Shortcuts would spice up F1 says Bernie Ecclestone

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has revealed his latest plan to make the sport more entertaining - shortcuts on the racetracks to make overtaking easier.

He announced the idea at a pre-season Ferrari-hosted party in Italy, where he also indicated that he did not expect all the teams to be ready for the first Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain on March 14.

Ecclestone, F1's commercial rights holder, has never been short of ideas to spice up the sport. In the past he has called for a new scoring system and even suggested awarding medals at each race, with gold going to the race winner and the title going to the driver who wins most.

But his latest idea is the strangest yet. "Imagine a shortcut which a driver can use five times every race," he said. "It would stop people getting stuck behind others. It would be good for TV."

Such an innovation could address F1's perennial problem of overtaking. The sport has been looking for ways to stop races turning into processions but it remains to be seen if the plan is workable.

"I've tried to push the teams on this because I don’t think the efforts to increase overtaking are working," the 79-year-old said.

Ecclestone also predicted that some of the new teams joining the F1 circus this season would struggle to make the grid at Bahrain because of financial problems. The Campos Meta and US F1 outfits are thought to be at risk, but both have remained bullish about their chances.

"I think one or two teams are going to have trouble getting to the first race," predicted Ecclestone. "Obviously when you speak to these people they say 'It's fine, there is no drama'. But I think there is drama." ·