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Formula One
F1: Briatore Wants GP Format Shakeup
Renault team principal suggests F1 should follow GP2 and A1GP route in splitting races into two heats, among other things.
Kevin Krefting  |  Posted April 26, 2007   London, UK
F1 excitement normally comes in the early laps, Briatore says, so why not double their number? (LAT photo)

Renault F1 team principal Flavio Briatore believes
Formula 1 should consider a major overhaul of its weekend format as a means of enhancing its popularity.

Ahead of a likely overhaul of the F1 calendar in future years, with Abu Dhabi, South Korea and India seemingly set to be added to the schedule, Briatore believes the time has come for the sport to accept an injection of fresh new ideas for race weekends.

"Our job is racing, not testing," he told Italian racing magazine Autosprint. "We must have more grands prix, we must change qualifying, and the races too. We must try to adapt.

"Maybe we can change the times of races. I think we should seriously think what F1 should be like in the future."

Briatore even went as far as suggesting that F1 bosses should consider getting rid of the traditional race format on Sundays, and replace it with a GP2/A1GP-style doubleheader.

"Perhaps we should have races over two heats in order to give a chance to the drivers that didn't do well in the first one," he said. "It could be a bit similar to the GP2 format, which at the moment is creating interest, by having two races on Sunday, not one and a half hours long, but for example one 45 minutes and the other 50.

"After all, let's be honest, nothing happens after the second pit stop nowadays, unless there is an accident. This way, races turn boring. By contrast, if you have a bad result in the first heat, maybe with a driver crashing out, then in the second heat you can make up for it.

"It would be good for the sponsors, for television, for everyone. We must make everything more exciting than it is now."



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