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F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali says he is against Formula 1 or the FIA stepping in to stop Red Bull’s domination, because “we cannot be seen as part of manipulation”.
Red Bull has been completely dominating Formula 1 for a year and a half. At this moment it is highly unlikely that any team will be able to seriously challenge the Austrian team for the world title anytime soon.
It’s been widely considered that Formula 1’s latest technical regulation changes implemented in 2022, have been designed to stop Mercedes’ eight-year-long run at the top of the sport, so some are now suggesting that F1 and the FIA should again step in to stop Red Bull’s current domination.
When asked if he has considered doing this, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali completely dismissed this option.
“I think it is not fair to say that,” the Italian said.
“It’s not correct because we cannot be seen as part of manipulation. This is not correct, and this is not fair. I am not [considering] at all this kind of approach.”
In fact, Domenicali believes rules should remain as they are for a longer period of time, which he believes would allow other teams to ‘catch up’.
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“I think that’s the right approach now, also because the rules have been changed not many years ago. Therefore, this will happen for sure.
“F1 has been always a sport where there has been cycles, where teams were very dominant and then some others came into the equation.
“So, I would say our objectives should be – if you take this strategic approach – to make sure that these cycles in the future will be shorter.”
He also said the competition is very close behind Red Bull, it’s just that the top team is at the moment too far ahead of others.
“I think that the gap is between one team and the others. We need to consider that [Red Bull] did an incredible job.
“It is true that the gap seems to be big, but we need to be prudent, because we know in life things can change very quickly.
“The others are very, very close. If you look at the gaps to the other teams, I think that they did an incredible job, [and it] needs to be rewarded.
“So, as I said, it’s clear that the aim of what we want to do is to make sure that these gaps will stay as small as possible.
“I’m sure that the other teams are watching how they can catch up with their development in the context of the budget cap.
“It will be interesting to see if the development curve of the team that today is leading will slow down because, at the end of the day, they did a better job in the shorter term.
“So that will be very interesting to see in the next couple of months,” Domenicali concluded.
It’s worth noting that Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff also publicly stated that he is against any intervention aimed at slowing down Red Bull.
