Todt: Why wait until 2021 to change the rules?

This year drivers have struggled because overtaking is extremely difficult, following a car close enough to try making a passing move is almost impossible. The race in Barcelona was largely a procession.

So much so the FIA president Jean Todt has questioned why Formula 1 needs to wait until 2021 for new rules to kick in if it means improving the conditions for racing sooner than then.

Speaking in the wake of criticism by several drivers of the current cars, Todt told Racer, "We hear all the time from the drivers that the cars can’t get close to each other. I read the press conference transcripts – Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen, they all complained. And they’re in the front. Can you imagine what it’s like at the back?"

"I feel that if we understand that something is wrong we should try to find a solution. We all say we want to have a better sport, a better show, so let’s do something. So on one side people say: Let’s wait for 2021. But it’s the start of the 2018 season, so we would go through 2018, 2019 and 2020 knowing that there’s a problem which is damaging the sport."

"In this case, we asked some relevant engineers to address the problem. They explained that as the car is getting closer, because of the aero at the front, unless it is over 1.5 seconds [per lap faster] you cannot have any overtaking. So you speak with the engineers and you say: Do you think we can do something to improve the situation? And they said they could improve the situation."

"We are trying to make the sport better. We try, using the proper governance – which as you know is not the easiest thing in Formula 1 – to make a proposal. So that’s why we made this proposal and by a miracle it was accepted."

The age-old problem in Formula 1 is finding consensus between the teams, self-interest is more often than not placed ahead of the best interests of the sport.

But Todt is looking beyond the interests of the teams, "We say we want the fans to be happy, and the fans, they want more overtaking. We need to promote the sport rather than putting people against one another."

Todt also took exception to the fact that Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton bemoaned the situation whereby drivers are seldom consulted with regards to rule changes.

The FIA chief added, "I read the transcript of that [the Saturday press conference]: I’ve always, all the time, tried to hear what the drivers were saying. And the drivers were invited to participate. I invited [them] to do something. If we speak about the Halo, I did not invent the Halo – I was urged by the drivers to do something because they felt unsafe. So I said: Yes, we need to hear that."

"If the driver who is driving the car at high speed says they are not comfortable, and we have some evidence, so we decided to find the best way and that was the Halo. And then I hear: that’s shit."

"I think whatever is the position, you must try to be responsible – to hear, to judge, and then to propose," concluded Todt.