Marko wants radical changes: "Ban on radio communication and less telemetry"

Helmut Marko is of the opinion that things are going the wrong way with Formula 1. The Red Bull Racing advisor states that the pinnacle of motorsport has become a championship for engineers. Marko wants the skills of drivers to make the difference between a victory and a second or third place.

The Austrian goes back to the year 2014, when the new hybrid engines were introduced in Formula 1. "Mercedes understood this complicated technology better than anyone else right from the start."

Hamilton owes titles to strong Mercedes engine

Without Marko wanting to take anything away from that performance of the German race team, it's not good in his view that one team is dominant for so long. "Lewis Hamilton's enormous superiority is the result of a stronger engine," the man from Graz at Der Spiegel says. "We're not racing in the drivers' championship right now. We're racing in the engineers' championship."

The drivers in Formula 1 have already indicated that their success depends very much on the car they drive. That has to change, says Marko. "It's not the technical product that should stand out, but man. That's what interests people, that fascinates them. We have to significantly reduce telemetry, i.e. data transfer from the car to the pit. And eliminate radio communication from the box to the pilot."

Marko wants to make drivers more important again

Red Bull's top man hopes that such changes can be included in the regulations in the future. "The spectator doesn't want to admire the best engineering crew, but the driver who drives the racing car at its limit," Marko said. However, at the moment in Formula 1 it is mainly a question of tyre management. That will have to change as well.