Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley has launched an attack on the Formula 1 Strategy Group, saying that it is unfit for purpose following its latest meeting in England last week.
The F1 Strategy Group is made up of representatives from just six of the ten F1 teams, but holds a great deal of power in determining the future direction for the sport.
Last week, the decision was taken to push for a faster F1 from 2017 by dramatically changing the current technical regulations, despite the current rules only being introduced 14 months ago.
The decision to rewrite the regulations has split opinion within the sport, and many of the smaller teams have become increasingly frustrated by the lack of focus on important issues such as cost control.
Speaking in the FIA press conference on Thursday, Fernley made his thoughts on the Strategy Group clear, calling for a more autocratic rule of F1 by the FIA and the commercial rights holder, the F1 Group.
“I think that the problem I have is that I don’t think the Strategy Group is fit for purpose and we should be looking at something where we have a clear programme that delivers results,” Fernley said.
“We’ve have 18 months or two years of Strategy Group work with nothing coming out of it. I think we need to look at the system in a better way.
“In days gone by, with Max [Mosley] and Bernie [Ecclestone] in charge, there would be none of that. We would know exactly where we’re going.
“I don’t think you should have the teams making decisions on where Formula 1 should go. The teams should be told where Formula 1 is going.”
When asked whether the Strategy Group had had its day, Fernley was abrupt, saying: “Well I don’t think it ever had its day. End of story.”
The idea of a more autocratic control of F1 was supported by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who said that a division in the teams’ goals was inevitable.
“It’s rather predictable: Bob’s going to ask for more money, Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team boss] is going to not want to change anything and we want to change engines,” Horner said. “So every team has got its own agenda and it’s going to fight its own corner.
“I think that the sport is governed by the FIA and it’s promoted by FOM. It’s those guys that need to get together and say ‘what do we want Formula 1 to be?’ Yes, we want it to go quicker, we want cars to be more aggressive to drive – but you’re never going to keep everybody happy.
“I think that Bernie and Jean [Todt, FIA president] need to get together and say ‘this is what we want the product to be, this is how it needs to be governed,’ and then give us the entry form and see if we want to enter or not.
“Because I think putting it in the team’s environment to try and agree a set of regulations – you’re never going to get everybody on the same piece of paper.”
