Former Red Bull boss makes F1 rules demand

Helmut Marko has delivered a damning verdict on F1's new rules and believes changes are required for the sport to return to "pure racing".

The former Red Bull advisor has been left far from impressed with what he has seen so far this year after watching Formula 1 on television rather than trackside following his departure from the team at the end of last season.

Although an instrumental figure in Red Bull creating its own Powertrains department, Marko feels F1 has gone too far in creating a 50-50 split in power delivery between combustion and electrical energy.

The 82-year-old feels alterations need to be made to the rules, although he appreciates that it is easier said than done.

Initially commenting on the start procedure at Melbourne's Albert Park in which Alpine's Franco Colapinto came within centimetres of ramming into the back of Liam Lawson in his Racing Bulls, speaking to Austrian publication Krone, Marko said: "At starts, some cars have always gotten away better and others worse.

"But now, in addition to turbo lag, there's the battery, which makes the whole thing even more unpredictable. The situation with Lawson and Colapinto was very close; something will have to be done about that."

In general, regarding the racing overall, he remarked: "The entire regulations need to be simplified.

"Superclipping, overtake mode, boost - it's all far too complicated. We need to get back to pure racing, because that's been pushed into the background by all the energy management.

"But perhaps this can be significantly improved with rule changes and further technological advancements."

As to how realistic a rapid change could be made, he said: "It's difficult to say, because Mercedes seems very happy with these regulations. They have a significantly larger advantage than the one that emerged in Australia."

Assessing the gap between the front-running team, which scored a one-two in Melbourne, Marko stated: "They are clearly ahead by three to five tenths of a second.

"One indication of this is [Kimi] Antonelli. He briefly dropped back to seventh place, but quickly climbed back to second. During this phase, he was a second faster than everyone else."