F1 drivers racing road cars on standard tyres would be absolute TV gold

Financially, Formula One is doing very nicely at the minute. The Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull,  McLaren and Aston Martin F1 teams are each worth billions of dollars. And since I reported in March that Max Verstappen might earn up to $75 million (£56m) driving for Red Bull this year, he’s now reportedly considering a possible future deal with Aston Martin where he’ll receive around $100m (£75m) per year.

If he defects, he’ll be reunited with aerodynamicist Adrian Newey, who’s just joined Aston as part of a circa £29m annual package over the next five years.

But my thoughts are more with salt-of-the-earth F1 punters who live in a different world, where ‘progress’ means free-to-air live races they used to enjoy on TV have been replaced by pay-per-view coverage that doesn’t come cheap, especially if the fans are kids.

Another problem I find when watching F1 on telly, craving raw excitement, is that there, er, isn’t much of it anymore – unless you’re excited by non-F1 celebrities, or listening to endless babble about tyres, points penalties or F1 political rhetoric.

With this in mind, it’s time for all 10 teams and 20 drivers to put in a bit of extra work at every Grand Prix. They can do this by racing – for additional championship points – in identically built, specified and prepared road cars on standard rubber.

Aston Martin, Ferrari, Honda, Mercedes and Renault are the official F1 engine suppliers. So, on a strictly rotational basis – using a different manufacturer and model for every weekend – each company has to supply 20 road-going cars of its choice.

I’m guessing that Aston Martin and Ferrari would opt to show off their supercars (in Aston’s case, the new DBX S, its most powerful SUV ever). But Mercedes could be more diverse by using high-end sports cars one weekend, modest hatchbacks on another. Honda’s Civics will be a riot when unleashed by F1 pilots, as will Renault 5s or Alpine A110 GTs. And with Audi and GM soon joining the circus, they too could join the club.

Such support races comprising, say, 10 laps of combat on Saturday afternoons or Sunday mornings would help sort out the men from the boys, in terms of exposing the F1 drivers who are up for the challenge and those who aren’t. After that, the racing has to begin in anger – aboard those showroom-ready Astons, Ferraris, Hondas, Mercs and Renaults each GP weekend. Then, over the course of a season, we’ll discover who are the overall best/quickest and worst/slowest drivers in matching machines.

I’m talking here about a return of pure entertainment, pride, unpredictable on-track mayhem (hopefully) and creating a level playing field for all F1 drivers.

Let the F1RCB (Formula 1 Road Car Battle) commence. The filthy rich Formula One industry can afford to do it. Yet, for the sake of the sport and the fans, it can’t afford not to.

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