Ross Brawn wants teams to release data secrets

F1's sporting director Ross Brawn wants to make team's data no longer such a secret in a bid to spice up the show for the fans. Brawn, who took up his role at the start of the year, has outlined many propositions since January, all in a bid to make the sport more thrilling for fans.

Currently, the team's data is 100% confidential. But with Liberty Media having swept in to succeed the Bernie Ecclestone era, Brawn's plan to add value for the fans would involve broadcasting in real time that secret data about fuel loads, tyre wear, engine settings and more via an app.

"That's definitely coming. It's being worked on," said Brawn. "If we cross that (secrecy) barrier, to make all that information available, I think the large chunk of enthusiasts would really enjoy seeing all that, both live and retrospectively," added Brawn.

"We know they need to beat each other but can we cross that barrier and say what we want is a much bigger business and, if we all (do it), nobody is going to be disadvantaged or advantaged."

Brawn is interested in limiting the amount of secrecy teams have, pointing to American stock car series NASCAR as an example.

"Someone told me the other day that (in Nascar) at a certain stage of the season you can go and look at someone else's car and strip it apart and see what's in it. And that's their way of keeping everyone loosely competitive. And no one objects, no one has a problem.

"It's a philosophy that should be thought about," said Brawn. "Someone told me the other day that (in Nascar) at a certain stage of the season you can go and look at someone else's car and strip it apart and see what's in it. And that's their way of keeping everyone loosely competitive. And no one objects, no one has a problem."

Fergal Walsh