Toto Wolff wants F1 to move away from 'supermarket car park' tracks after change of heart during Mille Miglia

The Mercedes motorsport boss believes Formula One's new owners should bring more risk back to the sport by reducing the number of new 'airport-like structures' on the calendar

Toto Wolff believes traditional circuits should be favoured over ones with wide run-off areas (Getty)

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has urged Formula One’s new owners to move away from the “supermarket car park” tracks that have joined the calendar in recent years and get back to traditional race venues like Monaco ahead of this weekend’s Grand Prix in Monte Carlo.

After racing in the famous Italian road race, the Mille Miglia, last week, Wolff revealed that he has changed his outlook on the future of F1 and the type of circuits that should be utilised in the next few years.

With Liberty Media yet to make any drastic changes to the sport beyond replacing Bernie Ecclestone with Ross Brawn at the helm, Wolff’s comments are unlikely to go unnoticed, especially when they come from the man who has masterminded the last three Constructors’ Championship successes.

"The DNA of F1 was about the best technology, with the best drivers sitting on a bullet and trying to drive that bullet," said Wolff. "Somehow [on the Mille Miglia] this became clear to me why I love this sport.

"It is about doing something that nobody else dared to do, and with the passion for cars.

"Motor racing is a life, and there is so much passion and so much emotion, throughout all the generation for cars and drivers.

"To drive these cars today you need courage, more on some tracks than others, and we don't want to race on tracks that are like supermarket car parks.

"When you missed a corner in the old days you were dead or hurt. Today, you miss a corner, you run wide and rejoin. But not in Monte Carlo, maybe not in Spa, maybe not in Monza, and maybe not in Suzuka.

"We need to go back to tracks where you realise who the best are.”

One problem with Wolff’s idea though is that there are fewer traditional circuits available with the sufficient facilities to host a Formula One Grand Prix weekend, but the Austrian has a solution by introducing more street circuits to increase the risk during races.

"It is not only about watching the Mille Miglia and seeing you can go quite fast in cities," Wolff added.

"The success of [street-based electric single-seater series] Formula E is being in town. The cars are not spectacular but they look fast in a city context, and you can see the attraction of Monte Carlo.

Monaco is one of few tracks that doesn't give drivers a second chance (Getty)

"So I think we should be moving away from the airport-like structures. It is not spectacular.

"I can sit in an F1 car [at tracks with run-off]. Give me two weeks of training, I will spin the car 100 times, I will look at the data and maybe I will go quite fast because maybe there is no risk."