F1 pre-season testing: Stefano Domenicali calls for calm in face of criticism of new rules

Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali has called for calm in the face of criticism from drivers of the sport’s new rules – but said changes would be made if necessary.

F1’s four active world champions – Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris – have all made disparaging comments about the driving experience of the new cars in one way or another.

But Domenicali said in a news conference on Thursday: «We need to avoid overreaction because it’s just the beginning of a new journey, so that’s why I say we need to stay calm.

«And if there is something that is useful and can be implemented straight away, I’ve seen a very open approach by [governing body] the FIA and also the teams sharing their defined data of course with the others.

«It’s a new concept where it has to be, of course, improved if needed.»

The biggest rule change in F1 history has seen cars, engines and tyres all subject to change this year, in addition to the introduction of carbon-neutral sustainable fuels.

Drivers have targeted the new engines, which require substantial energy management at all times for optimum performance.

Verstappen said F1 was now «like Formula E on steroids», while Alonso added «the chef could drive the car» at the speed he was going around some fast corners to harvest energy, and Hamilton claimed the new rules were «ridiculously complex».

Briton Norris, who initially defended the cars last week as «fun», said on Thursday he had made those comments to see the reaction and admitted they were «certainly not the purest form of racing».

Domenicali, the president and chief executive officer of commercial rights holder F1, pointed out the new engine rules were conceived as an attempt to attract new engine manufacturers and had succeeded in attracting Audi and Cadillac, and persuaded Honda to reverse a decision to leave.

«The evolution of that is natural and will become normal,» said the Italian. «I am pretty confident this will evolve in a situation that, at the end of the year, no-one will remember what we are talking about today.

«We don’t have to forget that, with all respect to all these technicalities we are taking about, it is something in the inner business of F1. [For] our 900 million fans, it is not in their business.

«What has to be protected is having great racing, great overtaking opportunities, great challenge to the drivers to show they are best. If these points are not taken, we need to intervene and restart immediately.»

Domenicali added he had been out on the track in pre-season testing in Bahrain on Thursday to see the cars for himself.

«The cars are really beautiful, the sound is very nice and if you go around the track here it seems that there is the car like it was last year and that’s very important for the one that are very specific technical details to understand,» he said.

F1’s bosses agreed at a meeting of the F1 Commission rules-making body on Wednesday they would assess data from this final test at a further meeting to decide whether action needed to be taken in the short term.

Concern arises from the fact the new engine rules have tripled the power provided by the electrical part of the engine but left the batteries more or less the same size as last year, and removed one of the devices used to recover energy.

This had led to cars that are energy starved and forced the teams to find new ways to harvest sufficient electrical energy to produce the best performance. The rules governing energy recovery are also highly complex.

That in turn has required drivers to perform behaviours that have been described as «counter-intuitive» to optimise lap time.

These include not going flat out put of the final corner before a qualifying lap, lifting and coasting on a qualifying lap, and even not accelerating at full power at the end of a lap because it was more advantageous to use the energy elsewhere.

However, drivers have generally been positive on the handling characteristics of the new cars, and a number of top drivers all told BBC Sport they are still driving to the limit of grip, and driver ability will still be as crucial as ever.

Domenicali said: «Don’t be worried about the energy management. We’re going to solve that. If we need to solve it, by the way.»

He has spent his time in Bahrain having a series of discussions with individual drivers about the sport, including Verstappen.

And he added: «Max wants and does care about Formula 1 more than anyone else. He has a way of putting the point that he wants to say in a certain way.

«Max will be part of the future of Formula 1 and of course it’s very important that we listen to him and all the top drivers that are very important in this sport.»

Domenicali also said F1 was looking at introducing new sporting elements on Fridays, expanding on the approach that led to sprint-race weekends, which feature two qualifying sessions rather than one, and a shorter race on the Saturday in addition to the grand prix on Sunday.

He has already previously said F1 is considering increasing the number of sprint events beyond the current six.

Domenicali added: «Feedback from the fans, from the people attending the track, the promoter, [is] that people want to see action, real action during the three days.

«People want to see already on Friday something that is sporting – qualifying, points, whatever it is.

«So, it is true that there is the trend to go in the direction of, even if it is not a sprint every weekend.»