F1 drivers 'need to be heroes', says Webber

Former Formula 1 star Mark Webber says that it's important that today's drivers continue to be 'heroes' to their fans and not trivialised as just more media celebrities.

The Australian told Motorsport.com this week that too much fan access to F1 stars was 'demystifying' them and left them in danger of looking too much like everyday men on the street.

"You've got to be very careful," Webber said at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. "The drivers still need to be heroes and something that's still a little bit hard to touch and feel.

"We might have gone a bit too far with that in terms of access and social media," he added. "We've got to be careful we don't trivialise their profession."

Webber pointed out that tennis stars like Roger Federer were closeted away before big matches and not paraded before the media until afterwards

It's a controversial view, with Formula 1 more often accused of being too closed off to fans compared with the likes of NASCAR and IndyCar in the United States.

Fans at Le Mans are able to get onto pit lane during the race week and literally rub shoulders with the drivers during the build-up. Such openness startled Fernando Alonso, who was competing in the race for the first time in June.

However Alonso said afterwards that such open access wouldn't work at Grand Prix races as drivers would only 'hide away'.

"I think I prefer this system [in F1]," Alonso said. "It is under control. If you open free entrance to the paddock here we will not even be able to walk.

"We will hide even more, we will close ourselves even more in our motorhomes because you cannot do normal things."

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Alonso's comments have been borne out to a degree by the latest changes to pre-race protocols.

Drivers are now required to be on the grid for 10 minutes longer than before, ostensibly to give the media more time to interview them. But instead, drivers increasingly seem to be finding last minute tasks to do elsewhere that keeps them away form the reporters.

By contrast, the world-famous Goodwood Festival of Speed is an example of open access where famous racing stars mingle with the crowds looking at the cars on display. Webber was impressed by what the Duke of Richmond had achieved with the annual event.

"It's the best in the world," he said of the Festival. "I don't know who's second, but it's a long, long way behind.

"In society now, it's hard to get permissions for all these things," he added. "[The Duke] can make decisions, he's very proactive, dynamic and this is what society misses now.

"The openness, the genuineness, the demographic too of families," Webber pointed out. "We've got kids, we've got granddad here, mum and dad.

"There's something for everyone: a bit of fireworks, a bit of motocross. You've got to have that diversity."

But how that unique spirit can be translated to Formula 1 events - or even whether it should be attempted - is clearly still very much an open question.

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