Change is good, say top drivers

Appearing in the FIA Wednesday press conference Webber argued that, while he enjoyed the flat-out pace of racing on tyres supplied by Bridgestone, the changes undergone by F1 in recent years have not been detrimental to the sport.

“The way the races have run in the last few years is different to previous years,” he acknowledged. “[When] we went to no refueling, the phase of the racing changed a little bit, in terms of a little bit of an endurance aspect started to come into it, in terms of driving style and pacing yourself a little bit more. And then we had the change with the Pirellis and that’s probably been the biggest change in driver technique and style that I can remember.”

“Personally, I enjoyed the sprint races and the refueling; probably all of the drivers did, but the racing was not super-exciting. It was more precise, you had to be more on the limit and really, really feeling the car for the whole two hours, but that’s not how it is now. We have a different set of challenges and that’s what we’ve got to do.

“I still enjoy driving a Formula One car, I still love working with the engineers, driving the most amazing tracks against some great opposition. I enjoy that part of it but we always have to change, we always have to evolve as the technical side of the sport changes.”

His view was echoed by Lewis Hamilton. “I’ve enjoyed it every year, and every year is a new challenge and I think what the rules are there to give us is challenges,” the McLaren driver added. “It is a little bit different, where we’re not pushing 100 percent in the race but it is still a challenge to extract the most out of the tyres for a longer period. It still requires skill and technique and finesse to do that stuff. I’m still trying to get that fine touch sorted. But nonetheless, it’s still Formula One, it’s still fun and there’s more overtaking which is what people like to see.”