How F1’s “process-driven” improvement plans listen to the drivers

F1 executive director Ross Brawn has said the series should wait for the third rehearsal in Interlagos before taking a final view and making changes. Nonetheless, after the first attempt at the British Grand Prix, he met with the drivers and got their views on how things would go.

It is nowhere near the first time Brawn has sought the opinions of drivers. Both he and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali now appear regularly on the race weekends at the regular FIA driver meetings to inform everyone about the future plans and at the same time to listen to feedback.

An initiative welcomed by the chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, Alex Wurz, who would like to let those responsible flow in the opinions of the members. Because he was a driver himself and has worked in the media, with manufacturers and in team management at Williams, he has a clear view of the big picture.

“That is very good, and Ross also goes to individual riders and smaller groups,” said Wurz. “That is his job as head of sport. It’s our job to sometimes not see the commercial point of view that he takes and the longer-term point of view because the drivers have a super-pure idea of ​​racing.

“We grew up with the love of this sport and we want the next five or six generations to love it as much as we saw it as a sport. And I use the word sport on purpose and not to show it.

“From selling the sport, which is his job, he is right to ask these questions. But we also have the right to express our opinion. It is a very good conversation and a very good dialogue. Not always the same opinion. But it’s good, very good. ” “

Driver attunement to rule changes reflects the philosophy Brawn and Domenicali now embrace. The Italian recently stated that the drivers are “the soul” of F1 and cited the passion Max Verstappen generated in Zandvoort.

The Netflix series Drive to Survive went a long way towards making the world aware that Formula 1 is about personalities, and not just about fast cars.

“It’s a very welcome change in culture from the Bernie [Ecclestone] Days, ”said Wurz. “God bless Bernie, he built it all up so we can take the next level now. When he started selling and buying back the business but didn’t have full control, it sparked political movements. We are now learning from this.

“We drivers fought to get social media accepted. We threatened Bernie with a strike, and we would have done it. They were not allowed to take photos or films from the paddock in the days when social media brought about changes in government. He was persistent, but so were we, and in the end modernism succeeded.

“Now all of Liberty’s steps have resulted in a significantly better product. So this is great. And Stefano’s view of celebrating the drivers is very good because there is an emotional connection. We should also celebrate teams like McLaren or Ferrari with a lot of stories to tell in sport and I think we’re on the right track. “

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF21 and the rest of the field at the start

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

The sprint race format is inevitably the main topic of discussion right now. Wurz, who also works as a TV expert, makes it clear that he does not like the change.

“We can argue it up and down,” he said. “Did the sprint event lead to what was then an extremely entertaining race? I don’t think they are related because the pit stops weren’t the result of the sprint.

“I also think as GPDA we suggested a few years ago that if you make rule changes, don’t do it for a whole season. That was after the elimination qualification system, we said maybe do it at individual events to test it. ” .

“Like the development of racing cars, it is process-controlled. So this is where we get data, then do we analyze what viewers like? I’ll always be careful because the sport is a global magnet, it’s a global sport, so let’s not do it, we have to reinvent it, we just have to trim it to meet modern expectations, but a lot of it will come with it Made much better graphics, faster camera cuts and fewer permanent sponsors.

“Personally, I would prefer to leave qualifying alone and under no circumstances start on an inverted grid.

“Because from this moment on it is not a sport, it is a show, because my sporting understanding of the world is that excellence should never be punished.”

Few people really like the idea that an inverted grid will affect the main race on Sunday. But would Wurz agree to a stand-alone Saturday event with the opposite starting line-up, as currently advertised by Brawn?

“In my opinion, when this situation is discussed, it is also on very thin ice. Because when this reverse grid race becomes very spectacular and the Grand Prix becomes boring, you will scream: ‘We all want reverse grid -Run!’ ‘.

“Then you will have tactics in qualifying, which race are you actually driving in? How do you monitor this?

“We want the best, but we want to compete against the best with equal opportunities. Every driver tells you, please make the cars fast, then we can fight. And then that’s so authentic and not artificially created. I don’t think this sport needs that.

“Because then we are a show, and show business is actually much more competitive than the sporting environment. When you start being a show, you are competing against computer games, Hollywood and all other shows. I don’t want to be part of this segment, it has to be sport. “

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing driver parade

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Wurz insists that one of the traditional problems of Formula 1 is the gap between the richest and poorest teams, which makes it correspondingly more difficult for the latter to hold their own.

As he notes, drivers simply want to see the cars closer together, and the hope is that this will happen when the budget cap goes into effect, narrowing that performance gap in the coming seasons.

“There are rules that should provide the same opportunities for excellence. And that was a flaw in F1. But because of this historical flaw, I call it the Bernie business model, we were able to get too many lap times from each other separate.” the rich teams and the poor teams, but that’s changing.

“In the last few decades we had the wrong framework conditions in which the rich teams got so much money and the poor teams didn’t, which led to not equal technical possibilities. Because it’s an engineering sport and engineering is very expensive these days.

“With the budget cap hit and still not great but better money distribution, I think in the next few years we’ll see the cars move closer together.

“This initiative of simplified aerodynamics, better sequencing and a budget cap should of course lead to a very tight sport. Then we don’t need to make it an artificial show.”

Wurz would also like to take into account the opinions of the public and welcomes the latest poll from Motorsport Network and supported by F1. The GPDA was already involved in a previous version in 2015, which gave F1 insiders a first real insight into the wishes of fans all over the world.

“We at GPDA are proud to have initiated this together with the Motorsport Network,” he recalls. “At the time, it was the largest sports survey ever conducted, and the Motorsport Network is taking it one step at a time.

“In the past, we as drivers wanted to convey the following message – that motorsport, especially Formula 1, is process-controlled. We look at data, we research and then develop the product, many of what we reflexively called were quick responses to problems that came up in the paddock.

“But we said that it might not be a problem for the audience at home because they still have the TV on and it’s not like some of the paddock voices said. It was an incredibly interesting poll and it set a standard which will now be continued. ” “

Wurz warns that F1 has to listen to a wide range of fans, and not necessarily just those who shout the loudest: “I welcome the move to get in touch with the audience, not just the forums for hardcore fans listen and read, or be the quick opinion maker.

“When you read a forum there is sometimes so much negative human behavior, but it doesn’t reflect opinion. And with a well-done survey, you can actually filter between age groups, between different types of engagement, streaming TV, just social media Media follow hardcore fans, but also casual viewers, male, female, all groups.

“Let’s hear from the fans what they think. Hopefully all the fans do their own research and don’t just follow the last TV comment from an opinion leader – because the opinion you, as a fan, give in the poll influences the sport.”