F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone has called for F1's rulebook "to be torn up in a dramatic overhaul of the sport's regulations," according to Phil Duncan of the PA. Ecclestone believes F1 has become an "engineer's championship" with "little emphasis on the driver." Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton is "sauntering" to another F1 title but Ecclestone "played down his personal impact." Ecclestone said of Hamilton, "When people say to me who do I think was the best driver, the name I come up with -- and most people do not agree with me -- is Alain Prost. Prost had to look after his brakes, his gearbox, everything. He did a good job so he finished more races and he finished in a better position. Whereas today they don't have that problem." Ecclestone believes the changes to engines since the days of Prost "have harmed the sport as a spectacle." Asked how it "could change for the better in the future," Ecclestone said, "Tear the rulebook up. Get a few competent people together and say, 'Let's rewrite Formula One regulations.'" Faster and more challenging cars are to be introduced in '17 "in a bid to make the sport more appealing" (PA, 10/19).
