Bernie had floated the idea of a Olympic-style medal system instead of points in F1 to spice up the on-track action. That idea has been met with some concern across all faction of F1; from Fans, teams, drivers, FIA and Sponsors. The sort of concern you get when Apollo 13 radioed Houston and said “we have a problem” type concern.
This idea has even seemed nonsensical on many levels and now Max, instead of telling his friend that he is off his rocker on the medal system, has enlisted a call for the public to be involved on the decision (can’t recall the last time the “public” was consulted on an FIA/FOM measure). Why have a conflict when you can play politics and involve the “public” in your negotiations and let Bernie face defeat at the hands of the “public”? Nice re-direct Max…if the public was so crucial to the FIA’s running of F1, you would have been gone last June.
Now, not to be overshadowed, Bernie has made a statement that the “public” should be in support of his Medal System as it would spice up the action:
“Quite simply, it will make Formula One a much more exciting spectacle because it will incentivise drivers to race to win,” said Ecclestone.
“We should see much more overtaking, drivers will take more chances and they will race each other all the way to the chequered flag. At the moment, quite often we see drivers settling for second, third or fourth position, and the race can be dull in the final stint after the last round of pit stops.
“The drivers aren’t to blame, they’re racers, but the scoring system forces them to be too conservative. As things are, if they want to take the title, it is better to settle for a few, safe points rather than chase down the guy in front and risk going home with no points.
“But this is Formula One, the pinnacle of world motorsport, and only the best driver should win the title. Being a Formula One world champion is not about being a consistent and reliable runner-up. It’s about racing hard, taking chances and not settling for second best.
“Last year, Hamilton was leading the drivers’ championship before he had even secured his maiden win. Likewise, after Canada this year, Kubica led the drivers’ championship on points even though Hamilton, Massa and Raikkonen had all won more races. Lewis and Robert are both extremely talented, but I don’t think the system should produce that kind of result.
“It shouldn’t be possible for someone to be crowned world champion without winning a single race, but that really could happen unless we change the scoring system.”
Here’s an idea: Max…would you just tell your friend that most people in F1 don’t like the idea and he should drop it in favor of a restructuring of the points system instead(or go back to the system you had prior to attempting to mitigate the Schumacher effect). Or just have a vote in the FIA and say no. Really simple. Let’s stop with the call to the public on this because no one has to guts to tell Bernie it isn’t the best idea. It’s patronizing to the real F1 fans in the world.
