McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh feels that Formula 1 needs to consider some immediate changes to liven up the world championship.
Sunday’s season-opening race in Bahrain – which saw Ferrari new boy Fernando Alonso drive to victory, - has been described by many as a dull affair and McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, who finished third, has hit out at new rules which he feels make overtaking incredibly difficult.
Whitmarsh is of the same opinion as his driver with the duo feeling that the ban on in-race refuelling, the deploying of narrower front tyres and a number of issues with cars’ aerodynamics all make for a poorer show for spectators.
Hamilton said he was left unable to go past Nico Rosberg for ages even though he was going faster than him because of the new rules and Whitmarsh has warned that such a situation, of prolonged, could be a turn-off for viewers.
"We were one of three teams that said we should have two mandatory pit stops because we were worried about one-stopping," Whitmarsh was quoted as saying by the BBC.
"I think we have to re-examine that. The tyres were also much closer in the race than we expected and they determined the spectacle. There was no real serious degradation of the tyres."
Hamilton added:"It definitely didn't make the racing more exciting in terms of overtaking.
"Everyone is learning how to use tyres more – to understand the tyres, conserve the fuel load, when to attack and not to attack.
“Rosberg got past me and, unfortunately, I was held up behind him for the first half of the race. I was much faster, but it is very difficult to follow here while trying to look after your tyres.”