FIA president Jean Todt has been the greatest supporter of the hybrid turbo era in Formula 1 and, despite three years in which Mercedes have totally dominated, he remains an ardent fan of the series as it is right now.
Todt told media at the SPOBIS convention in Dusseldorf, “I think Formula 1 is already great. 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.”
Todt argues that dominance in Formula 1 is the way of sport, “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,” he added.
With regards to the big changes in rules in 2017, Todt said, “There are new regulations this year and the idea is to have cars with more downforce, to have cars wider, quicker.”
“I don’t know what that will mean on track, but in my opinion we need to wait not for testing, which will start at the end of the month, but for the first race at the end of March in Melbourne.”
“There is a lot of expectation and I’m sure that Liberty Media will allow different access through different means of communication, which could probably encourage new fans to get into Formula One.”
“Of course, we [the FIA] will sit as a regulator and legislator of Formula One, with the new people and with the teams to see what should be the vision for the future to make the sport better,” concluded Todt.