Jacques Villeneuve has urged Formula 1 to restore its credibility and past glory, with the 1997 world champion speaking out against the recent rules changes initially aimed at spicing up the show.
Over recent years the rules regarding the sport have been altered almost on a yearly basis, with both the sporting and technical regulations receiving heavy amendments.
Most recently qualifying has become the latest aspect of the sport to receive an alteration, resulting in an exceptionally controversial qualifying session for the season opening Australian Grand Prix.
After initial speculation that the format would be reverted to the original knockout format of the previous year, it was confirmed that the revised elimination style would remain in place for Bahrain, much to the dismay of many fans.
Former Williams and BAR racer Villeneuve has spoken out against the almost constant rule changes in the sport, particularly F1’s recent craving for excitement and more overtaking.
“First of all, we are picking the wrong fight if we want to spice up the show,” explained Villeneuve to French publication Le Figaro.
“We are trying to make F1 the equivalent of the X-Games.
“We want to cater for the teenagers who spend their lives on the Internet and like something different every 10 minutes.
“But that will never be F1. You won’t see cars exploding during a race, or rolling 20,000 times, or making 10,000 overtakes all the while drifting and spinning.
“We should not try to seek that level of excitement. Any time a decision is made towards that goal, F1 destroys itself.
“We need to restore F1’s past glory, but above all its credibility.
"It is not an artificially manufactured Hollywood show. Any time we head in that direction, the sport becomes less interesting.”
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