Elon Musk shared a grand new idea for Formula 1 after visiting the Miami Grand Prix pit lane.
But, as plenty of fans on social media pointed out, the billionaire's revolutionary suggestion basically already exists. And they let the Twitter owner know about it through a swathe of comments on his own platform.
The Miami race attracted plenty of famous faces in its debut year and it was very much expected to do the same again upon its return this weekend. And that proved to be the case as, on Saturday, two of the richest men on the planet made the trip to the Sunshine State to visit the F1 circus.
Musk brought his young son and was welcomed into the Red Bull garage, chatting with F1 chief Stefano Domenicali and posing for photos with team boss Christian Horner and drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Meanwhile, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was spotted on the McLaren pit wall.
The controversial billionaire is one of the leading names in the electric vehicle industry thanks to his Tesla brand and was keen to discuss it with F1 leaders, as he later explained on Twitter.
"Fun discussion of aero and battery technology," Musk wrote in reply to a tweet about his visit to the F1 paddock. He then continued: "I proposed a pure EV vs gas/hybrid F1 race." But, as many people pointed out, single seater electric racing is very much already a thing.
"It kind of already exists in Formula E and they will definitely lose fans if they do that," wrote one Twitter user. Another added: "There is already a competition like F1 for electric cars." And a third simply replied: "There's Formula E buddy."
Meanwhile, plenty of others called upon Musk to consider getting more involved in F1. "Why not just take a stab at having the Tesla plaid join the race?" asked one fan, who asserted: "Many still don’t think Tesla has a chance, but your team could prove them wrong."
Another suggested: "Why don't you buy a team and compete with them? Like you have done in every other business area. Be the change instead of convincing the old guard." And a third went even further and suggested Musk should use his extraordinary wealth to "buy Formula E".
