"The trust is already there" - F1 CEO claims fans still believe in the sport

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali feels fans still have faith in the sport, despite the controversial end to the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the dawn of a new era of F1, Domenicali feels there is no need to rebuild trust with the fans as it is already there. He said:

“I think that to be honest, the trust is already there. We had last week a meeting with all the promoters, all the broadcasters and all the partners. Almost all the places we are going to are sold out and that means that Formula 1 does not have that problem, it means the trust is there.”

The Italian added to his comments by saying:

“Sport is part of the challenge and you may have situations that are positive, negative or create controversy. Not for a single second in my mind did I think that something was built on purpose. As a sportsman, if I thought that was the case, I would not be there and I can guarantee from Formula 1’s perspective, this is not the case.”

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New F1 regulatory changes have delivered on promise of closer racing, claims Pat Symonds

F1's chief technical officer Pat Symonds has hailed the sport's regulatory changes for delivering on the promise of closer racing between drivers.

The next generation of F1 cars has been designed in a way to eliminate the issues previous cars faced when trying to follow behind the dirty air of the car ahead.

During an interview with F1 TV, Symonds touched on the subject and how drivers had been positive when giving their feedback on the new cars. He said:

“When you’re testing, you try not to get close to other cars, you try and keep your own counsel really, and good separation. In Barcelona, I spoke to a lot of drivers and asked them about how they felt the cars were when they were following. And all of them were very complimentary, those who had followed, and of course, a lot of them hadn’t.”

The 68-year-old then went on to explain how Alex Albon's fresh perspective, having been away from the sport for a year, was the best example of this. He added, saying:

“But Alex [Albon] I think gave me the most interesting answer, because he said he had to recalibrate, he had to rethink, because he couldn’t believe how close he could get to the car in front. And that’s the best vindication of these quite major changes that we’ve done, I think.”

Meanwhile, the first race of the 2022 season, the Bahrain GP, will be held on March 20 and could bring some surprises with it.