Berger: F1 must reconsider 'power to grip' ratio

Apr.25 - F1 needs to turn a revolutionary corner in order to revive the spectacle of the past.

That is the view of Gerhard Berger, speaking just a few days before F1's end-of-April deadline for agreeing a set of different technical rules for 2017.

The latest rumours are that, in addition to wider tyres and more downforce, the sport might slightly relax its fuel usage limits but Berger, an F1 legend, warns that it all might not be enough.

"It's all just fine-tuning," said the former Ferrari and McLaren driver.

"Look at MotoGP with 270 horse power on two very narrow tyres -- the difference between power and grip is huge," Berger told motorsport-magazin.com.

"Another example is the 80s, when we (F1) had 1400hp and probably half the downforce of today -- these were things that you really had to master."

But that doesn't mean Berger thinks F1, whose turbo V6 engines are now approaching 1000hp, should simply reverse its 2017 blueprint and slash downforce.

"No, that would be totally wrong," he said. "I would change the ratio.

"If you calculate the average downforce we had at that time and then look at how much power we had, it may well be that (now) we need 2000hp. I think it's the (power to grip) ratio that has to change," Berger added.

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