F1 grid proposal, what do we think?

[Loosehead]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/for mula_one/7282861.stm
Yes I know this is news but the sport section is like the marie celeste these days, and it is sort of news!
my 5 eggs later.

[Gromit]

F1 is very dull.
Just as football mascots saved the premiership from terminal tedium in the 90s, then F1 could benefit from drivers dressed in silly costumes. Each driver would be required to don an outfit to suit their name or character.

Raikkonen the Rat
Coulthard the Cat
Tiger Trulli
Vettel the Viper
Button the Baboon

Obviously fire retardant material would be used. With the loss of cigarette sponsorship, ScotGard could be a lucrative new sorurce of revenue for the teams.

A comical run to the gridd could be introduced and Stuart Hall could take over the commentaries.

[whiffey]

It's a bit silly isn't it ?

What on earth would qualifying look like as the drivers vie with each other to set the slowest lap ? And surely there would be loads more race-ruining first corner pile-ups.

It wasn't even mentioned on the F1 preview show on Sunday.

[Loosehead]

oh dear whiffey, I guess you just jumped straight in with your size 10's! Try reading the link and you'll see that the grid will be in order of the current championship standings. So they'll be no qualifying and the drivers will still have to try their best in the race or they'd have no chance in the championship. Patrick head is very experienced F1 guy who would not have suggested it lightly. The only difficulty would be in deciding the grid for the first race, that could be done mostly on last years finishing places.

[Loosehead]

I agree that F1 is dull and something like this would certainly make it more watchable.

[brionon]

Gromit-I agree about the Sports place-a desert.

[sp1214]

To stop the current procession rules should be changed. If the fastest cars were at the rear it would cause more pileups though. A better solution would be to draw lots to determine grid position for each race.

[Loosehead]

why is that better, you could still end up with the fastest cars at the back.

If drivers know that slower cars are i front they would have to make allowances and would soon get used to picking their way through traffic.

[flip_flop]

Martin Brundle floated this as an idea a number of years ago - I thought it was great then, and I still do now: at the very least we should give it a go.

I was once a die-hard F1 fan, F1 parties, getting up at the crack of dawn to watch Austrailian etc..., but I find they are as dull as dishwater nowadays.

It needs improving - no techhie driver aids, manual transmission, lets make it solely about the chassis, engine and driver once again.

[Supernick]

I like the idea, but it's not without its drawbacks. The safety issue is a concern as cars frantically try and pick their way through the back markers. The concertina at the first corner is a frightening prospect. Also, some circuits such as Monaco are extremely difficult to overtake at, so we could be in for some dull races where cars are all stuck behind the slowest driver.

[sp1214]

Louis Hamilton with the fastest car was relegated near to the back of the pack after suffering an engine fault but was still unable to reach a podium finish when his engine performed normally. If the fastest cars were to start near the back this would happen in nearly every race. Is that what we really want?

[Whickerman]

I think it's a great idea.

Roll on Sunday!

[Gromit]

The obvious flaw is that if a team half way trough the season is mid table but has no chance of catching the leaders, they will try less hard and they will be rewarded with a better place on the grid next season.

It would be just as dull as at present.

[Loosehead]

it's by the race gromit, not by the season! OK so that may dawdle at the start to get moved up the grid but then they'd get moved back if they start scoring points.