Doubling down on his assist for the Dash, F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali additionally believes that reverse grids are the best way 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, basically pop live shows with a little bit of racing in between.
Considered one of many adjustments the brand new homeowners 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 bear in mind once we launched them we had quite a lot of criticism from the purists, who we have to at all times take heed to, even to those who should not pleased with it,” he tells Motorsport.com. “However I really feel that now the factor has shifted utterly the opposite manner round. I feel that the change we have launched this 12 months is the suitable one for a lot of causes, with separate qualifying and parc ferme. The circulation is a lot better at this time.
“I feel that we aren’t able to say that we will be like MotoGP, for instance, with a full race calendar state of affairs of sprints,” he provides. “However there’s margin to develop, perhaps for one third of the calendar. That may very well be a chance.
“After which, in fact, there are specific matters which can be at all times fairly debatable,” he continues. “We are able to actually as soon as once more focus on if there’s the necessity to reverse the grid, or half of the grid like what F2 and F3 are doing. So these are at all times issues to maintain the thoughts alive, if I’ll say, with the intent to maintain one thing at all times 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’d say, why not?” he says. “It is quite a lot of motion. It’s overtaking. You are combating for factors? Some individuals can say, ‘Oh, it’s a faux manner of racing’. Pretend? There’s nothing faux associated to what you imagine is the suitable format to provide nice motion. So I’d 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 monitor time accessible 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 observe classes as a waste of time.
“Is it a great leisure for individuals coming already on a Friday to see vehicles going across the monitor simply to arrange higher for qualifying and the race?” he asks. “I imply, is that what individuals need to see?
“There’s a big funding in simulation instruments to do this,” he continues. “So my dream shall be: each time that you just go on the monitor, there’s something to combat 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 needs to be aiming for this sort of goal sooner or later.
“I feel that we’re on the suitable path,” he provides. “We’re doing the suitable issues, and the joy that we convey within the Dash may be very clear, as a result of quite a lot of promoters wish to have them. So now it is a good second to see what’s the finest venue to have good motion, and likewise the most effective place to be divided within the calendar to create the suitable frequency.”
One other criticism when it comes to the best way the game is growing is the transfer away from conventional racing circuits to road tracks, venues in vacation spot cities the place the good and the attractive can attend, watch the race then get pleasure from a brief limo experience to the subsequent part of the leisure.
“I’d say we need to be balanced,” he insists. “We do not need to transfer from one aspect to the opposite aspect of the size, however for us is it is essential to have good racing. I bear 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 shall 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 have been completely improper. We had an unimaginable race.
“For certain it’s essential to respect the historic venues,” he provides. “However historic shouldn’t be every thing; historic is an effective base to speculate for the long run.
“We aren’t fearful to search out the suitable answer, to have the suitable leisure, the suitable 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 suitable reply, as at all times, is to be balanced. And that might be my strategy, for certain.”
