F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali insists that by the end of the season, everyone will have forgotten the various issues that currently face the sport following the rules overhaul.
With Melbourne just two weeks away, the sport is already facing protests over the legality of the Mercedes engine, then there is the criticism of the new cars by the likes of world champions Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris, not forgetting safety issues raised by McLaren and claims that overtaking won't be any easier and that fans won't understand the whole energy management concept.
While the official F1 website adopts the attitude of Lt Frank Drebin, claiming that there's "Nothing to see here, Nothing to see here!", by ignoring most of the above, Domenicali echoes the cry of Lance Corporal Jones in Dad's Army, as he insists "Don't panic!"
"I don't feel this anxiety," the Italian told reporters in Bahrain, "we need to stay calm because as always when there is something happening with new regulations there's always the doubt that everything is wrong.
"I can assure you that in the F1 Commission there has been an open discussion to put on the table possible solutions to address this kind of issue," he continued, referring to the energy harvesting issue. "Therefore, there's going to be a meeting before the start of the season to avoid overreaction, because it's pretty clear we need to avoid overreaction. We just stepped into a new journey, so that's why we need to stay calm.
"And if there is something that is useful and can be implemented straight away, I've seen a very open approach by the FIA and also the teams showing the same kind of approach to eventually solve this kind of issues that are on the table to be solved and fixed.
"I don't understand what all this panicking is that's going around," he admitted, "because there will be incredible racing, there will be a lot of action. That's why as I said prudence is always part of my style.
"In any case, if something is not as we would want it, I think that the credibility of the sport is we can sit down with responsible people, the technical people and the FIA, to find solutions.
"I want to reassure the fans that this is an incredible spectacle, because I was just on the track to see outside with a fan's eye. I didn't see any difference whether it was speed, sound. Of course, the most sophisticated fans will understand the different sounds in a certain situation, but I guarantee that the 99.9% of the fans will not feel that because it's impossible. And therefore, I want to be positive in that respect. And as I said if something has to be rectified there will be the time and the measure that we can do together as a system to react."
Much has been made of the 50/50 split between electric and ICE energy, and Domenicali insists that this was to attract new manufacturers such as GM and Audi, while convincing Honda to remain. However, while Alonso claims the cars could be driven by the Aston Martin chef, Verstappen has compared F1 2026 to Formula E on steroids.
"The evolution of that is natural and will become normal," said Domenicali. "I am pretty confident this will evolve in a situation that, at the end of the year, no-one will remember what we are talking about today.
"We don't have to forget that, with all respect to all these technicalities we are taking about, it is something in the inner business of F1. For our 900 million fans, it is not in their business," he insisted. "What has to be protected is having great racing, great overtaking opportunities, great challenge to the drivers to show they are best. If these points are not taken, we need to intervene and restart immediately."
Referring directly to Verstappen, and fears he may quit the sport if his fears prove correct, the F1 CEO said: "Max wants and does care about Formula 1 more than anyone else. He has a way of putting the point that he wants to say in a certain way.
"Max will be part of the future of Formula 1 and of course it's very important that we listen to him and all the top drivers that are very important in this sport."
The fact that this is being said, that it needs to be said, just two weeks before the start of the season is worrying, and one cannot help but feel that Domenicali simply doesn't get it.
Indeed, at the F1 Commission meeting on Wednesday there were discussions around the possibility of increasing the number of Sprint events up to 12, the move, according to the official statement, "based on the demand from fans and promoters". A brief glimpse at social media made it clear that many fans are totally against the idea.
Nonetheless...
"Feedback from the fans, from the people attending the track, the promoter, is that people want to see action, real action during the three days," said Domenicali. "People want to see already on Friday something that is sporting - qualifying, points, whatever it is. So, it is true that there is the trend to go in the direction of, even if it is not a Sprint every weekend."
As we have said before, the press releases from race promoters no longer refer to the racing but to the music acts performing over race weekends.
The likes of Domenicali and Zak Brown have witnessed the global appeal of the Super Bowl, especially in terms of its attractiveness to TV companies and sponsors, and one cannot help but feel that Grand Prix weekends are heading in the direction of being long weekends of entertainment, with the on-track activities just a part of the show.
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