Toto Wolff says Formula One is now 90% about politics, which is overshadowing the battle brewing between his Mercedes team and rivals Ferrari.
Nico Rosberg won his second grand prix of the season for Mercedes at the weekend, but the majority of column inches have been devoted to F1's back and forth over qualifying regulations. The inability to decide on a qualifying format that is easy to understand and exciting for fans has exposed the knotted web of politics that underpins the decision-making process in the sport.
Asked when F1 would be about racing again rather than politics, Wolff said: "It seems that it has increased to a level that is 90% politics and 90% off-track discussions around governance and qualifying formats and terrible ideas. So I think hopefully soon we can get back to sport and hopefully soon we can have a race that will be exciting. Definitely there is a battle on."
Wolff said Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix showed Mercedes still has the edge but Ferrari is closing in.
"Looking at the pure gaps, at a certain stage we were 15 seconds up on Kimi and, at the end, we were only a couple of seconds up, so I have no doubt that the Ferrari is very strong - and you could see that today.
"But then, if you're the leader with such a gap, you would probably go for a more conservative pace, which Nico did, and, strategy-wise, you would look to go a bit more conservative as it doesn't make sense to take any risks. Kimi undercut us twice and obviously the undercut brings a big difference, 2-3 seconds in Bahrain, plus two pit-stops were not optimum for Nico and there you go... the gap shrinks."