Jacques Villeneuve: Too many rules and judgements in modern F1

Williams

Villeneuve: Too many rules and judgements in modern F1

Are FIA regulations limiting drivers?

Matthew Bannister

Sunday 23 February 2020 13:21 Updated: 13:30

Former Williams driver Jacques Villeneuve has hit out at the FIA, claiming they over-analyse when looking for race incidents.

Speaking to France’s Auto Plus, the Canadian said that there was not as much fuss caused on the track in his day compared to today.

"The smallest incident must be analysed," he explained.

Article continues under video

“It was much easier when everything was left to the drivers, except in the most extreme cases. There was much less nagging on the track then.”

Dual Axis Steering (DAS): What is it, and why is it causing controversy?Read more

The 48-year-old feels that because the FIA watches everything under a microscope that drivers today can’t act as aggressively as he did in F1.

“We could take revenge," he continued.

"You were bothered by a driver and if that was on purpose, you could just take it back the next round. Now, these gestures are the most repressed.

“In the past, drivers did not block each other in a straight line. The first to do such things was Jarno Trulli and later Michael Schumacher."

Liberty Media are set to introduce drastic regulation changes ahead of the 2021 campaign which will see, among other things, a budget cap introduced in an attempt to level the playing field among constructor teams.

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Fernando Alonso says anybody could drive 2026 F1 cars, and that's really bad

35 minutes ago

The FIA use 30 people to help stewards police drivers at F1 races, this is how

1 hour ago

F1's Project Newey is a bust, and Aston Martin rivals cannot believe it

2 hours ago
1

Max Verstappen's getting ugly and he needs Christian Horner to rein him in

3 hours ago
1

F1 News Today: Lewis Hamilton contract clause emerges as FIA lifeline revealed

Today 07:25