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How to fix F1? Add a little 'danger' - Vettel

BERLIN, Germany - Sebastian Vettel has joined those who think a bigger serving of danger would be good for Formula 1.

F1 legend Niki Lauda and Vettel's Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen have been quoted as saying the sport would benefit from such an injection.

Instead, the trend over the past decade has been for slower cars and safer circuits.

GLOBAL FAN SURVEY

Vettel says what drew him to F1 as a boy was the noise and the danger.

Vettel told Sport Bild:"I can still remember standing with my dad on one of the long forest straights at Hockenheim and listening to the scream of the engines from afar."

As one of the sport's top stars, he admits that grands prix are now obviously less-densely populated by excited boys with their dads.

Vettel, as a director of the F1 drivers' union GPDA, says that is why the body commissioned a global fan survey, whose results will now be fed back to the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone.

Vettel, however, knows what excites him as a F1 fan: "When I first got to drive a F1 car. I was - and I have to be honest - scared. Please don't misunderstand me - it's still difficult to drive an F1 car but you used to need bigger balls."

Meanwhile, as Ecclestone heaps praise on the celebrity-showman Lewis Hamilton and criticises fiercely private Vettel, the has defended his approach to public life.

Indeed, while Hamilton's daily exploits are chronicled in tabloid magazines, Vettel is yet to even confirm that his partner Hanna is pregnant with their second child.

Vettel explained: "Personally, I don't care what car Roger Federer drives or what his girlfriend looks like. I am only interested in what he achieves as a sportsman."

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