Christian Horner says F1 "needs to be a flat-out sprint race from start to finish" after the drab Canadian Grand Prix led to criticism about the current spectacle.
On top of Mercedes recording an easy one-two, the Montreal race was dominated by drivers being told to lift and coast to preserve fuel. The predominance of the one-stop strategy also limited entertainment as the Canadian event failed to live up to expectations.
After the race, Horner said there are multiple issues F1 needs to address to improve the show.
"I think we had more downforce a few years ago that abused the tyres a bit more but I think one-stop races are not good for F1 - you need to have two-three stops - and that's important," he said. "We have tyres that are just a bit too conservative. I think the other thing that's not good for F1 is fuel saving - it should be a sprint race and 'lift and coast' doesn't belong in a sprint race, that's not the message F1 should be putting across."
Pressed on whether he had a solution, Horner replied: "Shorten the race by five laps or whatever it is. Either a bit more fuel or a bit less distance, but it needs to be a flat-out sprint race from start to finish."
The Red Bull boss thinks the radio messages telling drivers to lift and coast give fans a negative impression of F1.
"Of course it's the wrong message. If you're a fan sitting at home, you don't want to hear that, you want to see the guys going flat out, racing each other, and I think it is something we need to take on board and react to. It sounds like coaching if they're telling them where to lift and how much to lift - they might as well get in and do it!
Horner believes Pirelli has gone too conservative in the time since the criticism it received following the 2013 British Grand Prix, which was dominated by tyre blowouts.
"Managing the tyres is more about how the driver is using his right foot - he's not lifting at the end of the straights, so I think that's an easier issue to deal with. Pirelli did go too far if you think back to Silverstone 2013 and I think, as a result of that, their reaction was that we've ended up with a pretty conservative tyre, and the changes that were made over the winter, going into this year, went a bit more conservative again. The tyres that we had last year were, probably, about the right balance for strategy and degradation."
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http://espn.go.com/f1/story/_/id/13056630/christian-horner-says-f1-needs-flat-start-finish
