Old Things to Begin With

I am going to try and migrate some of my older articles over from the previous blog. It might be a bit difficult though and things will probably end up in the wrong order, but keep with me.

Here's some articles from my last blog:

Bernies' Medallions (original Feb 2, 2009)

The story that held the most interest for me today was that the FIA has 'revealed' that 13 Formula 1 championships since 1950 would have ended differently had Bernie's medal system been in force since the championship's inception.

Firstly, lets ignore the fact that I would argue a new system of classification should not really be assessed based on the impact it would have previous championships. Lets also ignore the fact that the biggest gainers would have been Nigel Mansell and Jim Clark which would have been nice.

What has interested me about this story is Bernie's claim that a new system would create more excitement for the viewers. He said, in an article published on crash.net, that the championship would have a much greater entertainment value if drivers were forced to fight each other tooth and nail for wins rather than tour round collecting points.

It appears that Bernie is none too happy about the fact that Lewis Hamilton won the 2008 championship. He used the example of the Brazillian Grand Prix last year, when Lewis settled into cruise and collect mode while an inspired Massa drove away from the rest of field, as proof that a radical shakeup is needed.

I believe that Bernie has missed three vital points when taking this stance:

1. The climax of this year's championship was probably the most dramatic of all time. The medal system would have confined Hamilton's incredible pass on Timo Glock at the second last corner of the race as all but academic. As such, I don't understand how fans, other than those who support Ferrari, would have been better served by a medal system.

2. A medal system would either amount to a confusing double tiered points system or a removal of all incentives for those teams not capable of fighting for victory. With Honda already gone, and Toyota and others pondering their future, this is clearly not the best plan in the current climate.

3. The consistency versus race wins formula is what makes motor racing so great. The age old dilemma, for both team and driver, of deciding between a conservative approach or balls out racing has been the cornerstone of competition since racing began. Without trying to undermine my own point about the irrelevance of past championships when assessing a new system - imagine a world without Prost vs Senna, Mansell vs Piquet, perhaps even Massa vs Hamilton. None of these fantastic duels would have been quite what they were if both drivers had always been pushing for the win in every race.

So please Bernie, stop changing the rules every season. Apart from the fact that it devalues the sport and adds to its inaccessibility for those who are new to Formula 1, they are often not brilliant ideas. Let us have our dramatic and championship deciding final lap passes - even if they are for just 5th place.