Formula 1's new motorsports director Ross Brawn says that he wants to see only the best drivers make it into Formula 1 in the future. And for the former team boss, that means more drivers like Max Verstappen.
"Verstappen is obviously an exciting element of Formula 1," Brawn told the Formula 1 website this week.
Brawn said that he was gripped by the ongoing battle between Verstappen and his more experienced Red Bull Racing team mate Daniel Ricciardo. "At Red Bull you have a fascinating competition between Ricciardo and Verstappen.
"My dream for this five-year plan is that we have more Verstappens in Formula 1. We want a system that sees only the best drivers.
“Don’t get me wrong, there is a good standard of drivers in Formula 1," he added. "But if we didn’t have the commercial requirements that some of the teams have regarding their drivers, we could raise the standard even higher.
At present, teams can be forced to give race seats to drivers who bring the most sponsorship backing with them. For those further down the grid, such deals can be the only way to keep a team viable.
"To do that you have to remove the commercial dependency that small teams have on drivers," Brawn acknowledged.
Brawn added that it was also disappointing to lose talents in their prime like Nico Rosberg prematurely.
Rosberg shocked the world of motorsport by retiring from Formula 1 just five days after winning the 2016 world championship. Brawn agreed that it didn't feel like the right way to start the season with no reigning champion on the grid.
"It is not ideal. From a sporting perspective it is good to have the world champion on the grid as a reference.
"But it is better that Nico retired if he felt that he didn’t want to face up to it any more, than being on the grid without the level of motivation he would need.
"For him it was probably the right decision. And probably for the sport it was as well, because we wouldn’t want to see a world champion in decline. That’s not great for the sport either."
But Brawn remained positive that Rosberg's replacement Valtteri Bottas would prove a challenge for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
"Lewis is one of the reference points in Formula 1. He is in the right car and the right team. The comparison with Valtteri Bottas is going to be fascinating."
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