Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey insists efforts to improve the sport will be done in “respect” to its history.
Now two years into his tenure at the top and questions are beginning to be asked about the Liberty executive as key races face the axe and a new Concorde Agreement post-2020 remains unsigned.
Changes to the show are also believed to be included in the overhaul that Carey is looking to negotiate, however, he insists any alterations will be done to maintain the integrity of F1.
“I think we want to make sure we’re always looking for ways to improve the fan experience but in doing that respect the history of the sport and respect what makes the sport great. We’re not going to gimmick the sport up,” he said, speaking at the Geneva International Autoshow.
“It’s a wonderful sport, it’s a sport with a great history, great fans. You’ve got to respect that but be open to ways that we can continue to create energy and create excitement about it.
“And you want to do that carefully when you’ve got a sport that has as many fans and as great a history as ours.”
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One idea that long been put forward is altering the weekend format and reducing the length of each Grand Prix, however, Carey doesn’t see why that would need to happen.
“Maybe I’m too American, I don’t actually think the race is [long],” he smiled. “Every sport I follow in America is much longer than our races.
“But I don’t think there’s a goal specifically to say short [races] or what, I think there are other ways to energise and excite.”
