing fans is something that has unfortunately already happened.”
“By 2017, I too would like to see cars that win over the fans, with cars that they can get closer to and that are aesthetically more appealing, maybe even producing a noise that gets your hair standing on end, like that produced by a heavy metal band. That was what it was like back in the day when Niki was racing and I was an enthusiastic fan, clutching my general admission ticket.
“However, I don’t think a simple evolution is enough in this case. Instead, a real revolution is called for, with significant and radical changes. By that I mean more power, higher speeds, not necessarily involving the use of more fuel, but definitely applying a cost reduction to those components that are of little interest to the general public.”
He has also called for F1 to be more open to fans, with press conferences away from the circuit, allowing for fans to attend. He has also called for a mass questionnaire so fans can voice their opinion on the matter.
“Being closer to the people actually involves taking F1 to the people, possibly holding the Thursday driver press conferences and team presentations of a Grand Prix weekend, outside the circuit in a public area. That way, the cities that host the races could provide the arena for a presentation of the drivers and cars, in a properly managed event,” he added.
“I have long felt that the real competition to F1 today, in the sense of it being a show, comes from a variety of forms of entertainment, not least from the internet, including racing video games. It is up to us to provide something better and to download a new format for Formula 1 as soon as possible.
“How likely are we to do it? I know it wouldn’t be the usual way of going about things, but a global survey on the internet and via the TV companies would give us a real idea of what people want. In fact, even in this area of sport as entertainment, we should follow the trend of demand driving what’s on offer.”
