appreciated...
---
They made up new rules. I don't know what the bigtime F1 fans in here think
of them (please tell me!), but I absolutely hate them.
Single-lap qualifying, and especially that single-lap 'qualifying
qualifying' is absurd. There was no problem with the old qualifying setup
(in fact, I didn't think it could get any better than that). Those of you
who watched the Digital F1 service last year will know that it's not
confusing at all when the director knows what he's doing. Checking the
timesheets for purple times and switching to the cars which are on hot laps
isn't that difficult, and it worked a treat. The new system is just boring
and strange. What happens if it starts raining halfway through? Ferraris at
the back, Minardis at the front? That's an accident waiting to happen. What
if Minardi fuel their cars with about 5 laps of fuel in qualifying, when
everybody else is on 20? Every GP has a Minardi front row?
I'd sure be feeling great about my investment if I was Ferrari, McLaren or
Williams, knowing that the grid was decided on pure chance...
Qualifying with race fuel? Only one shot? We (well, I) want to see people
really going for pole at the death, like they used to. With 20 cars out on
track in the last few minutes of qualifying, all looking for that little bit
extra. Then being allowed to decide their strategy based on their grid
position. One bad lap on Saturday could ruin a drivers' whole weekend, so
there's no point really going for it. Better to get on the front couple of
rows than put it in the wall. How boring...
That wet tyre rule was abysmal. Luckily it was shown up early on and there
weren't any serious casualties. I couldn't believe it at the time it was
announced. Fortunately it has been rescinded.
The new points system rewards consistency rather than winning. Do we want a
situation where a 17 race season is won by a driver with just one win (as
happened with Richard Burns in the WRC)? That's much more unlikely with
10-6-4-3-2-1 (although it did happen in the WRC), than with
10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. I'm all for extending points to 8th place, but the gaps
have to be kept the same, something like 12-8-6-5-4-3-2-1?. What's the point
in challenging for the lead when it's *** 8 points for an extra 2?
Might as well follow him home, play for the championship, be boring...
If they want to see some better racing, then get rid of the blue flags
(maybe not at a place like Monaco)! The leaders would bunch up, and the
midfielders could carry on fighting each other. Also, the cameras which are
incessantly pointed at the leader will catch some of the midfield scuffles
too.
I don't have a problem with Ferrari winning all the time, but I do have a
problem with the cameras being on them all the time. Last year I was able to
see some fantastic racing in the midfield, using the Digital F1 coverage.
It's all happening, they just aren't looking.
They remove the 2nd best track on the Grand Prix schedule because of some
politics, even though the underlying political philosophy of tobacco
sponsorship is flawed.
And now, to top it all off, they go to the best track on the calendar and
they change it to make it easier. Jeez, I thought F1 was just racing at IMS,
not taking advice from the IRL on how to ruin some great racing...
Nick, looking forward to the British GP at Rockinham oval with single-make
cars in F1 2004... ;-)