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Formula 1's definition of insanity

Formula 1 appears to be taking steps to boost its popularity. But JONATHAN NOBLE argues that it's asking the wrong people to come up with the answers

Formula 1 appears to have had a bit of an Einstein moment. Sadly, it's not something truly genius that's going to help the sport suddenly find a solution to turn around what many believe is a popularity crisis. Instead, I'm talking about one of (allegedly) Einstein's most famous quotes: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

That is in effect what F1 has done in creating a new working group with some teams, Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore to look at ways to make the sport more popular. You don't have to be too clever to realise that asking the very same team bosses who backed a hugely detested idea like double points to solve F1's current ills  is unlikely to generate anything of much note.

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Author Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.