Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFormula 1

Depth in F1 'has never been weaker' - Webber

Mark Webber says the depth of world class drivers in Formula One "has never been weaker" than it is at present.

The Australian left F1 at the end of the 2013 season, moving across to the World Endurance Championship to drive for Porsche. While there are currently five world champions on the grid - Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button - Webber believes there is a big difference in quality between the front and back of the grid.

"These guys are on a phenomenal level but the depth has never been weaker," Webber told BBC Radio 5 live. "We need to get the calibre that we have at the front of the grid. We need more depth and the cars to be faster.

"If you go from the top 10 back, there are a lot of pay drivers. This is not good."

And Webber says one way of improving the calibre of driver is by making the cars harder to drive than they currently are.

"The physical components are the lowest it's ever been. It's like a rugby tackle but 30% softer ... The drivers want cars that are more demanding.

"It's a bit like being an F-18 fighter pilot but flying for British Airways. They're within their comfort zone, pacing races. It's frustrating. F1 should be the pinnacle. It should be by far the fastest through the corners, physical on the drivers and things where the drivers are the gladiators again.

"The car still needs to be something the fans have never seen anything like before. There's so many categories which are close to them now."

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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.