25/01/2017
NEWS STORY
Much like the team bosses, F1 fans have their own views on how Formula One should be.
Put ten in a room and ask them to come up with one single way in which they would change the sport, you can be sure that you would get seven or eight different answers.
If Liberty Media is to take the sport forward, retain existing fans, win back old ones and convert new ones it has to stop telling them what they want and instead begin listening.
Of course, by promising the earth - and then some - Liberty Media isn't making things easy for itself.
Charged with heading the technical aspect of the business, Ross Brawn has called for patience, admitting that it could be three to five years before the new vision for the sport takes shape.
There will be change," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "With Carey as president and CEO, myself on the sporting side and Sean Bratches heading marketing and media, decisions will be more cohesive. Then we will involve the FIA, teams and organisers.
"In recent years I have seen that F1 is unresponsive," he continued, to deliver continuity is obviously important to everyone, but we must be careful to preserve the essence of grands prix.
"For my part, after a period of study, we must think of a three to five-year plan and introduce innovations gradually," he admitted. "Acting quickly could be counterproductive.
"We must avoid, as has happened in recent years, falling into the temptation to artificially create the show," he said. "But I agree on the need to make sure that there is more competition and to do this we need patience. We cannot overhaul everything, to switch from black to white would be a mistake, this is a complex sport."
Meanwhile, talking to Reuters, Brawn cited the example of 2016 Premiere League champions Leicester City as an example of how F1 could and should be.
"We all know the analogy of Leicester City," he said, "that would be the ideal in F1, when a good team on a great year with a great driver could really mount a challenge. But at the moment that's not really possible.
“The level of resource the top teams are using has made an enormous gap," he continued. "My Nirvana would be you get slightly odd circumstances and suddenly a team from the back wins. But at the moment you have two or three teams who can win and we need to spread that."
Indeed, a year later Leicester is 15th in the league, having won 5 of its 22 games thus far, facing the prospect of relegation and already said to be considering sacking its manager.