06/03/2019
NEWS STORY
Clearly singing from the same hymn sheet as F1 boss Chase Carey, who had earlier said that the sport should be telling the world about its technical genius, FIA president Jean Todt has urged the sport to accentuate the positives and eliminate the negatives.
Speaking at the Geneva Motor Show, Todt said that there is too much negativity in F1, not merely from the media, but those involved in the sport who rubbish proposals - such as the new aero regulations - before giving them a chance.
"I hear everything, that it was a waste of money, that it's a fantastic improvement on overtaking. So I'm excited to see what it will finally do," he said of the new aero regulations for 2018 aimed at improving the chances of overtaking.
"But Formula 1 is a world of controversy," he continued. "Rather than having people positive, building the best motor racing product we have, they always try to find something which does not work. Which is a bit unfortunate."
Indeed, following pre-season testing, while some drivers are enthusing over the impact the new regulations will have, in terms of drivers being able to follow one another more closely, others have said they doubt anything will change and that overtaking will remain as difficult as before.
Similarly the engineers have mixed opinions, many surprised by the fact that testing showed the cars to be faster than last year while it was widely expected that they would be as much as 1.5s slower.
"Watching the results in Barcelona, I was thinking it's kind of a Formula 2 championship," said Todt, referring to what many expect will be a hard fought midfield, his description unfortunately echoing Gene Haas' claim that the midfield is so far adrift of the three leading teams that it should be referred to as Formula 1.5.
"It's a revolution," insisted Todt. "I'm very much looking forward to that."