Outside Line: Wake up Stefano Domenicali & Mohammed Ben Sulayem! This isn't Formula 1. Fix it!

When they hurtle off the line, it used to be pure skill, talent and reflexes launching those cars. These days, I switch on with trepidation, wondering who is going to stall on the grid. Who is not going to stall. Who understands how to launch these cars and who does not. But that is not the point of this piece.

The point is to reiterate that amid a concerted campaign of disinformation by the powers that be in this sport of ours, we are being fed this FOM-slop that what we are seeing is good, that it is right, that it is Formula 1.

It is not. It absolutely is not. And the frontline of this propaganda campaign is F1 TV, who were out in full force during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, peppering their commentary with tidbits of misinformation.

That is the only feed I watch, so I am not aware of what Sky F1, the other big English language mouthpiece of Formula 1, are pushing. But it seems they, too, are shilling for FOM's Stefano Domenicali and by extension the custodian of the rules, aka FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who in the end have to bear the brunt of this fiasco.

Why do I harp on it like a stuck record?

Before we can move forward to fix this, there has to be an acknowledgement from the powers that be that something is severely wrong with the sport. Instead, they assure us everything is fine, that a fix is in place, that they are working flat out on solutions. 

On F1 TV, the frontline of their propaganda, they have hauled in the likes of Juan Pablo Montoya to shamelessly shill for this formula, which is a disgrace for anyone who has followed and admired him. To see him roll over and try to sell this FOM slop is a disappointment.

But for those of us wanting insight, whether you are in the paddock or not, we had access to Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill at the end of an awkward Japanese Grand Prix that Kimi Antonelli had just won.

They came in to share their expertise as World Champions, deservedly so, and rightfully so. I love JV and I love Damon Hill. But in Jacques, you could see it. He was uncomfortable. Not knowing where to look and keeping his thoughts to a minimum. Normally, he is machine gun mouth of opinion.

JV is a confident speaker, a man who calls it as he sees it. But here, he was bewildered. He looked shell-shocked, like I felt watching it. He did not know what to say half the time. And I sensed a reluctance to push too many questions his way, because he will call it as it is.

And what he sees is disappointing. It is written all over his face, his body language. When commenting on how mentally exhausted the drivers appeared during the paddock interviews,

Villeneuve noted: "It's not physical, it's mental. It's the mental drain of all the energy and the focus they need for it, because physically, the cars aren't as quick compared to last year. So it's not physical, it's mentally draining."

Minutes later, in comes fellow World Champion and former Williams teammate, Damon Hill, with his pearls of wisdom, and from his very first sentence, you can hear he is primed to sell the FOM slop. Again, a highly respected man, a driver you cannot dislike, but has he flipped like Monty?

Maybe but not quite, as Hill gets going too enthusiastically with these pearls of wisdom: "Listen, I know some of the drivers don't like having to slow down and charge their battery up, but I think the racing is very interesting. It's tactical.

"The drivers are having to think, and we're getting entertained. We got some overtakes and then re-overtakes. That very rarely happens in our sport, doesn't it?" reckoned Hill, handing over to Villeneuve. 

Clearly stunned by the BS Hill was spewing, JV fumbled a polite response: "Like you said, it's interesting and exciting. It depends on what you want out of Formula 1. But probably people are happy, because Suzuka is never an exciting race. It's usually just to follow each other around. Now there were some swaps."

The pair went on to agree that you cannot compare today's cars with what they drove in the mid-nineties, where they jumped in, drove flat out, and the muscles ached afterwards, they joked. Then Hill, inadvertently or not, nailed it: "When we did it, it was very easy.  Can you imagine now?

"They are overloaded with things to think about. It's literally like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time, while juggling and trying to solve a maths equation. They have so many buttons and systems to deal with that concentrating purely on driving is almost impossible," added Hill. So true.

We now have a farcical, highly complex Formula 1 that sold its soul to entice manufacturers into the sport, and in doing so has delivered the most complicated, most expensive and most misunderstood engine in the history of motorsport.

And now we have to live with it, because there is no quick fix. That is how short-sighted these rule makers were. There was no plan B. This despite simulations, despite warnings from many experts long before these engines were rubber-stamped. And let us remember, the goalposts kept shifting until the very end.

None other than Max Verstappen told us a year ago, and then told us again. These are anti-racing. This is Formula E on steroids. This is not Formula 1.

And in closing, I will reiterate how disheartening it is to be writing such negative pieces about a sport I love. The fabulous legend of Kimi Antonelli being born before our eyes, only to be overlooked as fans, drivers, and pundits fume.

I wish our reporters were writing about five teams fighting at the front. Ten drivers in the groove, giving it 110 per cent. Lotsa beef between the Boys! But we cannot. Because this is not the Formula 1 we signed up for. And from what I am seeing, hearing and reading, we are certainly not alone.

It is ultra-urgent that Mr Stefano Domenicali and Mr Mohammed Ben Sulayem realise that and wake up to the facts. Put their heads together. Come up with a solution. And spend less time, effort and money trying to spin this FOM slop as acceptable.

I repeat, this is not what Formula 1 is supposed to be, no matter how you look at it.