There's Too Much Secrecy in F1, Says Lauda

Jaguar boss Niki Lauda believes there is too much secrecy in Formula One and has called for the organisers to open the sport to the fans.

"We are so restricted in terms of access to race fans, it's a joke. It's too sterile, too controlled," said Lauda, a former three times Formula One World Champion. "It's worst for the poor people who pay money to come and do a pitlane tour. They can't even see the cars.

"The teams put up fences and curtains because they say they are afraid of spying, which is bullshit. You can look at any car on the grid when they have no covers on. Putting screens up in the garages does nothing at all to prevent this and I wish some team bosses would get real.

"What can a spectator do if he sees a Ferrari in the pits? He's not exactly going to look at it and make a copy. It's gone right over the top. This is a sport, so let's just leave it all open."

But in a sport where confidentiality is paramount, many teams are concerned that the unique designs on their cars can be photographed in the pitlane and the pictures are then supplied to rival teams.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis suggested earlier this year that screens could be erected around cars in order to avoid the alleged 'spying'.

"It is hard to explain how expensive it is to find small advantages, and how we are paranoid about trying to keep them," said Dennis. "Things that are difficult to conceal - deflectors, things like that, and they are very quickly photographed and distributed.

"I don't think there's a competitive team that doesn't do it. At end of day got to slow that process down. We are mindful that fans and sponsors like to look at the cars and we are sensitive to it. We'd like a solution."