Doubling down on his help for the Dash, F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali additionally believes that reverse grids are the way in which to go.
These new followers gained over by Drive to Survive, the relentless social media push and subsequent 12 months’s blockbuster film starring Brad Pitt, will not know any completely different, however for these followers of a barely completely different classic the game is heading in a wholly completely different course to what they’re used to, primarily pop live shows with a little bit of racing in between.
One in every of many adjustments the brand new house owners have delivered to F1 is the Dash, a subject which continues to divide followers and drivers alike.
Stefano Domenicali is a fan of the idea launched simply a few years in the past and which now options at six races every season.
“I keep in mind after we launched them we had numerous criticism from the purists, who we have to all the time take heed to, even to those who usually are not proud of it,” he tells Motorsport.com. “However I really feel that now the factor has shifted utterly the opposite means round. I believe that the change we have launched this 12 months is the fitting one for a lot of causes, with separate qualifying and parc ferme. The movement is significantly better at present.
“I believe that we’re not ready to say that we’ll be like MotoGP, for instance, with a full race calendar state of affairs of sprints,” he provides. “However there may be margin to develop, possibly for one third of the calendar. That could possibly be a risk.
“After which, after all, there are specific matters which can be all the time fairly debatable,” he continues. “We are able to actually as soon as once more focus on if there may be the necessity to reverse the grid, or half of the grid like what F2 and F3 are doing. So these are all the time issues to maintain the thoughts alive, if I’ll say, with the intent to maintain one thing all the time fascinating.”
A favorite idea of the likes of Ross Brawn, is the reverse grid, one other suggestion which may have the purist apoplectic on the very thought. Not so the F1 CEO.
“Personally, I might say, why not?” he says. “It is numerous motion. It’s overtaking. You are combating for factors? Some individuals can say, ‘Oh, it’s a pretend means of racing’. Pretend? There may be nothing pretend associated to what you consider is the fitting format to provide nice motion. So I might have an interest to debate that once more. Sure.”
Like Brawn, Domenicali, a former boss at Ferrari, is poacher turned gamekeeper, now closely in favour of what would have been unthinkable in his earlier position.
At Ferrari, like Brawn, Domenicali craved each second of observe time out there as a way to take a look at his vehicles, brazenly lamenting the times when testing was a free-for-all. Now, in his gamekeeper position, he sees apply periods as a waste of time.
“Is it an excellent leisure for individuals coming already on a Friday to see vehicles going across the observe simply to arrange higher for qualifying and the race?” he asks. “I imply, is that what individuals need to see?
“There’s a large funding in simulation instruments to do this,” he continues. “So my dream can be: each time that you simply go on the observe, there’s something to battle for. That is the character of racing. That is the character of the drivers, as a result of they need to be the primary each time, and that is why we ought to be aiming for this sort of goal sooner or later.
“I believe that we’re on the fitting path,” he provides. “We’re doing the fitting issues, and the joy that we carry within the Dash could be very clear, as a result of numerous promoters want to have them. So now it is a good second to see what’s the greatest venue to have good motion, and in addition the very best place to be divided within the calendar to create the fitting frequency.”
One other criticism by way of the way in which the game is creating is the transfer away from conventional racing circuits to avenue tracks, venues in vacation spot cities the place the nice and the gorgeous can attend, watch the race then get pleasure from a brief limo trip to the subsequent part of the leisure.
“I might say we need to be balanced,” he insists. “We do not need to transfer from one facet to the opposite facet of the size, however for us is it is essential to have good racing. I keep in mind one of many greatest criticisms that was on the desk earlier than the Las Vegas Grand Prix was, ‘Oh, come on, you’ve got a race the place there can be no overtaking, no drama, no motion, and so forth’. Really we proved that those that weren’t ready to talk till after the occasion had been completely flawed. We had an unbelievable race.
“For positive it’s essential to respect the historic venues,” he provides. “However historic just isn’t the whole lot; historic is an effective base to speculate for the long run.
“We’re not nervous to seek out the fitting answer, to have the fitting leisure, the fitting fan, and everybody can have a distinct opinion. There are drivers who love the everlasting tracks, others who like to attempt to drive within the cities. As I stated, the fitting reply, as all the time, is to be balanced. And that might be my strategy, for positive.”
