Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says it is the current tyres, not car technology, that makes modern Formula One seem too slow to be the motorsport's premier category.
Since the introduction of V6 turbo engines and the tightening of aerodynamic regulations in 2014, F1 has come under fire for being too slow. In the second year of the regulations the cars are significantly quicker than last year, but 2015 lap times still fall short of the fastest qualifying laps at the height of the V10 era in 2004.
Fernando Alonso recently complained that the cars feel too slow, especially during races when tyre management is key to a successful strategy, but critics of the new regulations also point to one-lap pace. For example, Nico Rosberg's pole position time at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix - 1:24.681 - is over 4.5s seconds slower than the quickest qualifying time on the current track layout, which was set by Mark Webber in 2010 (the last year before the switch to Pirelli tyres).
The speed of the cars has been one of the driving arguments behind F1's quest to produce more than 1000bhp from the current V6 turbo power units, but Wolff believes much of the missing lap time is down to the tyres. In 2011 Pirelli was tasked with producing a rapidly degrading tyre and without a tyre war the Italian firm has focused on how many pit stops can be manufactured into a race rather than the outright pace of the rubber.
Wolff says the rapidly degrading tyres mean current lap times seem slower than they actually are.
"We have had this discussion a million times already and the truth is that you must not forget that tyres have been changed, aerodynamic regulations have been changed," he said. "This is a very particular circuit and weird in terms of lap times because we have been going quicker in testing than we do now, so it is not true that we are going 10 seconds slower [than the past].
"At some of the tracks, I'm not sure where - Melbourne and Malaysia maybe [Ed: China] - we were not even a second off the quickest lap times of 2004 at the peak of the regulations and the V10 engines. So don't forget, this is about the tyres here and about what the tyres are able to deliver on track, it is not about the car. We are running 100 kilos of fuel now, not 150. You cannot just say we are running 10 seconds off the pace.
But Wolff conceded that F1 must listen to what the fans want and do a better job of explaining what the current cars are capable of.
"Of course we have to realise what's going on out there and listen to the fans and ask if the cars are loud enough? Are they quick enough? Are they spectacular enough? And then work on that and reflect on it, but I think that's happening."