Posted on Tuesday 11 March 2008
Sounding like the words of someone who has already accepted defeat, Williams team co-owner Patrick Head is proposing that the fastest F1 cars, based on how many championship points the driver has accumulated, should be placed at the back of the grid to make the races more interesting.
“I would like to see the grids in reverse order of championship position,” Head told BBC Sport. “It’s the same for everybody, and over a whole season the right guy would still win the championship.” Placing the fastest cars at the back would allow for more overtaking manoeuvres and risks taken by the fastest drivers.
Although such a scheme would be unpopular with what Head describes as the “purists of F1,” he still wants the FIA to consider it as he claims it would make viewing much more interesting in the long run. The FIA has already implemented a number of significant changes over the past couple of years, including a number of design restrictions, engine limits and the eradication of traction control, but Head claims none have been successful as yet.
It would make F1 a demolition derby as everyone wants to keep the person ahead of them in the championship behind them in the race…
I also doubt the sponsors of the top teams would be too happy with the coverage of their cars as unless the cameras ignored who was actually in the lead of the race they would get less air time.
I’m going to disagree with PJE: this sounds great. the guys got a point; it will only serve to make the championship a little more level and make sure the winner at the top is actually the guy (or gal) who deserves it.
I dont see this making F1 a demolition derby but a more technical (in the driving sense) sport, which is what you really want in the first place. i mean, when the fastest guys in the fastest cars get out in first and get a good 15 car lengths, the race is over. hell, there have been races that have been decided by who got up to speed the fastest and what position you got coming out of the start. It wont become a demolition derby because these guys have however many hundreds of miles to make up those positions.
and i’ve been going on and on about making some BIG rule changes to F1 to make it more fun, instead of a bunch of little ones. THIS is the kind of thing I’m talking about.
In World Rally, the championship leader starts the rally. they go in descending order. THIS is done because on gravel and snow rallies, the roads are slower at the beginning and as they get cleared of debris, they get faster. So the first couple cars get a couple seconds of disadvantage on the first day and first hundred KM. F1 should take a hint.
If the championship leader really deserves the lead, they’ll get it, they just have to work a little harder for it. And NO driver would want to risk not even FINISHING in order to keep a championship leader behind them.
If you really want competition in Formula One (not to say there already isn’t), let teams sell their chassis designs to other teams, such as ProDrive was prepared to do from McLaren. I know it goes against F1 tradition, where teams build their own, but Mad Max Mosley’s initiatives are already pushing F1 in that direction. Then, with equal chassis and engines, as well as the elimination of electronic driver aids, doing well is now up to the driver’s ability –and not the superiority of the machinery.
James, if that is the case, we may as well watch A1 GP. Part of the appeal of F1 is the technology behind it, which is why i really hate the recent movement of so many restriction of new technologies. As for the idea of reverse order, i think it’s an interesting idea, but probably won’t happen. Not to mention, this will result in no qualifying as they start according to their championship points order, this means F1 races will be pretty much 1 day event on sunday
Seeding of the grid could be done through a formula that combines point standings and qualifying time. The result would be the point leaders could be near the back of the grid but not at the end.
I like the idea of seeding the grid inversely to points, it would be nice to have something make the racing more interesting. What ever the method, there needs to be something between F1s car parade and Nascar’s restricter plate racing