Formula 1 motorsport chief Ross Brawn insists that Formula 1 must remain at the pinnacle of the sport and is averse to restricting technological development, but at the same time wants to curb dominance of the top teams.
Brawn told reporters in Montreal, “We don’t want to dumb Formula 1 down. Formula 1 still has to be aspirational for the teams. We don’t want all the teams to be exactly the same, there should still be the aspirational teams.”
“There should still be the Ferraris, there should still be Mercedes, the Red Bulls that teams want to aspire to beat.”
“But we don’t want domination. We need an environment where a team that has done a really good job can do well. We don’t want a situation where financial power enables a team to get a dominant position, as has happened in the last few years.”
“We’ve been very fortunate this year in that we’ve had two teams battling it out so strongly at the front. I wouldn’t like to take any credit for that, it’s just been good timing. I think with a real recognition that there has to be some work done to consolidate that for the future.
“There’s a slightly worrying gap between the front and the middle of the field that we need to pay attention to,” he said in reference to the fact that the top three teams this year tend to be a second or more up on the smaller teams at most tracks.
It is no secret that the more F1 teams spend the more chance they have of success (McLaren-Honda being the current exception) and this scenario is currently creating the gap in performance between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’.
The hybrid turbo power unit era is the most expensive in the sport’s history. On the upside it is universally acknowledged that the engines are wonders of modern automotive technology, but at the same time they are also prohibitively expensive while massively complex to run and maintain.
Brawn acknowledges, “The engine is a key element we have to get right along with the FIA, the teams and the interested engine suppliers. We’re debating that at the moment to understand what sort of engine we want for the future.”
“Formula 1 is a little bit at a crossroads. The automotive world is going off in a different direction and that’s not Formula 1. How do we find a relevant path for the future? We need a path that engages the fans,” he explained.
Big Question: How can Formula 1 reduce the gap between the haves and the have-nots?