Niki Lauda (LEFT) has echoed Kimi Raikkonen’s recent sentiments and called for Formula 1 to again become a riskier sport.

Ferrari driver Raikkonen last week suggested F1 should be “more exciting” and made “a little more dangerous.” Now three-time world champion and Mercedes non-executive chairman Lauda has also suggested it is time the drivers were made to work harder, and feel an element of uncertainty.

Speaking to Bild am Sonntag, Lauda said: “There is too much control, too many rules and not enough characters. The most important thing is the cars must again be difficult to drive.

“When I switched from Formula 2 to Formula 1, I crapped in my pants. It must again be about real men driving, not young men who play only with the buttons on the steering wheel. Only drivers with the highest driving skills – and I emphasize driving skills – may be in Formula 1.

“We can not turn back the clock, but a driver must again have the car in his hands, not driving as now by pushing buttons. The highest limits and the risk factor have been lost.”

Like Raikkonen, Lauda is not suggesting safety should be compromised, but he is eager for races to become more daring, and not via artificial means.

With plans in the pipeline to increase the speed of cars by five to six seconds come 2017, Lauda added: “Dangerous, no, but riskier.

“I’m not saying we should neglect safety, but at the moment if cars were faster then the thrill for both the drivers and the spectators would automatically increase. In that way, we have to go back. But any kind of manipulation is the worst thing you can do to a sport, and I mean artificial elements such as a reverse grid, or adding weight to cars, as (F1 chief executive) Bernie Ecclestone has proposed. This must not happen.”