Ecclestone consulting the American Idol Simons on increasing showmanship in F1?

More than anything else, Bernie Ecclestone is a businessman. And as a businessman, he's interested in increasing the spectacle in Formula One racing. To that end, reports suggest that the F1 chief is talking with Simon Cowell and Simon Fuller – the creative forces behind American Idol, among countless other reality TV shows – about how to make F1 more attractive to a broader audience.

One proposal the Simons have reportedly put forward would be a thorough reformatting of the grand prix weekend. Instead of practice, qualifying and racing over a three-day weekend, Cowell (pictured above in the Red Bull Racing garage) and Fuller have reportedly suggested cutting the schedule down to two days with two races: the actual grand prix on Sunday, preceded by a preview race on Saturday contested between the teams' test drivers. The Saturday race would count only towards the constructors' championship.

This isn't the first time that Fuller, for his part, has been connected with F1. Just recently we reported on Lewis Hamilton signing with Fuller's talent agency. Fuller was also the brains behind the lamentable MyEarthDream initiative fielded by the Honda F1 team before it pulled out of the sport.

[Source: Pitpass | Image: Andrew Hone/Getty]