Ferrari have dominated the 2002 season in such a way that it is hard to remember the last real on-track battle for the lead of a Grand Prix. As a consequence, the viewing figures are dropping and the team bosses are starting to discuss possible solutions for the problem. Atlas F1's Will Gray talked to the powers-that-be at Monza, and found out about their plans to bring back the excitement

Despite the passionate celebrations of the Ferrari tifosi last weekend, another bore score for Ferrari in Monza left Formula One viewers reaching for their remote controls and saw hundreds of fans leaving the track before the race had even finished. But perhaps they should have stayed to the end because it looks like there will not be many more chances to witness racing on circuits of such classic and historic stature.

As Formula One develops, driven by a desire to remain the most technologically advanced form of motor racing on the planet, there are continual concerns that overtaking is a lost art - and with Ferrari playing their team tactics at the front, a scrap for the lead seems to be about as likely as a Formula One car racing on the moon.

The dropping viewing figures, of course, are a major concern for everyone in the business. Almost half of this year's races attracted fewer viewers on British television - although ironically the biggest rise in viewers was for Monaco, the race after the controversial Austrian Grand Prix - while newspaper column inches are reducing at every event. But the team bosses are now doing something about it.

"We are aware of the figures," said team boss Sir Frank Williams. "The business depends on global figures to bring in the money that helps to pay for it all and the teams are very well aware of a number of steps that need to be taken to improve the actual show, not just whether the guys do or don't race against each other. Those steps, and they are not small steps, should see some significant improvements to what we see on television - i.e. better racing and better viewing."

The two Ferraris may be storming off into the lead, and taking the television cameras with them, but behind them there are interesting scraps and battles. The Formula One bosses, however, have begun to believe overtaking opportunities are dropping because of the very thing that makes Formula One what it is: technology.

With automatic gearboxes and traction control even Spa-Francorchamps' daunting Eau Rouge corner is now taken flat-out. In the past, that thrill was reserved for only the most confident or crazy members of the Formula One elite. The cars, many claim, could be driven by anyone and although that argument is perhaps slightly dismissed by Malaysian Alex Yoong's struggles, there are still few who would deny cars are easier to drive these days.

So that has left Formula One rule-makers and team bosses with a difficult dilemma. Do they trim the cars, strip them of their technologically advanced gizmos and make the sport a raw racing formula with the driver at the centre? No. The plan, now, appears to be to change the circuits to cope with the faster, more controllable machines. The plan is to bring the circuits into the 21st century, not take the cars back into the dark ages.

"Some circuits will eventually step into the 21st century in order to accommodate 21st century Grand Prix cars," said Williams. "The cars are now so enormously quick that they consume corners and straights like an obese man consumes a hamburger. I think Hockenheim demonstrated how changing tracks can change what you see on television."

Indeed, Williams points to the new Hockenheim track, which saw the removal of long straights and the introduction of a more stadium-like feel, as an example of "the new style circuit" which the team bosses are all taking about. It showed that the ideas of introducing long straights and slower corners is now the way to go.

The Grand Prix circus, then, is set for a major overhaul. Out with the old, and in with the new, the process has already begun. Hockenheim was the first track to take the initiative but with Kingdom of Bahrain announcing last weekend that their new track will be on the calendar for the first time in 2004, it seems the rest of the circuits that do not fit into the mould will have to change their ways.

"It is inevitable that circuits will all end up in a similar design because if you want good racing then you need to have slow corners and high speed straights," said BAR boss David Richards. "Every circuit can learn from the situation we are seeing at the moment. It is becoming more and more apparent - the new circuits are certainly producing better races."

But Richards was quick to issue a cautious note to the spiralling suggestions of dramatic circuit changes. He harked back to the knee-jerk reaction to the death of the great Ayrton Senna, when every circuit was forced to examine itself and modify once great corners to reduce the dangers. Many lost their character. Richards does not want that to happen again.

"We must be very cautious what we do," he warned. "Some circuits would not matter so much if they changed - I am sure that there would be no love lost if Hungary was changed or went off the calendar altogether. But whilst we should try to do anything that is appropriate, there is also the concern that we must not get too radical because there is a danger that we could over-react to the problem."

Bahrain is just one of several circuits in the pipeline, with Shanghai, Cairo and Moscow all racing for space on the calendar. All these tracks will conform to the new standards set to improve racing and facilities and while Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone said at Monza that the Italian circuit should have no fears for its future after problems with the facilities, there remain question marks over whether it and several other venues fit the mould.

"Monza has its own set of problems but I would not like to go into which tracks do and do not fit in line with the ideas," said Richards. But there are certainly plenty that do not. In fact, taking the trend of long straight into slow corner as a key factor in modern circuit design, there are numerous circuits that fail to fit the criteria.

Hermann Tilke, an architect by trade and Formula One circuit designer by passion, has become the man who is leading the Grand Prix circuit revolution. And his blueprint, defined by the two ideals 'compact and futuristic' has led him to a fortune. "And deservedly so," said Richards, who acknowledges Tilke's skill in circuit design. "They certainly won't be ovals," Richards joked of Tilke's future ideas. "I think even I could design an oval."

Tilke designed the new Osterreichring and made well-received modifications to the Nurburgring's first corner complex this year. He created the hugely popular Sepang circuit, which made its Formula One debut in 1999, and made the dramatic changes to the Hockenheimring that were introduced this season. And by all accounts he will soon have to expand his 100-strong team to take care of the rest.

But he will need to have plenty of new ideas in his notebook if the dramatic changes recently discussed continue to be pushed through, and he has admitted: "The fans have different tastes and I think everybody needs to get their money's worth while the pilots have to have the possibility to overtake, which is something that has been missing in the last few years."

The discussions in Monza were informal, with several team bosses not aware of the plans while others had seemingly discussed them at length. But there is likely to be a meeting in the near future to speed things through. "Obviously any new Grand Prix will be required to have a circuit that is suitable," said Williams when asked how soon the new standard would be issued. "As for the others, it depends how forceful Bernie can be given what the contracts say today."