Niki Lauda has proposed a sweeping review of every rule change in formula one for the past decade.
For some, the all-new era of quiet turbo V6 engines was the final straw that broke the floodgates of fierce criticism.
The harshest critic has been Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who has called for an emergency meeting with F1’s major stakeholders.
On Thursday, FIA president Jean Todt said he is happy to sit down for such a meeting, inviting other important voices including former F1 drivers to speak up.
The first to accept the invitation is Niki Lauda, an F1 legend and Mercedes’ team chairman.
"We should draw up a list of all the rules that have been introduced or rewritten in the last ten years," the great Austrian told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.
The German magazine says it counts 77 major technical and sporting rule changes since 2005, including to qualifying, points, tyres, spare cars, long-life engines, traction control, testing, KERS, DRS, bodywork, team orders, exhausts, diffusers, and many more.
Lauda said: "We should do a rule-by-rule check of what every change brought to us — what made sense, what did not."