Prost Calls for Quick Changes to F1

Former World Champion Alain Prost has called for rapid changes to improve Formula One and said that blaming Ferrari for the decreasing interest in the sport is just an excuse to justify other problems.

"Ferrari's dominance, which is often used to explain the growing disinterest by the public, is just an alibi," Prost said in an interview with Swiss newspaper Dimanche. "Formula One currently lives in a narrow-minded way which doesn't take into account the economic situation of the world or the sponsors, and that is not likely to improve.

"It is necessary to make changes quick, beginning by reducing the costs and by giving more importance to the driving. The current financial requirements are so big that the small teams are unable to compete. An example: I tried to hire an engineer for 300,000 dollars. A rival team, which I will not name, hired him for four million dollars.

"What seems important to me is that teams like Sauber, or Prost Grand Prix at the time, must survive at all costs to maintain the balance in the show. The manufacturers should remain engine providers and not be involved in all the levels of developments like it happens now."

Prost created his own Formula One team back in 1997. The Frenchman bought the Ligier team and competed in 83 races, not scoring a single victory, before he was forced to file for bankruptcy before the start of the 2002 season with estimated debts of $30 million.

As a driver, however, Prost won 51 Grands Prix and four titles before retiring at the end of the 1993 season after clinching his final crown with the Williams team. The Frenchman reckons that things have changed a lot since he was working behind the wheel.

"Nowadays drivers are like monkeys, they don't make any adjustments," Prost added. "They give the instructions to the engineers, and in fact the computers take care of the work. To me, that's not real competition. Moreover, under the current system they must also keep their mouth shut. If they don't, they make the manufacturer who employs them look bad."