How to solve the Formula One crisis - new leaders, faster cars and more characters

Even on occasions as glorious as this, Formula One exhibits an extraordinary capacity for self-loathing. The 140,000 in the grandstands here have come to witness a feast of motor racing, the latest instalment of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s duel for glory, but the collection of executives in the sparsely-populated paddock find it hard to discuss anything other than the state of this sport itself.

The concern is real. With the exception of the United Kingdom, whose love affair with F1 is alive and well, television figures and race attendances have been falling for years. At the height of the financial crisis in 2009, many of the manufacturers left and have not been replaced. A decent chunk of the grid is in real financial danger. And most critically, to many, the racing has lost its thrill, with uncertainty supplied in rare doses.

But surely the picture is more nuanced than all the doom and gloom. F1 remains an enormous global brand. With a few good races, all the misery will steadily fade into the background – even if temporarily – as the essence of the sport takes centre stage. So how healthy is Formula One, and what needs to be put right?

Leadership

Bernie Ecclestone has been called one of ‘ringmaster’ or ‘supremo’ for decades, but this description has taken a battering in the last 18 months. Dietrich Mateschitz, the Red Bull billionaire, is even thought to have grown frustrated with Ecclestone’s failure to deliver on promises, even if he holds immense respect for the 84-year-old’s countless achievements.

There are also his tiring complaints about F1. More than any other person, he is the one who has set the agenda for all the negativity which team principals like to conveniently blame on the press. Formula One has a cloud hanging over it and it is hard to see it clearing until there is a change of leadership at the very top.

^{Patience with Ecclestone is running out in some quarters}

And then there is Jean Todt, the FIA President. Many in the sport are aghast at his apparent lack of interest. As one team principal put it to me: “He just isn’t bothered. He’s much more interested in road safety.” Another was even more damning: “What is astonishing is his basic failure to understand the problems, which is remarkable for someone of his experience.”

But Todt angrily denies he is disinterested. He told Telegraph Sport: "It is a completely wrong and false analysis to say that Formula One is in such a bad shape. That does not mean nothing needs to be done. To get agreement in Formula One is probably the most difficult thing I have seen.”

It is a mark of his and Ecclestone’s failure that agreement on the fundamental issues has proved so elusive.

Verdict: Needs an overhaul. 1/5

The drivers

There was a worrying statistic in a survey of more than 200,000 fans, published this week. It found that just 43 per cent believe F1 is a collection of the finest drivers in the world. The issue of pay drivers is a concern. It saps belief that who drives where is decided by the strength of their talent. For instance, both Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson forced their way into Sauber with sponsorship deals of £15 million a year each. This has always been a feature of Formula One, but it has grown more extreme.

^{Are F1 drivers really the best drivers in the world?}

However, many of the drivers are of unquestionable quality. Arguably the top four or five are as good as ever. Nico Hulkenberg’s victory at Le Mans was also a great advert for the quality of the F1 field. Admittedly, they are often too wooden, too restrained by corporate interests to be the colourful, flamboyant characters of old. But this is not a problem unique to Formula One.

Verdict: Still the best in the world. 4/5

The racing

Last season produced some of the best races ever – Bahrain, Canada and Hungary spring to mind – but 2015 has been a much more soporific affair. This is the nature of the beast, but in the age of social media, after one bad race it is as if the sport is completely broken.

The real problem is the lack of uncertainty. Within reason, no-one actually cares how many overtaking manoeuvres there are in a race. The fact that there are more than ever now is irrelevant; people want to see battles, jostling for position over the course of 10 laps. The artificiality of the drag reduction system has wounded that. What enlivens a race is whether the result at the front is in doubt for most of the 200 miles. Sadly, with Mercedes doing a far better job than the rest, it has been reduced to a battle of two.

But how do you rectify this? Some suggest sorting out the money is the magic bullet, but this is a problem F1 has grappled with for most of its existence.

Verdict: A trifle too artificial. 3/5

The cars

These are the most advanced racing machines in the world, but they are simply not fast enough, or sufficiently awe-inspiring to rouse the emotions. Speed is what the sport is all about, so for in one race this year the cars to be lapping nearly 10 seconds slower per lap than a decade ago is a real worry. This is not to say they are easy to drive, but they are not the bucking broncos of old.

^{Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in Silverstone qualifying}

Then there are the looks. You could paint all the cars the same colour and only the diehard fans could tell them apart. The rules have become so restrictive that great minds like Adrian Newey, the genius behind Red Bull’s four years of domination, have lost interest in the creative challenge. By contrast, a leading Le Mans compare looks, in former F1 driver Mark Webber’s words, “futuristic, space-age, sexy”. This is the magic Formula One needs to recapture. The engines are the most incredible pieces of technology, but the noise is recurring issue.

Fortunately, there is a growing consensus about what needs to be done. For 2017 the cars will be five or so seconds faster, wider and more visually arresting. But they should go even further, making the cars faster than they have ever been, particularly in the races.

Verdict: In need of some tweaks. 3/5

The rules

Sir Stirling Moss’s description to me of F1 being a “nanny state” is not far off. There are incomprehensible penalties for almost every indiscretion. For a sport that is already complicated, we need a big injection of simplicity when it comes to the rules. McLaren’s 50-place grid penalty in Austria seemed to be the tipping point. As Christian Horner, Red Bull’s team principal, said: “You should not need to wait until 10pm the night before the race to know the starting grid.”

^{A 50-place penalty for McLaren in Austria was widely considered to be excessive}

Thankfully, this is one area F1’s Strategy Group appears to be addressing with some urgency. The hated grid penalties will be scrapped this year, and there are plans to shakeup the format of the race weekend to attract a younger generation of fans. Both ventures are essential.

Verdict: Overcomplicated. 1/5

The cost

Formula One has always been an arms race. Whoever could raise the most money in sponsorship deals would have more to spend. But that model is broken. Big companies have steadily deserted F1. You only need look at the bare McLaren livery. Should it really need to cost £200 million a year or more to have any hope of racing at the front?

Big teams and small teams have always coexisted in a mutually beneficial environment. But we are reaching a point where it is becoming impossible for a small team to have any chance of competing on the budgets required. The result is they imprudently spend more than they ever and the future of half the grid is uncertain.

^{Vijay Mallya weighed in with his thoughts on unbalanced prize money}

The cost cap is dead, so the best alternative is to standardise plenty of parts while sorting out the biggest problem: the prize money. It is skewed beyond any sensible degree of proportion.

From solving this problem, many believe everything else will flow naturally. As Vijay Mallya, Force India’s team principal, put it: “If the stability of all participants in Formula One is addressed as a matter of priority, we will have more exciting racing and we will get a lot more positive media.”

Verdict: A ticking time bomb. 2/5