Bernie's latest goofy proposal - artificial rainstorms

[steveaki13]

I think Bernie and Gaddafi showed have a chat, both today appear off their rockers.

[schmenke]

I get fed up with all this tinkering with F1.

I am lucky enough to have a collection of GP's going back to 1989 and if I watch a season over a few weeks, there were plenty of boring races back then. I think people have a tendensy to view the past with rose tinted glasses.

I mean don't get me wrong I have watched F1 since 91 or 92 and feel the sport as a whole was more enjoyable then and had many great races and a bit more overtaking than now maybe, but on the whole the excitement levels in each race were similar.

So why now do we always have people trying to spice up the show. I guess Bernie was not serious about this suggestion, but I feel even flexi wings, forced tyre rules, changing in Qualifying (Going back to the mid 2000's) and kers, all just seem to be artificial.

F1 in its purest sense is about the best 24 drivers in the world racing for the world title. That used to be the drama and excitement. Now it appears unless there is overtaking every corner certain people are moaning.

Fact is if the best drivers are battling they and cars are so good they show be virtually level, and if the 5 fastest drivers are 1,2,3,4,5 in order then they will spread out. It seems a bit unfair for the fastest driver to be subject to all manner of devices and rules to stop him winning.

On the whole I prefer simpler F1.

Practice Sessions then a one hour Qualifying Session of 12 laps like pre 2003, give the drivers an even start (i.e top 10 can choose tyres and not be forced to a disadvantage by starting on old tyres). Give them 4 differing compounds each better suited to its own job hard, soft, super soft etc.

Then let them race.

That about sums up my feelings about the sport too

[SGWilko]

Why artificial? Isn't Bernie already able to control the weather?

[Tazio]

He should involve the fans and have one lucky contest winner get to throw a spike belt across the track at a time of his choosing.

Either I'm imagining things or Bernie's getting old and forgetful but I swear he, or someone in FIA, proposed this about a decade ago.

It doesn't sound any saner now than it did then.

He suggested this in the past, although I thought it was as recent as 2009.
It is just as idiotic now as it was then.
He would never actually do it because of the liability of somebody getting clocked.
Bernie is the kind of nut ball that would want artificial snow, and wind for Olympic figure skating!

[AndyRAC]

I get fed up with all this tinkering with F1.

I am lucky enough to have a collection of GP's going back to 1989 and if I watch a season over a few weeks, there were plenty of boring races back then. I think people have a tendensy to view the past with rose tinted glasses.

I mean don't get me wrong I have watched F1 since 91 or 92 and feel the sport as a whole was more enjoyable then and had many great races and a bit more overtaking than now maybe, but on the whole the excitement levels in each race were similar.

So why now do we always have people trying to spice up the show. I guess Bernie was not serious about this suggestion, but I feel even flexi wings, forced tyre rules, changing in Qualifying (Going back to the mid 2000's) and kers, all just seem to be artificial.

F1 in its purest sense is about the best 24 drivers in the world racing for the world title. That used to be the drama and excitement. Now it appears unless there is overtaking every corner certain people are moaning.

Fact is if the best drivers are battling they and cars are so good they show be virtually level, and if the 5 fastest drivers are 1,2,3,4,5 in order then they will spread out. It seems a bit unfair for the fastest driver to be subject to all manner of devices and rules to stop him winning.

On the whole I prefer simpler F1.

Practice Sessions then a one hour Qualifying Session of 12 laps like pre 2003, give the drivers an even start (i.e top 10 can choose tyres and not be forced to a disadvantage by starting on old tyres). Give them 4 differing compounds each better suited to its own job hard, soft, super soft etc.

Then let them race.

Yeah, I'm another one who feels the same.

Gimmicks are for lesser series, i;e NASCAR, BTCC etc Not the F1 World Champinship. Maybe Bernie got confused and thought it was April 1st, not March 1st St David's Day.

[Firstgear]

If he can do the opposite as well (guarantee apprx. 40 dry laps in the middle of a thunderstorm) then I'd consider it.

Until then, NO thanks!

[V12]

This story has been broken by autosport.com before.

On the 1st April, 2000 (might be a couple of years out with the year, but meh)

Only now to be honest it's gone so far beyond a joke it's not even funny anymore.

F1 already has two major, major negatives coming in for 2011, in the shape of the driver-behind-only moveable rear wing and the deliberately rubbish Pirelli control tyres, that I'm not sure if I'm even going to bother watching this year (well three negatives if you include the Lotus-sponsored Renault but that one's not the governing body's fault). This would in the past have been the icing on the turd-cake, but as I've said I'm really past caring.

[nigelred5]

Steel brakes. little ones. cures 90% of why there's no passing and 100% shows you who really has the nads.

[Hawkmoon]

Steel brakes. little ones. cures 90% of why there's no passing and 100% shows you who really has the nads.

Nailed it in one. Bernie's trying to fix a symptom, not the disease. The problem is the cars and the tracks they race on. Rather than simply saying "wet races are good so let's make all races wet", he should be saying "why are wet races so good?" The answer, and one that everybody already knows, is that in the wet the grip goes down, breaking distances increase and the drivers with the talent and the stones to back it up rise to the top. So the solution is to reduce the car's grip and increase breaking distances. F1 is full of smart people, they should be able to work it out. Instead they come up with gimmicks like movable wings. Baffles the mind!

[woody2goody]

It's a stupid idea.

The sport is healthier now than it was 10 years ago, and the racing has been great for the last 4 years. The day they introduce artificial wetting of the track is the day I stop watching F1.