Newly-appointed Formula 1 managing director, motorsports, Ross Brawn, says that “simplicity” is a primary target for the future, following Liberty Media’s acquisition of the category.
Liberty announced on Monday that it had taken over the sport and installed Brawn to focus on the sporting side, with ex-ESPN chief Sean Bratches appointed to concentrate on the commercial arm.
Brawn, who won Formula 1 titles with Benetton, Ferrari and his own eponymous team during a lengthy career, reckons removing some of the complexity from the sport will be beneficial for its future.
“I think simplicity is a key objective for the future,” Brawn said during an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live.
“I watch Formula 1, I have done for the last few years as a spectator and there’s times when even I haven’t been sure what’s going on in a race.
“It’s a great sport, it's a fabulous combination of drivers, their personalities, their competition, the cars, the whole thing, we just need to look at it and see how we can improve the show.”
Brawn also explained that forming a long-term plan for the sport will be crucial for Liberty.
“I’m majoring on the sporting side, so what I want to develop, along with all the other stakeholders in Formula 1, the teams, the FIA, and so on, is to get a vision of where we want to be in the next few years,” he explained.
“I feel, and I know from experience that Formula 1 tends to be reactive: it has a problem, it reacts and tries to find a solution, but very rarely has the vision of looking forward three to five years and deciding where it wants to be.
“I think we know what fans want, they want entertainment, they want overtaking, they want close racing, they want to be able to understand what’s going on, I think everyone agrees on that.
“It’s finding a path with all the other teams and all the other people involved to achieve that.”
