Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali believes the championship still has the trust of the fans ahead of the first race since the controversial title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Last month, the FIA unveiled a raft of changes to the stewarding of F1 races – including the axing of F1 race director Michael Masi – as part of the governing body’s review into the Abu Dhabi GP.
This Saturday’s meeting of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council is expected to feature an in-depth discussion of the FIA’s findings as it attempts to draw a line under last season ahead of the start of the 2022 season this weekend.
When asked by SkyF1 ahead of the weekend how F1 needs to rebuild the trust of the fans, Domenicali insisted that the trust hasn’t been lost.
“I think that to be honest the trust is really [still] there,” Domenicali said.
“We had, last week, a meeting with all the promoters and all the broadcasters and all the partners. All the places we are going are sold out. It means that Formula 1 does not have that problem. It means that the trust is there.
“Sport is a part of the challenge and you may have situations that are positive or negative or a great controversy. I have not, for a single second, in my mind, to think that something is built on purpose. As a sportsman, if I thought that would be the case, I would not be there. I can guarantee that from a Formula 1 perspective that is not the case.
“What we can say, and as you know in the next few days the FIA will formally discuss that at the World Motor Sport Council, what we need to avoid is a personal discussion.
“We are all human beings. You may say that you are performing well as a driver, as a team, as a referee, but this is not relevant to the credibility of the sport. If the sport will take the lessons in order to improve, credibility passes through these kind of actions. And this is what we are expecting the FIA to take on board in preparation of the next year.”
Domenicali wants the FIA to “be able to start this weekend in the best that they can” and hopes all the people involved in the decision-making process have “all the right tools to do the best job that they can”.
This weekend will see the race debut of the FIA’s new structure that features alternating race directors Eduardo Freitas and Niels Wittich (pictured below) and a new virtual race control that will assist their decision-making.
“Race direction has to be an entity organised in the proper way but the race director is a person who has to take the right decision,” he added.
“And he can take that decision if he’s well supported and if he has all the tools that are available for him to make this judgement.
” You don’t have the time to make a committee, you have to make sure that all that you have around you is enabling you to take the right decision.”
When asked if the FIA will publish the report, Domenicali replied: “I would say this is the part of the FIA.”
“I will attend the World Council and we will see. That is the aim, to have a step forward, to move forward from Abu Dhabi. We are already in Bahrain. So there is no need to talk with a different approach than to say what we learned as regulators from that last race.”
