Fantastic Start to New Formula 1 Season Overshadowed by Many off-Track Issues

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: March 25, 2016

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This should be a happy time in the world of Formula One. The new season just began with an exciting, unpredictable race, and Ferrari appear ready to challenge Mercedes' two-year hegemony.

Instead—as is often the case—F1 finds itself mired in controversy. And most of it—as is often the case—is (or was) completely avoidable.

First, there was the qualifying debacle in Australia, which could have been averted with a little planning and forethought. Next, the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) issued an open letter blasting the rule-making process and calling for a change to F1's governance structure. Finally, Sky Sports announced that, starting in 2019, no F1 races (except for the British Grand Prix) will be available free-to-air in the UK or Ireland.

Altogether, not a great week for those who are supposed to be running the sport.

The attempt to revise the qualifying format sprang from some misguided idea that F1 needs scrambled grids to be interesting. This ignores the fact there was no problem for the first 65 years of the championship when the quickest drivers in qualifying were rewarded by starting the race at the front.

But instead of dealing with complicated issues such as the inequality of revenue distribution among the teams, F1's leadership opted for what seemed like an easy fix without fully thinking it through. The results were on display in Melbourne.



It could have been even worse, if F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone had gotten his way. "I wanted a very simple thing," he told the Independent's Christian Sylt. "I wanted qualifying to stay as it is, because it is good, and then if a guy is on pole and has won the last race he gets so many seconds added to his time so he has to fight through the bloody pack to get in the lead, which he would do in the end."

The live-elimination system agreed upon for Australia (which was the...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Formula 1

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