That's just not Cricket.. err sorry Formula 1

Warning: Long-ish post


Formula 1 has been in a state flux ever since Michael Schumacher went on a winning spree of 5 world titles in a row. That was domination in every sense of the word. It was a period of technical and strategic superiority of Ross Brawn, Jean Todt & co. at Ferrari over the rest of the field. Despite allegations of using illegal technologies at Ferrari, the other teams just did not do enough to close the gap at the top for most of the time. What that period did was usher in a set of reforms out of which some had a positive impact in the form of Fernando Alonso at Renault and some which were quite ridiculous.

There was a lot of reforms that came in and are lingering on quite irritatingly. The mentality of radically reshaping the sport has in a way resulted in the farce that the start and end of the Malaysian GP. Its like making bigger goalposts in football if people don't score enough and make them smaller if there are to many. I am going to list a few below,

• End of the 12 flying laps qualifying - This is the qualifying format that I still miss. 12 flying laps and 60 minutes to do them in. It did not get any simpler than that. Yes, most of the action used to be at the fag end of the session but boy timing your lap just in time for the chequered flag was a skill. And that when the track is at its fullest. The 3 stage elimination now is even more boring. You see cars going around for the sake of it. Again, all the action is at the end of the session!! The one lap qualifying in reverse race order penalised mediocrity. Sport is about rewarding superiority and not the other way round. Somebody who finished last would end up going out first when the track conditions are at worse, hampering his prospects of qualifying high. The conditions would pan out nicely for someone who finished 1st helping to gain a higher grid start. There have been variations of the one lap and current qualifying system at many points which still sucked. Bring back the 12 flying laps I say!!
• No refilling/tyre change while pitting - This was quite frankly pathetic. One of the sources of drama in F1 is the pits. Seeing all 4 tyres change and refuel at the same time while making sure that you go out in time to maintain your track position or often even gain one. Prime aspect of team work and co-ordination. Take out one and it just becomes boring. You either pit, refuel and change tyres or you just dont pit at all. I cant remember which season it was that eliminated one of tyre change or refuelling. It was no tyre changes I thing, which then made the end of a race a bit of a lottery in terms of tyre wear. Go hard and pray your tyres survive or go slow and compromise track positions. Even this year, forcing a team to use both soft and hard compound tyres in the same race is like asking Sachin Tendulkar to play 50% shots on the offside and 50% on the legside in order to score runs when he goes out to bat!!
• Grid penalty for engine/gearbox change - Lets get one thing straight, Formula 1 is not and will not be cheap neither will it be environmentally 100% green. Designing engines and gearboxes to last for 2 races should perversely increase the cost of R&D to make a more reliable unit. And it constrains a driver becasue he has to drive his car below optimum performance to conserve parts and maybe lose points as a result. I think its better to make something less reliable to last one race than making it a lot more reliable to last 2 races. Yes there is a case for cutting costs but this it is not.
• Guinea pig for road cars - Yes, there have been a lot of technologies which have found their way into modern road cars from Formula 1 for the betterment. But ultimately F1 is not a laboratory or a guinea pig for road cars. So let us not pretend that F1 sets a bad example by not being 'green' enough or not having enough everyday useable technologies. Infact GM and Ford should take examples from Brawn GP and other small teams on how to make a good car without bankrupting yourself to the point of no return. Fact of the matter is that F1 still remains the pinnacle of technology across a wide variety of sports and the conditions at which they operate are far from the purview of a normal road car.
  
• Component sharing - The last 2-3 years have seen a lot of sharing of components. No no not the Ferrari-Mclaren way. Many teams are sharing engines and I think at a time one of the Red Bull teams was in effect a Ferrari B car. Now, I am ok with it as long as it fits in the teams budget and still keeps the cars distinct enough as engines (for eg.) form only a part of the overall package. But there is a point of view that suggest that you either go for a full A1 GP style common platform or you just develop your own stuff regardless of how much it costs.

Phew!! That was only from the top of my head. Sure there are more I cannot recall. Moving on. Firstly the start times on the Australian and Malaysian GP for late evening was quite honestly scandalous in the name of gaining eyeballs in Europe. Starting so late in the evening and driving into dusk causes visibility problems and potentially hazardous conditions with the sun really low. Either start at noon or make it at night. In case of Malaysia with thunderstorms predicted, it was worse, because the rain combined with poor light at dusk ending the race prematurely. Nothing to disappoint your fans like a half baked race!! Rain at noon will still have relatively better driving conditions that rain at dusk. Fans of cricket will know how M/s Duckwork & Lewis can just ruin games sometimes.

I think, actually obviously, the late starts in Oz and Malaysia have their links to TV coverage and revenue when broadcasters tamper with the fundamental playing/racing conditions in order to gain the extra eyes watching. Infact the elimination of the 12 flying laps qualifying is also thanks to them. The first 30 -40 minutes did not see much action and as a result not very watchable on TV. Not very watchable means less ad revenue. So there!!

Unfortunately the powers that be are running F1 with their egos rather than their brains. And amidst all the madness that has ensued, comes a breathe of fresh air thats Jenson Button and Brawn GP. One the forgotten British hope and the other the tactical mastermind behind Michael Schumacher. Theres nothing like the underdog coming out of nowhere and upsetting the status quo. Something we watch sport for. The dash of unpredictability that seperates it from scripted drama on TV. The last time it was Fernando Alonso at Renault beating the Ferrari of Schumacher. I've always maintained that the first 3-4 races in F1 before the European leg cannot win you the championship but will definitely lose it for you. Go back 2-3 years and observe the points every year. Jenson Button may not have won the title with consecutive wins. But if he maintains his current pace going into the European races, there might be a surprise contender to the usual suspects at Woking and Maranello.