Bernie Ecclestone is taking flak amid F1's tumultuous beginning to another world championship season.
World champion Sebastian Vettel, a traditional ally of the F1 supremo, questioned the decision to shake up the qualifying format mere days before the circus heads for Australia, agreeing it demonstrates a lack of "leadership."
The Ferrari driver is not alone.
Mercedes president Dieter Zetsche hit out at Ecclestone's recent characterization of F1 as a sport that is not worth spending money on a ticket.
"I don't understand how someone who is not only the CEO but partial owner of that product talks that way about this product," he said.
"At the Geneva Motor Show I was not going on the stage to say I would never drive a Mercedes and customers should better not do it," Zetsche added.
There are those who argue that while Ecclestone deserves the credit for building the F1 brand over the past decades, the sport might now need a new era.
"I think he has done a fantastic job for the sport since he came in," former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo told Motor Sport Magazine.
"But it's not reasonable to ask a man of his age to completely change his mentality. And there needs to be a change in mentality, in many areas," he insisted.
And while 85-year-old Ecclestone often criticizes Jean Todt's low-profile and hands-off approach to F1, the FIA president also wonders if the sport needs to turn a corner.
When asked about Ecclestone's latest criticisms, Todt told Auto Bild: "My style is to speak directly with him.
"I like Bernie. He is an extraordinary man. He is 85, and I have just had my 70th birthday, yet he still leads Formula One with a great passion.
"But he also has his own style," the Frenchman added.
Todt said he thinks F1 is still "a great sport, which makes a great contribution to the automotive industry. But we are seeing a new and different movie to before.
"Soon there will be cars that drive autonomously. Will a 12-year-old still sit for two hours to watch cars race? I think we need to communicate F1 better to the people," he said.
However, Todt also echoed previous sentiments, asking "Can you imagine someone going to see a new movie if the director said 'My film is [expletive]'?
"If you want to sell a product, criticism must be internal, not external. We have to represent a positive image of Formula One again," said the Frenchman.
So unlike Ecclestone, Todt hails F1's controversial yet cutting-edge "power units."
"We have to get them cheaper and louder," he admits. "And it cannot be that a team has difficulty getting one. Apart from that, the hybrid engine is one of the best things Formula One has done."
Indeed, he hopes the direction in which F1 is heading will attract more car manufacturers to the grid, like Audi.
"An entry of Audi would be fantastic for the sport," Todt declared. "Their technology is advanced and they would be determined from the outset to be competitive.
"But they are also part of a large group that has to resolve other problems now," he said.
"But I am sure that, if we make the world championship more attractive, as good businesspeople they cannot ignore Formula One," added Todt.
Ecclestone, meanwhile, has also been critical of Todt himself, accusing him of focusing too much on the "mobility" side of the FIA and neglecting F1.
"The FIA has two pillars," Todt insisted, "motor sport and mobility.
"One of my priorities is of course traffic safety: each year 1.3 million people die on the road -- 500 children every day. Formula one is a luxury problem.
"It would be entirely out of place if the president of the FIA is concerned about the details of F1. But I do have good support people," he added.
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