BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Fernando Alonso believes debates over track limits and radio rules are only talked about in the sport because the on-track racing is not exciting enough.
The last two races in Austria and Silverstone have sparked a debate about track limits, with new kerbs installed at the Red Bull Ring and several qualifying times deleted at Silverstone for drivers gaining an advantage off track. This weekend in Hungary, electronic sensors have been fitted on the outsides of Turns 4 and 8 to detect when drivers run wide, allowing race control to monitor the situation more closely.
But Alonso says such debates are only a talking point in F1 because the on-track action is not enough of a talking point.
"I think there have been some -- not polemics -- but some debates here and there with the track limits," he said. "It's normal when it is a very media-driven sport.
"I think it [exceeding track limits] happened in all the races in motor sport, sometimes I see it in touring cars or DTM or MotoGP and they are all over the place or they cut the last chicane and they win and are celebrating with no investigation after the race, nothing.
"Here [in F1] everything is a mountain, even small things. It's part of the sport and probably something Formula One wants, to keep people talking. Now that the show is not very good, it's good to have some polemics around the races."
But Alonso does not blame the dominance of Mercedes for the supposed decline in interest.
"I don't think that there being one team dominant [is the problem], it has always been like this in a way. But the show was good enough and now it is not good enough for whatever reason -- because the cars are too slow, too heavy or the noise is not good or the prices are too high or whatever.
"Whatever it is, I don't know, it's not the same and it's something obvious. When you see some regulations changed or some polemics or track limits or radio restrictions, sometimes I think they have made this to tale about something between races, because it makes no sense."
Alonso believes less regulation rather than more is the key to making the sport exciting again.
"I think it needs a little bit more freedom for the teams, the drivers -- relaxing a little bit everything will be good, like it always used to be in F1. I think the teams had the possibility to choose the weight distribution, to choose their own cambers and tyre pressures, their own philosophy of rear wing or even six wheels on a car!
"Now if you painted all the cars black you would not know which team built which car. The cars look similar, but just different colours because the rules are quite strict. We need to make the car like this, with this width, this height and everything. It is a little bit strange.
"It's the same for the drivers -- if we had a little bit more freedom to race and less penalties. We have to do the same thing at the same time at the same hour and if you don't do one of these things you have to go to the stewards and you will have a penalty - a time penalty, a reprimand, points ... it doesn't matter if you are five minutes late to the briefing or if you go five minutes late to the autograph session. You are allowed to breathe and not much more."