Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team have blown away the competition this year, leading to some concerns over F1’s appeal to fans in the absence of a title fight
Mohammed ben Sulayem would welcome a “democratic” way to level the Formula 1 playing field amid Red Bull’s dominance.
But the FIA chief is adamant that he will not punish the team or Max Verstappen for their success this year. With five full race weekends still to go in 2023, both titles have already been secured by the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
Red Bull had a quicker car than anyone else from the get-go and have made the most of their advantage. But the lack of any title intrigue this year has sparked some suggestions that it could be harmful to F1’s popularity to have so little competition at its pinnacle
FIA president Ben Sulayem hinted that he too would prefer to see a much closer title fight. But he is absolutely clear about what he will no allow to happen as a result of any efforts to make that a reality
“[Domination] has happened so many times – just look at Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher. How to stop it? It’s a bit harsh and not right to go and punish success.
“I’m open for suggestions if you think that there is a way to be fair and to be democratic and not to just punish Max and his team or any other team. We’re all ears here, really. But I’m just as stuck as you.
There’s no way the FIA would sanction success, and [the domination] has happened twice in my career.”
The other big topic that Ben Sulayem has spent a lot of time discussing in recent weeks is development of the F1 grid Its organization has approved the potential participation of an 11th team in the form of a joint venture between Andretti Global and General Motors, but a new team joining would still need F1’s approval.
The FIA President’s view on the future of the sport is one of increasing the number of teams and reducing the number of races: a record 24-race calendar is planned for 2024, which if Ben Sulayem has will will not happen.
“We are allowed to have 12 teams,” he said. “Some teams said, ‘Oh, it’s going to be crowded.’ Really? We ran a Hollywood team with us. The track was supposed to have enough garages and space for 12 teams.
“I think the number of races is too much [not] the number of teams. We need more teams and fewer races. Teams are looking at each piece of the pie [financial concerns]. I understand Their concerns but our concerns are different.”
Leave a Reply