Formula 1's managing director of motorsport, Ross Brawn is prioritising an improvement in fan interaction at race weekends over changing the actual format.
When owners Liberty Media completed their takeover almost a year ago, a shorter schedule but more Grands Prix was one of the ideas being touted, particularly given the success of the single day format in Formula E.
However, Brawn believes only a minor tweak could be made to the current three-day events rather than sweeping changes such as a sprint race or qualifying race.
“I think the length of a Grand Prix is about right. It’s not too long, it’s not too short, it engages you,” he told Sky Sports. “We want a Grand Prix to evolve and have its highlights and come together at the end.
"Qualifying works fairly well. I think practice on a Friday is open to discussion, whether we need two sessions or whether we move to just an afternoon session," he concluded.
Also Read:
- McLaren backs Liberty's fan-focused vision amid "unfair criticism"
- GPDA vow to ensure sporting integrity of F1 in face of Liberty vision
Instead, the former Ferrari technical chief and Mercedes team boss wants the emphasis to be on improving the experience off the track, an area Liberty has already worked hard on in their first 12 months.
“The fans always come first and what do the fans want to see in a Grand Prix weekend? Getting close to the cars and getting close to the drivers," Brawn said.
"One proposal is to have open scrutineering, so the cars literally have to go out into the field to be scrutineered so the fans can come and see them.
“It happens at Le Mans and is a great event. All the fans come, the cars are lifted up and you can see underneath them. So we’re exploring things of that nature."
