Dennis Urges FIA to be Careful with Rule Changes

McLaren team principal Ron Dennis has urged the FIA to be cautious with rule changes that could damage the spectacle of Formula One, stating he was hopeful the teams could offer an agreed set of changes to counter the FIA's proposals.

The FIA released last week a list of proposed rule changes that would be introduced as soon as 2005, and Dennis told reporters at the Hockenheim paddock he hopes the teams will be able to avoid these proposals by a unanimous agreement on alternative changes.

"I think what is very clear in the press release that came out from the FIA, is that these [proposals] represent what will happen if the teams do not put forward proposals that fulfil the objectives that the FIA feels need to be met," Dennis said.

"I think the proposals the teams are working on all meet that objective. We are trying to make sure that we don't damage the spectacle of Formula One. I think that a set of rules which ultimately will see the teams sit in the garages most of the time is not a particularly good set of rules, and we're optimistic we can avoid that, but we're not always in control of our destiny."

Dennis also commented on his relationship with FIA president Max Mosley, who stated two weeks ago at Silverstone that one of the team owners was not "the sharpest tool in the box" - a comment many believed was referring to Dennis himself. Dennis and Mosley have criticised each other several times in the past, but Dennis said their relationship was not as strained as people believe.

"There is, I think, a view held by most people that Max and I are constantly fighting and never see eye to eye," Dennis told Atlas F1. "I don't think that view is correct, and I don't think that Max would say it is. Of course, he can't help himself - he's a little bit mischievous sometimes, and it's not ever pleasant to be on the receiving end of someone's apparently humorous comments.

"But, at the end of the day, I am a little bit outspoken about my views. I think that's the way you should be in Formula One, I think if you have an opinion, [you should] express it - but it's only that, it's an opinion."

Dennis said nonetheless that despite disagreements he holds with Mosley, including over the proposed rule changes for next season, he sees Mosley's contribution to Formula One - particularly in safety - and urged the FIA president to encourage discussion among the sport's participants.

"I'm the first to recognise that there are many areas on the car which had been systematically improved from a safety aspect," Dennis said, "and that is as a result of the FIA pushing harder on the F1 manufacturers to make safer racing cars, so there are definite positives that I can see have come out of the period of time which he'd been the president.

"But no one is always right, you can't be right all the time, and I think it's only debate and discussion and listening to other people's opinion that will see you arrive at the best possible point. Perhaps I should do more of my talking behind closed doors, but what it seems so often is that no one wants to talk about the issues and no one wants to think through the repercussions of suggestions made - sometimes by the teams, sometimes by this team, sometimes by the governing body.

"It's important to think through the repercussions, and if the repercussions of a rule change are increased costs or a change in the fundamentals of Formula One, then I think they should be challenged. Simple as that."