Withmarsh, Horner and Domenicali want to change the rules of the game!

Here is the first Grand Prix “in the bag,” after a long period of abstinence, the F1 Circus is back. Pure happiness. What can be said about this enticing preseason, with its regulatory changes, new teams, and its array of world champions. It’s ready, now it’s time to enjoy. Sunday at 3 PM, the Scuderia scores a double, Vettel is the unfortunate one of the weekend, and sparkling drink replaces champagne on the Sakhir podium.

Here is how to summarize the first Grand Prix of the season in a few sentences: After the excitement comes the time for analysis. “Schumi”, Lotus, Virgin, HRT, 4 world champions, the elimination of fuel refueling… So many new features combined to create a show… and yet. Most of you noticed in the comments, the spectacle was missing this weekend.

Once again, the positions quickly solidified, and the race continued, driven by technical incidents. If it weren’t for Sutil’s collision with Kubica on the first lap, there wouldn’t have been any noteworthy events.

This assessment after the first meeting of the season, long-awaited, is on everyone’s mind. As a result, team leaders also begin to doubt. Nick Fry (Mercedes GP) is himself concerned about the lack of spectacle, both to meet the public’s expectations and to satisfy advertisers and sponsors.

He is a major element that set the tone for this season: the financial crisis. Knowing that 2010 is a World Cup football year, it is easy to understand that F1 must entice to survive. In informed circles, there is talk of an imminent technical meeting to find solutions right now.

Certainly, it will be difficult to change the technical specifications of the cars during the season, but it is possible to change the rules. Some managers point to the tires – starting with Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren), who as the head of FOTA was already calling for a revision of the regulations as early as Sunday night.

Christian Horner (RBR) reignites the debate on mandatory two pit stops: « Actually, the problem is the risk of having only one stop at each Grand Prix… I think we need to consider a requirement to enter the pit at least twice. It’s ridiculous for the mechanics to train for just one stop… »

For his part, Stefano Domenicali (Ferrari) advocates patience, believing that an assessment should be made in 3 or 4 races: « Let’s wait! Let’s let a few races pass and see the situations. I am sure that depending on the race, there will be several strategies used. I can understand the claims, but I think we should talk about it again in three or four races. »

More attractive single-seater races that thrill the audience. That’s what the F1 world wants and demands. It’s a collective awakening, and for the first time, perhaps, the leaders themselves acknowledge it.