F1 urged to decide if it is 'sport or entertainment'

Formula 1's bosses must decide whether the series should be entertainment or sport before making any drastic changes, says Williams performance chief Rob Smedley.

F1 has suffered a drop in viewing figures with several races suffering falling attendances and there are plans for a rules revolution in 2017 to produce faster, wider cars with fatter tyres to spice up the show.

There are also discussions about introducing an alternative and cost-effective engine and balancing performance from 2017 in a bid to drive down costs and level the playing field.

But Smedley says the very nature of sport means every event cannot be exciting and he believes Formula 1 is currently striking the right balance.

"My opinion is we put on a good show," said Smedley.

"Formula 1 really has to decide what it is, like football has to decide what it is. Is it a sport or is it entertainment?

"You have to ask yourself 'do we entertain people?' And the answer is yes we do. We put on some fantastic shows.

"Fundamentally what we have is a very good package, a really good platform for the fanbases and the markets that we serve, but we need to keep making it better.

"I'm a great football fan, and sometimes I watch it and I'm bored stiff by it, it's not very exciting at all and it doesn't really entertain me.

"I still love football at the end of the game and sometimes Formula 1 is like that.

"Sometimes we put on absolutely stunning races that are just naturally fantastic to watch and sometimes they're not. I think we strike the right balance."

Smedley said Formula 1 risked becoming predictable by moving towards a more entertainment-focused show.

"You can make it purely entertainment and introduce all sorts of falsities to the racing element," he said.

"But when you do that, you effectively make it a show and you have no sporting element to it at all and you lose the excitement.

"If the fastest driver is handicapped to be the same speed as the slowest driver you take away all the unpredictability out of it and the sporting element and it becomes quite tedious."