Ferrari make F1 boring, says Ecclestone.

F1 Tsar Bernie Ecclestone has blamed Ferrari for the current state of Formula One.

Following a meeting of the Formula One Commission last week which introduced a number of new regulations, designed to improve the show and cut costs, Ecclestone said there would be no debate about F1 being boring, if Ferrari would just let Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello race.

Spectators and viewers have been appalled this year by Ferrari's use of team orders, and memorably (although unfortunately not for the right reasons) the crowd turned on Michael and Rubens following the sham at the end of the Austrian Grand Prix.

Ecclestone told British broadsheet newspaper The Guardian this week: "The biggest problem [with F1] is the perception with the viewers that it [the race] is fixed."

He added: "It's not so much Ferrari winning, people accept that, but who is going to win between the two drivers. People don't like that.

"If there is a race between Michael and Rubens, a real race every time, then nobody would be telling us grand prix was boring."

The FIA's new rule then to ban team orders may be just what the doctor ordered. True the teams may still use them, but never again should we see such blatant and offensive use as was seen this year in Austria.