Formula 1 racing... Who on Earth made the new rules?

[vovan]

Formula 1 racing... Who on Earth made the new rules? And who told him he knows anything at all about racing???

Okay, as you can probably already tell, this be a rant on the topic of the new Formula 1 Racing rules...

The are just stupid. I have been watching F1 ever since I was like six. And never in my life have I been so disappointed with it.

Granted, the last couple of seasons were getting kind of boring, and monotonous (and this coming from a Michael fan, mind you), and I was pretty disgusted with Ferrari when they pulled the stunts with having Schumi win when Rubens should have in the middle of the season, and vice versa towards the end. Hell, I even gave my word I would go over to the dark side of McLaren if they ever do it again. So, yeah, I agree, something had to be done to increase the competitiveness of the sport.

But... What the heck have they done? They've totally mutilated the whole idea of racing! You've got to agree (unless you are a Finn) that the way racing currently is, its just no good.

I mean, what's up with the new qualification rules? They might as well not have qualification at all, but just put the cars on the grid randomly! It's always been clear by statistics that with every consequtive lap, each driver's personal time improves, as well as the average of all racers due to the improved traction. Clearly, then, the people that drive later in the session have an advantage! Secondly, how many qualification sessions have there been, that the weather changes dramatically during the course of it? Well countless numbers! So, if that happens now, everyone driving during the rain is pretty much screwed.

One-lap qualifying? Not touching the car between the qualifying and the race? Give me a break. Might as well just include one more lap in the race, and forget about the whole qualifying business.

To add insult to injury, they now go around saying: "Hey, the new rules were successful! Michael isn't winning any more, see? Wasn't that the whole reason in the first place?"

* Grumble, grumble *

[Hurricane]

I love the new rules. But then again, I'm Finnish.

[DRoseDARs]

*Laughs sinisterly to himself*

My plans are proceeding nicely...

[vovan]

Originally posted by DRoseDARs
My plans are proceeding nicely...

You aren't by any chance thinking that your plans will help DC win the championship are you?

[Asher]

I think the new rules make things interesting...I quite like them.

[DRoseDARs]

Simpleton. I seek to sow the seeds of discontent. By making various sports increasingly difficult to watch, the people will grow restless. And one day that restlessness will culminate...

Nay, I shall not reveal the fullness of my many clever and well-crafted plans to you nor anyone else.

[vovan]

Okay, I guess I didn't make my point clear. The reason I think they are hideous is that now people's position on the starting grid depends 90% on chance alone. What order they start their qualification lap in, what particular weather conditions are there, etc. Hell, if something gets in their eye that one moment, that's it, that's pretty much the end of the race for the next day. One-lap qualifying isn't really serving the purpose of qualifying. Like I said, they might as well just pick the positions randomly.

As for making things interesting... Maybe. But look how many cars finished. There were by far more crashes than in any of the other recent races. The reason being, that by chance alone, the bad drivers (which isn't necessarily their fault - maybe they just have a bad car. After all, no drivers in F1 are bad) are put in the front of the grid, and the favourites have to battle their way through. Don't understand me wrong, I like people battling their way through. Otherwise, what's the point of racing? But it is by far more interesting (to me at least) to see the best drivers battle it out up front than try to weed through the slower cars and catch up with the leader.

[DRoseDARs]

I don't watch racing (of any type, 'cept a few Olympic track races), so I know very little about this stuff, but seems kinda odd that the officials seem to think a single lap is good enough to determine qualification. *So says the outsider...*

When were these new rules put into place/effect?

[vovan]

This year.

[DRoseDARs]

When in doubt, blame Skanky...



...Or the Bush Administration, which ever.

[Zopperoni]

I agree, the rules suck.

Skill isn't a determinant factor anymore, it's all luck now.

Originally posted by Hurricane
I love the new rules. But then again, I'm Finnish.

What was it about Fisichella getting the Brazil win, instead of that idiot Raikkonen?

[*End Is Forever*]

I think the more random qualification is better; it makes for a better race. What other sport gives their best teams a head start?

Isn't it far more exciting when Schumacher et al have to work their way through the field rather than streaking off into the distance?

[Zopperoni]

No, Schumacher and Barrichello should dominate every race.

Besides, I don't understand the entire point of it. Throughout F1 history, there have been periods of dominance: before Ferrari, Mclaren dominated for two seasons, and before that you had the Williams reign and so on.
It's not like Schumacher and Barrichello have eternal life and Ferrari could have held on to their dominance up forever (under the old circumstances)...

[C0ckney]

i think it makes it much more interesting, new rules

[Alex]

I (partially) agree with vovan. The new qualification rules are absurd, now it depends on luck more than anything. Not being able to adjust the cars between the qualifying and the actual race precludes the teams from detecting minor problems in the cars -- and then you have lots of cars breaking during the race.

It seems like they specifically crafted those rules to stop Michael from winning.

Anyway, judging from the performance of Ferraris and McLarens this year, it seems that the competition would be more balanced than last year; they didn't have to resort to these arbitrary rules.

"Look, Michael is going to win the race!"
"Let's give him a drive-through penalty, quick!"