“They are the spicy of the F1”

The executive director of Formula 1, Stefano Domenicali, has suggested that he would like to see more disputes about the technical regulations in the championship, labeling a handful of examples of his own time in Ferrari as “spicy” moments.

In his extensive stage in the Maranello team, which covered functions in the commercial department before becoming a sports director and, after the departure of Jean Todt, in team director, Domenicali sat on both sides of the fence during multiple technical controversies throughout the decades of 2000 and 2010.

In an exclusive interview with Motorsport.comThe Italian mentioned Ferrari’s own involvement in his double disqualification in the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix, in which it was determined that the bargebards of the team were illegal, a decision that provisionally granted the title of pilots to Mika Hakkinen.

At that time, the technical director Ross Brawn seemed to admit that the team had made an error, but changed their minds in the appeal, when Ferrari successfully argued his case, based on the inconsistencies of a standard that defined a 5 mm tolerance for certain surfaces of the bargeboards. The disqualification was subsequently revoked by the FIA, restoring the victory of Eddie Irvine to maintain the fight for the title until the final round in Suzuka, where Hakkinen did the job, but the Scuderia finally won the constructors crown.

Domenicali also mentioned some of the technical advances that the teams found in the following decades and that offered an advantage to a team that competed for the championship, and that were finally prohibited. He suggested that these innovations have been missing due to the strictest restrictions that governed cars design.

“I have lived many of them: Malaysia ’99, the double diffuser, fric, mass shock absorbers, ducts

“I used to participate in debates on technical and sports regulations almost every Sunday. Years ago, there were much broader gray areas than today, but the people of the F1 continue to know how to take everything to the limit.”

“Personally, I think that today’s controversies are relatively minor. In fact, it would be good to have a little more of that again: they are sport spicy.”

As for the current F1 situation on the technical level, Domenicali considered that there are a handful of areas in which the unique specification components would be justified, citing as an example the gearboxes.

He said that current viewers would be more receptive to the areas in which technological advances and entertainment go hand in hand, and that those responsible for F1 should consider how to put it into practice.

“Fans of my generation have to rethink what generates performance and technological interest,” he added.

“Focusing on sustainable fuels is absolutely the right way. But – and this may sound provocative – make the teams invest huge amounts to design their own gearboxes no longer make sense. The performance gains are minimal. Fans no longer see it as an exciting development area. We have to identify the areas in which technology and entertainment are overwhelmed.”

“Many things that previously seemed advanced no longer justify large investments. We must have the value of accepting that the panorama has evolved.”