Alain Prost: “When I watch Formula 1 as a fan I get bored”

Formula 1, little by little, is losing what it has always characterized its essence of car racing: the noise of the engines, the overtaking, the savings in components have turned into the dark side of a sport that seems to be increasingly interested in political issues rather than sporting ones. A living legend of motor racing like Alain Prost, present in Monaco for the Formula 1 Grand Prix, confided that got bored due to the lack of spectacle imposed by the overly complex technical restrictions.

The former French driver did not hide all his disappointment at the current situation of Formula 1: “Sometimes I try to watch the races like a normal fan and I get bored. On the occasion of the Australian Grand Prix we were with Formula E in Miami and we watched what happened through the Internet and social networks – commented the four-time World Champion – It was crazy because there was no positive judgment on the race with just 15 cars on the starting grid. Manor was absent, Sauber in judgment, Honda with huge problems. Formula 1 he is killing himself alone".

But things could already change from next year given that both Bernie Ecclestone and the Strategy Group are working to transform this Formula 1. Precisely at the last meeting, one of the solutions accepted with greatest emphasis concerned the return of supplies but according to Prost, Formula 1 should also move regarding tires: “The fact of having only one single supplier limits the battles between the drivers. A tire war could serve to raise the level further and further. 80% of the result of a race depends on the tires and that's why, if we want to change something in this aspect too, I would be inclined to propose bigger tires that they are more efficient and aggressive, and not as sophisticated."

According to the Frenchman, this last solution would not only improve the show but would bring important benefits to the single-seaters by improving the mechanical grip and the downforce generated by an artificial intake. But, on the other hand, Prost believes that there are “more important things to take charge of such as banning radio communications, where pilots appear of puppets controlled by engineers,” he concluded.

Eleonora Ottonello
@lapisinha