Formula 1 director of motorsports Ross Brawn says he would be against shortening races, insisting a 90-minute race is the “right” length of time. The idea of shortening Sunday’s grand prix has been mooted on many occasions, with a belief that younger viewers are unable to maintain concentration levels or interest for more than an hour.
However Ros Brawn says that hasn’t been the case when he’s discussed the matter with fans and believes improving the action is the answer to waning interest:
“I think the race distance is right,” he told F1 Fan Voice when asked what he wouldn’t change about the sport. “I think a one and a half hour to two hour race is right. I’ve always believed that and interestingly the more discussion we have with fans a large percentage agree. You watch a football game, it’s a couple of hours – a major sporting event needs to have substance and I think the length of a Formula 1 race is right, but I think we need to get more action into an F1 race, but a balance. If soccer games were all the same then they would lose their attraction. You need a few dull games to know when a great game happens. I would like to see that in racing. There are a few races which are fairly quiet. If we have a race where Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel dominates and wins the race, you should appreciate the ability of that driver in that capacity. But then we’ll have a race where the positions change and maybe there’s a safety car and lots of things happen. But I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to change the length of a race.” – he explained.
Whilst on the matter of change, Ross Brawn addressed reports that the number of points and how they’re awarded could be tweaked going forward and whilst he isn’t opposed to the idea, he believes it must be a carefully considered and long-term decision: “We’re having a discussion about points system at the moment. It’s a big decision to change it. If we change it, it needs to be left alone for 10 years, we don’t want to keep messing with it.”
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