Stefano Domenicali places 'big duty' on F1 teams to improve entertainment factor

Stefano Domenicali, Sky Sports, Australia — Photo: © LAT Images

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Domenicali places 'big duty' on F1 teams to improve entertainment factor

Domenicali wants rivals to feel the pressure of Red Bull's supreme performance

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 2 December 2023 19:57 Updated: 10:48

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has suggested that it is up to Red Bull's rivals to provide a threat to the Milton Keynes-based team in 2024, placing a 'big duty' upon their shoulders.

Red Bull managed to win 21 of the 22 races on the 2023 calendar, beaten once in Singapore as Carlos Sainz came through to take victory with Ferrari.

The team - and their star driver Max Verstappen - broke multiple records on the way to a second consecutive world championship double, including the most amount of constructors' points ever.

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While both Ferrari and Mercedes have been optimistic in their predictions for next season, there is a feeling among many of Red Bull's competitors that the dominant team are just too far ahead for things to drastically change in 2024.

Max Verstappen cruised to his third consecutive world championship in 2023

Both Toto Wolff and Fred Vasseur have projected optimism for their team's chances in 2024

Stefano Domenicali has placed pressure on Red Bull's rivals to catch up in 2024

Bridging the gap in 2024

Domenicali, who was Ferrari's team principal between 2008 and 2014, has recently suggested that it is not up to F1 to try and stop Red Bull's dominance, and has placed pressure on the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin to close the widening gap.

"I’m sure that is the aim of all the teams to try to show the level of their engineering, the levels of their capacity and capability to improve," the Italian said when asked by Sky Sports after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix whether the championship will be close next season.

"We need to expect that. Let me say something that I believe is important at the end of the season.

McLaren were Red Bull's closest challenger towards the end of 2023

"The world of Formula 1, the growth of our sport is really magic. Our focus is to make sure that people that are avid fans like us can really believe in this sport, but also people that are maybe not avid fans but they love what we are building up, can be connected to us and then it’s our duty to develop the culture of Formula 1 and this is really the beautiful challenge that we have.

“I think everyone is looking forward to seeing great races up to the end. Today for example, last race of the season we had an incredible fight to achieve points for the classification and this is what we want and everyone wants to see that.

"But on that, I really hope for the teams to be under pressure to make sure that they understand that they have a big duty in that.”

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