Formula 1 in need of big overhaul

Ahead of a crunch meeting of technical chiefs and the FIA in London on Friday that could map out future F1 car concepts, Berger has added to calls for there to be a big overhaul of the sport.

He suggests that rather than focusing on tweaks to aerodynamics and wider cars, F1 is in need of a much bigger shake-up to make it more thrilling.

"Fans want to see more fighting on track and more action, too," Berger told the Salzburg Nachrichten newspaper. "Back in my time a F1 car was like a loose cannon.

"We had 1,400 bhp and didn't have so many driving aids. But today it's clear after the first corner who will win the race.

"You have to go back to a system where the driver is the key to success in F1. There should only be four or five drivers who are able to pull it off.

"You have to make this change in order to keep fans watching the races."

New type of dominance

Although many people have pointed out that the levels of dominance shown by Mercedes these days has been delivered by other teams in the past, Berger thinks there are big differences now.

He thinks the fact that cars are now so bullet-proof has made the sport much less exciting.

"There were dominant teams in the past but we had more retirements, too," he said. "Nowadays every car makes it to the finish line, there are no surprises anymore.

"Back in the [old] days you couldn't be sure until the end. Even on the last lap of the race you couldn't be sure. And driver errors were punished severely.

"But today, all suspense is gone right after the start and you have huge asphalt run-off areas, where, with a little bit of luck, you don't even lose a position when you go off."