Formula One news

Stewart: Something fundamentally rotten in F1

Former triple World Champion Jackie Stewart has spoken out over the off and on-track controversies to have graced Formula One over the course of recent seasons. The Scot is both sad and disappointed to see that the sport appears to be in 'a mood of self-destruction'.

FIA President Max Mosley was involved in a scandal surrounding his private life last year

With the most recent scandal having been labelled by fellow three-time World Champion Niki Lauda as the worst in F1 history, Stewart also feels that the alleged race-fixing plan of Renault at last year's Singapore Grand Prix generates far more bad publicity for the sport than potential to seize added interest.

"What I do know is that there is something fundamentally rotten and wrong at the heart of Formula One," Stewart, who admitted that he is in 'no position' to discuss the Renault case in detail, is quoted as telling Auto Trader. "Never in my experience has F1 been in such a mood of self-destruction. Millions of fans are amazed, if not disgusted, at a sport which now goes from crisis to crisis with everyone blaming everyone else.

Stewart believes that Formula One fans are 'disgusted' by cases such as 'Crashgate'

"There is a nervousness and fear within the teams, which is not healthy. There is no respect or trust for the individuals or the institutions that are meant to regulate and govern the sport."

Having not stood for FIA presidency himself, Sir Jackie does acknowledge that reorganisation of the sport is key. "There needs to be a fundamental reform of all the structures of governance and management of F1, from both a regulatory and commercial standpoint," he encouraged. "Unless proper leadership is established soon within F1 at every level, the commercial sponsors will walk away and the sport will be seriously damaged for years to come."

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