Depressed in recent years about the ways of F1? Have you felt that no one cares about the needs of the fans; you know, the guys who spend hard cash, either at the gate or the TV pay wall?
Help is at hand. That is overriding impression I got from a chat this week with Ross Brawn, recently appointed managing director of motorsport for the F1's new owners, Liberty Media.
Everything about the filmed interview for this website seemed right. Ross agreed to meet in a room above a classic London pub in Mayfair and arrived alone (without a PR person or a microcassette-toting minder) to give his balanced and thoughtful views on the many aspects of F1 that need attention.
Of course, this should not have been a surprise. Brawn has seen F1 from every angle; starting with his days as a mechanic/truck driver/tyre man/tea-maker for Frank Williams in the early 1970s, through championships with Michael Schumacher at Benetton and Ferrari, on to running his own title-winning team before helping establish Mercedes F1 in its current competitive state. And, finally, taking three years out to watch F1 from a distance.
The latter is the key from your point of view. Ross, ever a racing fan, has been sitting on his sofa, trying to establish what's going on -- and not being particularly impressed. It's okay, he says, if there's a laptop handy and loads of information. And he agrees that aspect of F1 appeals to followers deeply embedded in the technical minutia that drives the racing in every sense.
But it was apparent to him that the casual viewer could not afford to put the kettle on or go to the loo for fear of losing the race's plot line -- assuming they had it in the first place.
That aside, Brawn is not a fan of artificial devices such as DRS; a development he sees as a knee-jerk reaction to the racing being not very good in the first place thanks to the well-chronicled difficulties in overtaking. He could also do without silly rules about grid penalties; he's not keen on a punishment tariff covering minor irrelevances such as backmarkers failing to pull over and park the minute the leader gets within half a mile: I'm exaggerating, but you know what I mean.
It should be emphasised at this point that these are purely Brawn's observations. He's not going to change anything overnight -- but everything is up for discussion. Rather than, for example, pass judgement on the 2017 regulations before a car has so much as turned a wheel, he prefers to see how it works and learn lessons if necessary. The impression I had is that he is prepared to try and do something about the current formula, but only if it's wrong. How correction and agreement would be achieved if necessary is another big subject, also up for discussion.
So, while these may be early days, there was a welcome feeling of openness, not just when examining what needs to be done but also in the literal sense. The bosses at Liberty Media were apparently struck immediately by the siege mentality so favoured by Formula One Management working to the Ecclestone dictum: "The answer's 'No'. What's the question?"
Don't expect the paddock gates to be flung open to all comers, but do expect, in due course, a more sympathetic reception for fans who love the sport as much as Brawn still clearly does.
There's hope, some distance away perhaps. But hope nonetheless. And not before time.