Johnny Herbert calls for radical F1 rule change to remove key help for drivers
Ex-Formula One driver urges sport to ban radio messages to spice up races
ormula One should ban radio communication between drivers and their mechanics during races, Johnny Herbert has said.
The radical rule change described by the former F1 racer would serve as a throwback to the days of Ayrton Senna, Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell when strategy calls were not handed down during grands prix.
In that era, mechanics hung boards over the pit wall to communicate messages such as when to pit and time gaps.
Herbert, 58, has claimed that his move would put the onus back on the drivers to manage their own race, thus spicing up the action.
“One thing I would ban is radio communication on a Sunday race,” he told Ice 36. “The strategy software that they have now is fantastic.
“But I feel I want the driver to sometimes make the calls in the cockpit. Like Ayrton did, Nigel, myself and Damon from that era. We had a discussion, we had a plan you have it on your board, but there were occasions when you had to think for yourself.
“Now it is purely done pretty much on what the software says.
“I want a bit of that back. I don’t want it to be about drivers being told, ‘You’re going too fast, your tyres are a bit hot’. We had to feel that and react. At the moment they only react because of what they are told on the radio which comes from what the software is telling the team.
“The teams could do whatever they wanted on a Friday, do what they want on a Saturday. On the Sunday, the teams should just tell the drivers, ‘Here’s the car, we‘ve done everything we possibly can, now it’s over to you and see you at the end of the race’.”