Bernie Ecclestone has said the current rules in Formula One will not be changed, despite coming in for heavy criticism.

The season-opening Bahrain GP has come under fire for being too boring, with little overtaking and a lack of excitement in general.

The new ban on re-fuelling has been highlighted as one of the reasons for this, with many team bosses suggesting that the introduction of two mandatory pit stops would help ease the problem.

Ecclestone initially suggested that one should wait until after the Chinese GP before making changes, but the Briton has now revealed that changes - at any stage of the season - are unlikely.

"We cannot change the rules," Ecclestone told Bild.

"It would take far too long and it is too difficult. F1 is now a democracy and all the teams voted for these rules, so now they must also deal with them."