F1 a Turn Off, Says Mansell

Former World Champion Nigel Mansell says Formula One has become a turn off, even for him.

"I'm sick of people coming up to me and saying what a load of rubbish Formula One is now," the Briton said in the Times newspaper on Monday.

"I've tried to defend it because it meant such a lot to me for so many years but even I can no longer go on defending the indefensible. How can you when there is virtually no overtaking on the track and little genuine excitement?

"It saddens me to say it but I'm just appalled at how the regulations are ruining Formula One," the former Williams and Ferrari driver added.

Mansell, World Champion with Williams in 1992 when he won nine races, has recently turned his hand to golf and on Sunday fired his first below-par round in a professional tournament, shooting a three-under 66 in the Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open.

"I still keep in touch with what's happening in Formula One and I'll usually sit down to watch the start of a Grand Prix, but after a few laps I find I can't watch any more and switch off. It's that bad," he said.

"Even a couple of team owners have told me Formula One is in a mess and they hate it. They don't enjoy going to Grands Prix any more."

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher has won nine out of 10 races this season and Sunday's French Grand Prix, while a strategic masterpiece for the Italian team, had barely an overtaking manoeuvre in it.

"A fundamental problem is that the cars are too easy to drive," the 50-year-old told the Times. "The most inexperienced young driver can climb into a Formula One car and drive it competently."