Drivers Identification is difficult on track

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Jean Todt insists to have numbering of F1 drivers to identify them on track during racing.

Even a Die Heart Formula One Fan finds it difficult to identify drivers as they flash past have an ally who shares the same chasis.

''It is very difficult to identify a driver in car,'' President of FIA, Jean Todt conceded.

If it were solely up to him, he told The Age, the cars would have big numbers painted on them and the driver's name plastered down the side.

''I would like to see who is driving the car, from a long distance and the number of the car,'' he said, suggesting formula one might want to take a leaf out of NASCAR's book in the US.

''Like in NASCAR … a driver who is arriving in formula one, he gets a number. He would keep it for all of his career. You could identify a driver with a number.

''At the moment, you don't find the number, you don't find the name.''

But Todt said, even as president of the FIA, there is little he can do autonomously to improve things for spectators. ''I don't have the power without creating unnecessary conflict to change something I'm not happy [about].''

One of the reasons for reluctance to do this among the team is it takes up space that would otherwise be paid for with a sponsor's logo, he said.

The other is the so called ''Concorde'' agreement between the promoter, Bernie Ecclestone, the teams and the FIA.

''You need to have some strong ground for changing. You need to have a minimum of positive opinion among the group in formula one,'' Todt said.

''So far, unfortunately, they are not interested, they are quite happy. It will come … it will change.''

The sport would evolve to remain relevant into the future as the world focuses more on environmental sustainability and tighter budgets after the global financial crisis.

''The challenges we want to achieve is to reduce the cost, improve the show, and implementation of new technologies,'' he said.

The move to four-cylinder 1.4-litre turbo engines from 2013 is evidence of this, as is electrical recovery and storage systems on cars to boost performance without using extra fuel.

''We are thinking about some electric categories,'' Todt said.