Mercedes managing director Nick Fry believes changes should be made in the wake of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Mercedes man unhappy with 'boring Bahrain'
Mercedes managing director Nick Fry believes changes should be made in the wake of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The opening race of the Formula One season lacked any kind of excitement, with the only overtaking seeing an under-powered Sebastien Vettel slip from first to fourth in the latter stages.
Michael Schumacher, Martin Whitmarsh and Jenson Button have pointed out the flaws in this year's regulations that turned the season-opening Bahrain GP into a high-speed procession.
And Fry was another to admit that the sport is 'beholden' to put on a good show for the paying fans.
"I think it would be bad if we didn't react," Fry told
Autosport.
"I think we have all seen a race that was far from the most exciting that we have ever seen, and what we now need to do is between us have a look at it and establish what we do need to do.
"Technical changes are obviously very difficult to make, and expensive. But I think we should look at both the technical side and the sporting side, with Bernie and the FIA, and see what we can do about it.
"The most important people are the customers - they are the people who pay to come to races, or watch it on television. We are beholden on them to put on a good show and we should see what we should do."
One suggestion, which was raised by McLaren's Whitmarsh, is that all teams be forced to make two pit stops, thereby encouraging drivers to push harder without the fear of ruining their tyres before they get a new set.
This idea has been backed by Red Bull's Christian Horner, who said: "I think the problem, with the way the format of the races are, is that you are in danger of one stop races at all events.
"I think we should consider whether we do two mandatory stops. It seems ridiculous that the guys train like hell for one stop."
"We've only had one snapshot today, so perhaps we should review it after the first three or four races. Everybody thought I didn't want it because of tyre degradation, but I think we have shown today that tyre degradation isn't a problem for Red Bull."
