Johnny Herbert has proposed a shake-up of grand prix weekends whereby teams score points on Saturday and the drivers engage in "great gladitorial races" on the Sunday.

As Formula 1 bosses continue to look into ways to make the sport more exciting, including a possible return to refuelling, Herbert reckons changing the format of the race weekends could also help.

Under his scheme there would be a team race on a Saturday which goes towards the Constructors' Championship while on the Sunday it is all about the drivers and the World title.

He told Downforce Radio's Jake Sanson: "It frustrated me earlier this year when drivers started expressing their dislike at driving on Fridays,. Their argument was ‘it’s just data gathering for engineers, I don’t enjoy it’. When I was in F1 I wanted to drive as much as I possibly could and we were testing in those days!

"So how do we make that more entertaining for fans and drivers? What about an hour and a half session on Friday, then a half-hour qualifying straight away. Then on Saturday a warm-up for half an hour or so, then an hour long race for the constructors points. That can be the team race.

"Sunday could be what I think everybody wants to see: the driver’s race. They can be given a strategy on a page, but then into the race you’d go. Let the drivers dictate it. Let’s have those great gladitorial races we used to have with Senna vs Prost in the same team.

"The drivers can make those decisions and it will make things more variable. It should be their choice. We are human, we should be allowed to be. These are the best drivers in the world, let’s see them go head-to-head and let’s see them battle. Making Friday mean something, giving Saturday to the teams and giving us what we want on Sunday could be just what Formula One needs."