Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFormula 1

’We’ve got to put the spectacularness back in F1’

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says it is important any new regulations in 2017 “put the spectacularness back in to Formula One”.

A meeting of the Strategy Group earlier this season resulted in the decision to look in to new regulations for 2017 to make cars quicker and more aggressive looking after complaints from some drivers that the current generation of cars are not physically demanding enough to drive. With Red Bull investing huge amounts of money in F1 in the form of two teams - Red Bull and Toro Rosso - as well as the Austrian Grand Prix, its future has been in doubt at times this year.

Speaking during an exclusive interview with F1i, Horner says the opportunity to deliver more exciting regulations is one which the sport must capitalise on.

“I think what’s important is Formula One gets back to the cars being dramatic, exciting, hard to drive, it’s the best drivers in the world competing wheel-to-wheel,” Horner said. “We’ve got to put the spectacularness back in to Formula One, and I think there’s a great opportunity to do that for 2017.”

While wary the change could prove expensive, Horner says it will bring more money in to the sport if implemented correctly as more fans will be encouraged to watch.

“I think that Formula One needs to position itself as the most exciting formula of motor racing in the world. I think by making the cars five or six seconds a lap quicker, a bit more aggressive looking, harder to drive, more spectacular, ensure that the racing is strong and wheel-to-wheel and that the teams are competitive.

“At the end of the day Formula One doesn't exist without the fans and if the fans aren't turned on by what they see they’re going to switch off. We have to make sure that Formula One engages with the current fan base and a broader fan base.”

Exclusive Christian Horner Q&A

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.