Gerhard Berger doesn't think 2017 changes are right for F1

Former Formula One driver Gerhard Berger is unsure whether next year's rule changes are the right thing for F1.

While Berger said the new rules were taking F1 "visually the right way", he admitted whether the wider tyres and radical bodywork changes would provide a real challenge to drivers.

"Whether it will bring to the show what we hope for, I doubt it," he told the Austrian broadcaster Servus TV. "There will indeed be faster lap times of two, three, four seconds. But the fans don't see the lap time on the TV or the race track."

Berger said that F1 needs to reduce grip and increase power, using MotoGP as an example.

"The most spectacular motor sport at the moment is MotoGP," he said. "It looks much more spectacular (than F1) but it's 20 seconds per lap slower.

"It is the ratio of power to grip that is completely different in Formula One, and I believe that is the key to more spectacular races," added Berger.

"If you halved the grip and had a third more power, the cars would be extremely difficult to handle. That's the direction formula one should go in.

"In my time we had spectacular races with up to 1400 horse power with half the downforce of today. It was like steering a cannonball around a track.

"We couldn't even talk on the radio because we had no breath, and after the race we had to be helped out of the car because we were so tired. We have to go back to that," Berger insisted.