F1 CEO Domenicali dismisses need to change regulations to curb Red Bull’s massive advantage
Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali believes it would be an unfair to change regulations mid-season in a bit to stop Red Bull Racing running away with the championship.
The energy-drink backed outfit has been a class apart so far in 2023 as drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have won all the races and look out of reach in the championship standings.
The level of Red Bull’s advantage has left some to anticipate that the Austrian team could set a historic record of winning every race this year.
The lack of competition at the front has also triggered some concerns that F1 could be a turn off for fans that could less to a drop of interest. Domenicali however does not agree to tweaking the rules to make the grid close the gap to Red Bull, making reference to teams such as Ferrari and Mercedes that also had spells of dominance.
“I think it is not fair to say that,” Domenicali said when asked on F1 Beyond the Grid podcast if he considered changing the rules.
“It’s not correct because we cannot be seen as part of manipulation. This is not correct, and this is not fair. I am not [imagining] at all this kind of approach.
“I think that’s the right approach now, also because the rules have been changed not many years ago. Therefore, this will happen for sure.
“F1 has been always a sport where there has been cycles, where teams were very dominant and then some others came into the equation.
“So, I would say our objectives should be – if you take this strategic approach – to make sure that these cycles in the future will be shorter.”
Domenicali also emphasised on the closeness that exists between the rest of the grid as evidence that F1 is competitive.
“I think that the gap is between one team and the others,” he continued. “We need to consider that they [Red Bull] did an incredible job. It is true that the gap seems to be big, but we need to be prudent, because we know in life things can change very quickly.
“The others are very, very close. If you look at the gaps to the other teams, I think that they did an incredible job, [and it] needs to be rewarded. So, as I said, it’s clear that the aim of what we want to do is to make sure that these gaps will stay as small as possible.
“I’m sure that the other teams are watching how they can catch up with their development in the context of the budget cap.
“It will be interesting to see if the development curve of the team that today is leading will slow down because, at the end of the day, they did a better job in the shorter term. So that will be very interesting to see in the next couple of months.”
F1 heads to the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend where Verstappen is the defending champion, finishing ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr. and seven-time world champion Sir Lewis Hamilton in the 2022 race.
