Briatore: Not for me to save "mad" F1

Former Renault boss Flavio Briatore has ruled out playing a part in making Formula 1 more popular, even though he thinks aspects now are "completely mad."

Briatore was invited to join a special working group earlier in the summer, hosted by Bernie Ecclestone, to look at ways of making F1 more appealing to fans. But the group never got together and Briatore made clear on a visit to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix that he felt F1's problems need to be addressed by current teams.

"It is the teams who need to sort out the problems," he said in Monza. "The bosses are big enough to resolve the problems – there is no need for anyone outside to suggest anything I believe it is up to the teams to sit together and improve things."

TECHNOLOGY AND COSTS RUINING F1

During his time in F1, Briatore regularly pushed for the sport to deliver more spectacle. Looking at the arrival of new regulations this year, he thinks that F1's popularity problems have been caused by too much talk on the technology and out of control costs.

"It is a new F1," he said. "Maybe it is better, but a lot of people don't understand. It is as simple as that.

"F1 is about the race, the event. What we are talking about? We are only talking about a piece of technology. People are not interested in that.

"People are interested to see fights between the drivers; they want to see a driver doing qualifying laps for 60 laps [in the race]. This is what the people are interested. There is nothing wrong about the two drivers arguing."