Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali is not disregarding Sebastian Vettel’s criticism of the sport, but maintains that there is a “business” side to F1 that he has to respect.
Vettel has been open in recent months about how well he feels the pinnacle of motorsport deals with issues such as equality and climate change.
He was reprimanded for failing to take off a demonstrative t-shirt during the Hungarian national anthem in protest of the recent anti-LGBT law in the country.
READ: Aston Martin respond to report they’ll miss Barcelona test
The Aston Martin driver has previously spoken on F1’s “We Race As One” campaign, suggesting that the powers that be are not as committed to social equality as they might want it to seem, and he held an all-women karting event prior to the race in Jeddah.
The 34-year-old is often seen cycling to race tracks, and stayed behind at the British Grand Prix to help pick up litter.
Further pertaining to the environment, the German does not believe that the switch to 90 percent fossil fuels and 10 percent sustainable resources in the engines for 2022 is sufficient to make an impact.
Domenicali says he is more than happy to take Vettel’s review of F1’s approach to these areas on board.
“I don’t want to see this as criticism,” he said in conversation with Sport1, the RND and F1 Insider.
“I see this as a positive impulse from someone who is seriously thinking about the future. I’ve talked to him about this countless times. For me, this is constructive criticism.
“If someone criticises Formula 1 for the sake of criticism, I don’t care. I take constructive criticism to heart.”
However, the Italian reiterated that he cannot simply ignore the financial aspect of F1, and that there are more than one group of people whose needs he must satisfy.
“It’s always about finding the right balance,” he explained..
“In the end, Formula 1 is also a business and you have to find a compromise between all parties.”
Regarding the fuel blend, the F1 CEO’s strategy is to slowly bring changes in through the feeder series, purely due to the simplicity of Formula 2 and Formula 3 compared to F1.
“In Formula 2 and Formula 3 we will act faster. But there we have standard cars, standard engines, standard petrol. In Formula 1, on the other hand, there are large manufacturers who demand a certain timeframe for their developments.
READ: Sebastian Vettel ‘better in his skin’ after Ferrari exit
“My job is to make sure this happens as quickly as possible, with the right timing of the introduction. That means we have a duty to push, but we can’t do anything on our own.”
The fuel blend is one of many alterations to the technical regulations in 2022, with the ground effect returning amid a huge aerodynamic swing, and an increase to 18-inch tyres.
Follow us on Google News to never miss an F1 story