Oliver WhiteAlthough Fernando Alonso led home a one-two finish for Ferrari yesterday afternoon, all the talk today is of the spectacle of Formula One and how the Bahrain International Circuit provided a less-than-exciting grand prix. Team chiefs are suggesting improvements that could be made and even some of the drivers are getting annoyed at the constant changes being made from year to year that seemingly add no real improvement.
Martin Whitmarsh of McLaren believes Bridgestone need to provide more fragile tyres to the teams to prevent even the softer compound from lasting upwards of 25 laps. Next door in the Red Bull and Mercedes garages, Nick Fry and Christian Horner believe mandating pitstops might be the way forward, insisting each driver visits his team twice during the course of the race. A little further down the pitlane, Stefano Domenicali of Ferrari thinks everybody should wait a few more races before drawing any conclusions on the matter. And Mark Webber is just annoyed at the rules being changed all the time.
Few people are commenting on the actual circuit at Bahrain, and this may have played a part in the relative non-action we saw yesterday, although the general consensus is that the aerodynamic efficiencies of the cars are to blame for the lack of overtaking, the drivers being unable to get close enough to the car in front to make a move stick. Of course there was some overtaking during yesterday’s race, but this mainly focused in the midfield where drivers were making up places from being out-of-position following on-track incidents.
So, should the rules be changed, and if so how?
[poll=”55″]
SOFT HARD SOFT
Make each car run three sets of tires.
Start out on softs, change to hards when needed and end the race on a second set of softs.
Consider the possibilities with this type of mandatory rule for every one. Start out on softs and run them until lack of performance requires a change. Run the middle and longest stint on hards posistioning yourself to make the right decision at the right time with regards to going back onto softs for the last bit of the race.
When to do this and how to do this and getting the most out of this becomes a strategy that could really spice up the end of a race. Light on fuel with tires that may offer the maximum in performance and raise the level of challenger versus challenger at the end of an event.
The well oiled pit crew gets a reward for their practice, the team and its drivers get a shot at stretching the machinery and the viewers get to see F1 as it should be, the best drivers and the best teams challenging each other for victory.
My example is simple at best and would work at all tracks and in most weather conditions. This slight variation to the rules has potential to raise the interest level substantially and everything is already in place.
Tell Bernie I want to see “SOFT HARD SOFT”.