Simplify Formula One rules to attract fans: Webber

London: Formula One racer Mark Webber has urged motor racing chiefs to simplify the rule book after the British Grand Prix was overshadowed by a technical row.

The Australian took pole position for Sunday’s race but his Red Bull boss Christian Horner was fuming after claiming his team had been put at a ‘disadvantage’ by a rule change. The dispute over an aerodynamic aid forced all 12 team principals into an extraordinary meeting of the Technical Working Group in the Silverstone paddock in an attempt to thrash out a solution. Horner thought he had won concessions over the planned banning of off-throttle blown diffusers – which increase down force and thereby speed. But he discovered Friday morning that the FIA’s technical director Charlie Whiting had reversed that decision. Webber, 34, said after leading a Red Bull one-two with Sebastian Vettel: “Every year we have a new thing to talk about. This last few weeks it has been about this.” “But it is incredibly boring for the fans. I think they cannot understand 0.1 per cent of what’s going on. Even for us it is sometimes difficult so let’s get on with the racing. We need to keep the rules as simple as possible from the start of the year maybe and go from there,” he said. The system directs exhaust gases off the back of cars even when a driver is not accelerating, giving it a significant performance advantage. Horner said: “It’s in nobody’s interest to have the lack of clarity that currently exists.” FIA last night ruled that, if the teams agree, then the pre-Silverstone set-up would be adopted until the end of the season, when the controversial system is due to be banned. Bureau Report