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Ecclestone wants ‘artificial rain’ to increase F1 fun
After plans for medals and shortcuts, Ecclestone’s latest suggestion to liven up F1 is trackside sprinklers
It is that time of year when the Formula 1 circus ringleader Bernie Ecclestone tries to generate interest in the new season by coming up with outlandish suggestions to make the sport more exciting.
This time round he has announced he wants to fit water sprinklers around the circuits and create artificial rain to add to the drama of races.
"You have a completely different picture when it is wet," said Ecclestone. "We always had the most exciting races in the wet so let's think of making rain.
"There are race tracks that you can make artificially wet and it would be easy to have such systems at a number of tracks. Why not let it 'rain' in the middle of a race? For 20 minutes or the last 10 laps? Maybe with a two-minute warning ahead of it. Suspense would be guaranteed and it would be the same for all."
Whether or not it sounds like a good idea there is little prospect of the plan coming to fruition judging by the fate of Ecclestone's other recent brainwaves.
Last year his grand plan was to introduce short-cuts that drivers could use a certain number of times during a race to help overtaking. Unfortunately, that idea sank without a trace.
Prior to that he called for a new scoring system (a measure that was adopted) and even suggested awarding medals at each race, with gold going to the winner and the overall title going to the driver with the most medals, rather than points.
But even without the intervention of Ecclestone there is plenty of anticipation ahead of the new season, which will now start on March 27 after the Bahrain Grand Prix, due to be held on March 13, was called off because of anti-government protests in the kingdom.
And if Ecclestone is intent on making F1 more exciting he may secretly be pleased that the first scheduled race of the season has been postponed. The Bahrain Grand Prix was easily the most boring of last season's races with Ferrari claiming a one-two.
So dull was last year's race that several teams questioned the rule changes that were introduced in 2010 - a ban on refuelling and mandatory tyre changes - which undermined team strategy. ·
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He is surely getting senile. Time to retire Bernie.
A sad state of the 'sport' if you have to create excitement. If even the circus meister is bored, what chance do the spectator have? F1 has become too 'brand' or was that bland, oriented with real talent being thwarted by commercial priorities - the highest bidder gets to call the tune - that's no longer sport, just a brand procession.
So, when one of the drivers skids off and dies on one of Ecclestone's wet patches, who gets sued?