Former quadruple World Champion Alain Prost expressed some interesting comments yesterday during the official launch in Paris of the World Series by Renault.
Fresh from witnessing his son Nicolas' maiden win in Formula E in Miami on Saturday, Prost was asked about F1's current state of affairs and its lackluster showing in Melbourne.
"You know, when you're not there and you're far away, as was my case last weekend, you happen to see things in a different light," Prost told F1i.
"I've often said to F1 team managers that you need to take a step back once in a while in order to analyse a situation because it gives you a different perspective on things. Unfortunately, from the outside, with everything that's going on, the perception of F1 is negative right now. And that's detrimental to the sport and needs to be addressed. In a sense we've reached the end of a cycle, and an objective analysis of F1 is now required."
Renault's distinguished ambassador also tackled the current issues facing Renault and Red Bull, and the subsequent tensions afflicting the relationship between the two partners.
"Well we knew it would be difficult although perhaps not this difficult. A car's performance relies on a chassis-engine package, you can't separate the two. But I'm also hopeful Renault can remedy the situation in the next couple of races because both partners deserve better. There's nothing to be gained by publicly complaining about each other. Problems get solved by joining forces and working together."
Click here for the full gallery from the Australian Grand Prix
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter