Ferrari: F1 needs a revolution

Ferrari's new team boss Maurizio Arrivabene believes rule changes planned for 2017 must be a revolution for Formula 1 if the sport is not going to lose more fans.

"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," he said. "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."

F1's technical chiefs this week continued their discussions about how best to make the leap to 1000hp for 2017, with team bosses due to have a meeting about the matter early next month. Arrivabene believes that a wide scale revision is necessary to help the sport regain popularity.

"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," he said. "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."

Arrivabene has also suggested that F1 does more to take drivers to the fans, which could mean hosting press conferences away from the paddock.

"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: "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."

Originally on Autosport.com