Mercedes AMG Formula 1 team boss Toto Wolff met the Canadian media this morning, thanks to Mercedes-Benz Canada.
Wolff spent a lot of time explaining that the sport really needs to showcase cars that are more spectacular in the (very) near future. “For 2016, we need a unanimous decision to change something in the regulations, so it’s pretty locked in,” Wolff declared. “But for 2017, we simply need a simple majority at the F1 Commission to change the rules. We have until the end of February 2016 to come up with the new rules for 2017, so there’s plenty of time,” he continued. “The main objective for 2017 is to make the cars much quicker, by a good 5 or 6 seconds per lap. We’ll have more G force under braking and in the corners, higher speeds, a wider car fitted with wider tires, more spectacular looking cars and louder engines will please the fans. That’s going to help a lot, I believe,” the Austrian explained. Wolff talked about the technology side of F1. “There is a lot of competition out there in terms of competence, but our sport drifted too much towards the technological side, and drifted away from the “gladiator” image the drivers had before,” he continued. “I think we can be extremely proud of the amazing technology of the power units we developed. The engines produce a great deal of power with 1/3 less fuel than before. And our F1 technology is being transferred to our road cars. F1 has always been at the pinnacle of motorsport, not just in terms of drivers but also in terms of the most spectacular technology. But we cannot have the most spectacular cars if we don’t have spectacular races. But that will happen in 2017,” he said. Wolff told the Canadian media that the sport needs to return to its roots. “Formula 1 needs to be more extreme. We need to showcase exciting racing. We love F1 because it’s exciting and dangerous. These cars are very difficult to drive. But somehow we struggle to get the message across. F1 has been to race tracks that look like supermarket parking lots. So we really need to get the cars to go faster and look more spectacular,” Wolff said.
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