PARIS (AP) – Just one race into the new Formula One season and unhappy drivers are calling the sport’s decision-making “obsolete and ill-structured” and calling for a “restructuring” of its governance.
A rushed decision to change the rules to qualifying, and then subsequently scrap those changes after last weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, underlines how much F1 is riddled with confusion and uncertainty as it tries to regain its lost popularity.
Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel has joined former champion Jenson Button in demanding better leadership.
Both signed an open letter on behalf of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), along with its chairman Alex Wurz, to say that recent rule changes “are disruptive, do not address the bigger issues our sport is facing and in some cases could jeopardize its future success.”