F1 team boss warns against major change: 'It could be dangerous'

F1 has been warned that it could be “dangerous” to implement reverse grid races going forward, as it is not part of the sport's DNA.

The message has come from Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu who highlighted his own personal opposition to the potential change.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali recently suggested weekend format changes could be on the agenda, including the potential for reverse grid races.

While such an alteration could lend itself to benefitting a team such as Haas as it is not a consistent front-running squad, it would mark one of the most dramatic changes in F1 history.

As a result, Komatsu asserted he is not a fan of putting the idea into practice.

“I’m personally not a fan of reverse grids,” Komatsu told media including RacingNews365. 

“I don't think it's the DNA of F1. We're not doing balance of performance either.

“Once F1 goes in that direction, I think it could be quite dangerous. But that's just my personal opinion.”

Ayao Komatsu wants to retain F1 'DNA'

Domenicali has also suggested shorter races could become part of the sport in the future, citing shorter attention spans of the newer generations.

F1 currently runs all races at 300 kilometres, bar the Monaco race, which is set at 360 kilometres.

Komatsu asserted that reducing the race distance will not allow as many strategy options to play out, and thus hurt the excitement of the event.

“I think 300 kilometres is part of the DNA of F1,” he said. “This is my personal opinion.

“We’ve got sprint races, which are 100 kilometres, which is fine.

“The Sunday race, if let's say tyre strategy is correct,  ideally for me, it's more like two vs three stops, and then the circuit, as long as we’ve got the tyre difference that you can overtake.

“Look at Bahrain, when you get a three-stop vs a two-stop, it’s just action happening everywhere, all through the 300 kilometres.

“I think it's actually very interesting. But of course, if you’ve got a boring one-stop race, everybody stops on lap 15 and nothing else happens.

“For me, as long as we get the tyre side right, F1 DNA is that 300 kilometre race.”