Thursday October 3rd, 2002

Team bosses Niki Lauda and Eddie Jordan have urged Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone to "take a firm hand" and force through change to make the sport more entertaining.

"There is no question that we should do something for the sport, because we just do nothing and keep hoping that people watch it," Jaguar's Lauda was quoted as saying in Autosport magazine on Thursday.

"There are a lot of arguments to try and make the show better, but nothing is done. The solution is to just do it. Don't ask the teams, Bernie should do it. He shouldn't mess around."

Jordan, who has long argued that Formula One needs to cut costs and help the smaller non-works teams, said Ecclestone had the clout to make the teams listen.

"It is absolutely perfect at this moment in time for Bernie to take a firm hand," he said. "He is such a strong character and it almost needs a dictatorial hand - and I think people will take that from him and not from anybody else.

"I think he will push through the results because he would only want the best for everybody. He is not a team, he has no personal gain and what he needs is a show."

Ecclestone, in an interview with ITV television at the weekend, suggested a raft of measures to spice up a Championship dominated by Ferrari with 14 wins in 16 races.

He said he would like to introduce "a one-tyre formula, cut out electronics, reduce the aerodynamic effect on the cars".

Changes in the qualifying format, with four half-hour sessions spread out over the Friday and Saturday, were also suggested in place of Saturday's one hour.

Other team bosses, notably McLaren's Ron Dennis and Williams' technical director Patrick Head, disagreed with Ecclestone's suggestions at last weekend's U.S. Grand Prix. Dennis was wary of change and suggested that Ecclestone wanted "to distract the teams away from the commercial issues that are being discussed".

Head said banning electronic 'driver aids', only reintroduced in 2001 after the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) admitted they were impossible to police, would revive allegations of cheating.

Published at 11:02:43 GMT