Todt: F1 Doesn't Need an Overhaul

[Bethonie Waring]

FIA president Jean Todt showed how out of touch with the fans he is by claiming Formula One doesn’t need a complete overhaul, and the 2016 season was “unpredictable”.

Almost every day there are new quotes from drivers, team personnel, or pundits saying F1 is in need of a change, and Liberty seem to be the people to bring it. The aims Chase Carey and Ross Brawn have already shared have been generally well received by the fans, but Todt believes F1 doesn’t need wide ranging changes.

“I think Formula 1 is already great,” he said at the SPOBIS convention in Dusseldorf. “The sport must be unpredictable, and the title fight [in 2016] went to the last corner. I’m sure Liberty Media will give us different insights for other forms of communication that are likely to bring new fans to Formula 1.”​

The title fight may have gone down to the wire, but Mercedes has dominated the championship since 2014. “Unpredicatable” doesn’t really seem like the appropriate word when only Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg could mathematically win the championship with four rounds to go last year.

But Todt doesn’t see Mercedes’ dominance as a sign anything needs to change.

“At the moment it is Mercedes, but before it was Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, and Williams, which also happens in other sports like athletics and football.

“So we should congratulate Mercedes for its successes and hope the others work even better now.”​

For more Formula One news and discussions head over to the RaceDepartment Formula One sub forum and join in with your fellow community members.

Do you agree with Todt, or is F1 in need of more than just a few tweaks? Let us know in the comments below!

 

[Andy 'Mars Bar' Graham]

God I hate this guy. What an actual idiot. No wonder the sport is in such a state

"2016 was unpredictable" Hahahaha. Yeah, it was so unpredictable, Mercedes winning 19/21 races really shows how competitive and unpredictable F1 is

 

[MoerasGrizzly]

I... kinda agree with him. Remember when people tried to "overhaul" qualifying last year? Or remember when they forced the teams to radically change their cars again and again and again and again?

Let F1 settle into it's new ruleset and ensure that the distrubution of money is more fair. Then allow the teams to catch up to whoever the lead runner is next year instead of throwing out the rulebook again as soon as somebody catches up.

 

[Andy 'Mars Bar' Graham]

Remember when people tried to "overhaul" qualifying last year?

That's because they tried changing something that didn't need fixing, which is again the people in charge including Todt being complete idiots

Let F1 settle into it's new ruleset

No we should scrap these new aero regulations ASAP. The sport can't survive boring races because cars can't follow each other because they have too much aero from the front wing

 

[clemencaman]

F1 loses thousands of fans every year on tv and live on each race track and todt dont see any problem, wtf !

Just look to MotoGP Mr. Todt, then you see the difference ! I was on F1GP 2016 and on MotoGP 2016 in Spielberg at RedBull Track... 80.000 visitors against 210.000 visitors... any questions Mr.Todt ??

 

[Bethonie Waring]

ensure that the distrubution of money is more fair

I agree with this 100%.
But with small teams unable to survive, iconic races getting scrapped, so many talented drivers unable to make it due to funding, and the fact you can watch 10 minutes of a race and have a pretty good idea of how it's going to end have really damaged F1. It needs more than just some new communication techniques to bring back fans.

 

[Andrew Harper]

F1 loses thousands of fans every year on tv and live on each race track and todt dont see any problem, wtf !

Just look to MotoGP Mr. Todt, then you see the difference ! I was on F1GP 2016 and on MotoGP 2016 in Spielberg at RedBull Track... 80.000 visitors against 210.000 visitors... any questions Mr.Todt ??

Did you attend both races? I'm just curious about admission charges? One of the things that are mentioned about F1 at the moment

 

[kedy89]

The guy is smoking some good stuff

 

[JayJayRaceinho]

The guy is smoking some good stuff

... yeah, he can't even open his eyes .... and look at his smile, omg ... hmm, from where i do remember that?

 

[Cote Dazur]

Formula One doesn’t need a complete overhaul

Says the man who was always part of the issue in F1!
What is the mater with those people don't they ever retire?
The only thing unpredictable was that Nico would retire just after getting the title which is on it s on a sign that their is something drastically wrong in the F1 kingdom.

 

[Andy 'Mars Bar' Graham]

What is the mater with those people don't they ever retire?

Well the Concorde Agreement means that we are stuck with him until 2020, which sucks

 

[Helmut Skrdla]

Just look to MotoGP Mr. Todt, then you see the difference ! I was on F1GP 2016 and on MotoGP 2016 in Spielberg at RedBull Track... 80.000 visitors against 210.000 visitors... any questions Mr.Todt ??

I take your general point, but I was 2014 in Spielberg and that was the first F1 race in a long time, also with 200.000+ people. The return of MotoGP to Austria is a similar one-time event...

 

[LeSunTzu]

Todt is right. During the last couple of seasons, we had quite a few very good GPs. Overall the last seasons have been better than most of the 80s or 90s. There never was a Dijon 79 battle or a Spa 2000 quali session every two weeks. It has always been very very far from it. Even 20 years ago F1 was more predictable and professional (ie dull) than other series like Indycar where teams would make crazy bets with tires and fuel, yellow flag mayhem and so on. There is no need for a revolution.

 

[burrito]

I think anyone expecting any major changes before 2020 will be disappointed. I just hope the new management can shoulder the claims they aren't doing anything long enough to make a change when they can.

Todt does need to go though. He tries to make everyone happy and with every team having their own agenda it will never end well.

 

[Andy 'Mars Bar' Graham]

Todt is right. During the last couple of seasons, we had quite a few very good GPs.

We had a few good races in 2014, 2015 was just a load of rubbish apart from Hungary, and 2016 started well and then just got worse and worse and worse. The sport is not in a good state and the races are only going to get worse

(I'm willing to bet that Monaco will have no overtakes)

Also how entertaining the races are is not the only problem. There are several problems

 

[Boby Kim]

I agree with Jean but now that we talk about an overhaul...Jean? I know a damn good cosmetic surgeon

 

[johnnymat]

That's because they tried changing something that didn't need fixing, which is again the people in charge including Todt being complete idiots



No we should scrap these new aero regulations ASAP. The sport can't survive boring races because cars can't follow each other because they have too much aero from the front wing

Aero is the worst thing to happen to motorsport in the last 40 plus years. It doesn't allow drivers to showcase their skills when it comes to overtaking. This applies to every major form of motorsport, not just F1.

 

[Andy 'Mars Bar' Graham]

Aero is the worst thing to happen to motorsport in the last 40 plus years. It doesn't allow drivers to showcase their skills when it comes to overtaking. This applies to every major form of motorsport, not just F1.

Ground effect is the only way to make aero work, but they will never introduce it because of "safety"

 

[LeSunTzu]

We had a few good races in 2014, 2015 was just a load of rubbish apart from Hungary, and 2016 started well and then just got worse and worse and worse. The sport is not in a good state and the races are only going to get worse

(I'm willing to bet that Monaco will have no overtakes)

Also how entertaining the races are is not the only problem. There are several problems

There is hardly any overtake ever at Monaco.

You are free to dislike the show of course. Personally I enjoyed most of the GPs. Brazil was superb from start to end, and in most other races it was a pleasure to see Vettel, Verstappen and Ricciardo going for it with daring overtakes and aggressive strategies. And there was tension until the end since Rosberg and Hamilton were very close.

People keep repeating that no DRS, less aero and more mechanical grip would make better races but GT races have no DRS and less aero and I do not find them more interesting than F1.

 

[Will Mazeo]

At the moment it is Mercedes, but before it was Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, and Williams, which also happens in other sports like athletics and football.

He is right in this part tho, dominance happens in every sport and it's fine, let it happen in racing and everyone loses their minds

People keep repeating that no DRS, less aero and more mechanical grip would make better races but GT races have no DRS and less aero and I do not find them more interesting than F1.

Depends of the GT racing, in SGT with its tire war it's fantastic. But then they have BoP
Problem is that people want racing (without BoP) to be what it has never been