Ecclestone has launched another campaign to medal system F1

[xpensive]

That's an idea, I think MrE, MrM and JA Samaranch would have looked eye to eye on many interesting issues?

[segedunum]

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2010/09/ ... pic-games/

There is also Joe Saward's idea that Bernie wants to push F1 into becoming an olympic sport.

You might be right WB. I've wondered why he specifically mentions 'medals'.

However, given what's gone on in the sport over the past few years and in the past few weeks Formula 1 would be turned into a bigger joke than it is already. Bernie might be that deluded, but unfortunately the sport doesn't have that much credibility - even to become an Olympic sport!

[donskar]

F1 an "Olympic sport"? Some issues come immediately to mind:

A season only once every four years?
Races in only one location?
Sponsorship?
What happens to F1 in non-Olympic years?

[WhiteBlue]

From Saward's blog entry I would read that the season would run as usual. Only in olympic years you would have a non championship race for the Olympic medals and that race would be in the respective Olympic city. The city would have to build an F1 facility if they do not already have one. This would spread new race tracks and increase competition for GPs. But mainly F1 would profit from some high level exposure if it were an Olympic sport.

[andrew]

If it was on Joe Saward's blog I would disregard it completely. I have read it a couple of times and the guy just comes accross like an on-line Eddie Jordan and as someone put it on the comments page "a self appointed expert".

As for F1 becoming an Olympic event, that'll never happen - F1 is hardly an athetics discipline. I guess that these would be non-championship races and there is no way that any of the teams would take part without massive cash incentives and who's going to stump up those?

[DaveKillens]

I wonder why Bernie now wants this concept implimented. For the regular, consistent Formula One fan, things are real nice. The last few years have produced enthralling and dramatic seasons. In 2007 we witnessed Hamilton's rookie season, and in the end, Kimi won the WDC by just one point. Kimi 110 points, Hamilton and Alonso 109 each. Wow. In 2008 we saw Hamilton win his WDC on the last lap of the last race, finishing 98 points to Massa's 97. 2009 saw Button and the invincible Brawns dominate, yet at the end it was a nail-biter. And here we are in 2010, and there's a five way fight for the WDC, with just 4 races remaining.

Personally, I like how things have shaped up, it's a real good battle at the top. But as some have mentioned, implimenting a medal system sure would be user-friendly for the MTV crowd.

[andrew]

I think it is to stop drivers settling for the position they are in and to encourage them to keep pushing until the final second of the race. All I can see it doing is causing drivers to push too far and crash, which I guess would make F1 more attractive to the playstation crowd.

Basically, increasing the marketability of F1 and making a larger pot of gold for CVC.

[Miguel]

Following Davekillens' spirit, here's a very good reason to avoid Bernie's Medals. Which one do you prefer?

Code: Select all

Mark Webber       202 points
Fernando Alonso   191 points
Lewis Hamilton    182 points
Sebastian Vettel  181 points
Jenson Button     177 points

or...

Code: Select all

Webber    4 wins, 2 second, 2 third
Alonso    4 wins, 2 second, 1 third
Hamilton  3 wins, 3 second, 1 third
Button    2 wins, 3 second, 1 third
Vettel    2 wins, 2 second, 3 third

[andrew]

Following Davekillens' spirit, here's a very good reason to avoid Bernie's Medals. Which one do you prefer?

Code: Select all

Mark Webber       202 points
Fernando Alonso   191 points
Lewis Hamilton    182 points
Sebastian Vettel  181 points
Jenson Button     177 points

or...

Code: Select all

Webber    4 wins, 2 second, 2 third
Alonso    4 wins, 2 second, 1 third
Hamilton  3 wins, 3 second, 1 third
Button    2 wins, 3 second, 1 third
Vettel    2 wins, 2 second, 3 third

On the basis of this it is 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.

The medals idea is aimed at encouraging last minute racing and overtaking which cannot be predicted or factored in, unless anyone has a DeLorean DMC-12 with a flux capacitor. Seriously though, if the medals didn't get the go ahead last time the idea got an airing, I doubt it'll fly this time either.

[andartop]

PEOPLE! (as Mayor Joseph "Joe" Quimby would say)

Why have you focused on form rather on essence of idea? Try seeing the bigger picture. I've already mentioned one way how racing could be spiced the way Bernie suggests in a way that most wins would equal title, since the win would be rewarded with several times more points than second place.

Bernie isn't thinking about medals, Olympics, he is just thinking of the way to end sh*t like "Felipe, Alonso is No1, you're disposable, move away, Todt set price to 100k".

2010 season is already destroyed by that because Ferrari driver's and team didn't loose points. Cheating affected points of all drivers. If we'd have point system where trailing behind wouldn't mean just few points less than winner, than team orders that are ruining championships for years would become history.

Sorry, but I don't get this. Maybe because it's too early in the morning.

Why would Ferrari NOT have issued team orders if the 1st place was awarded a medal instead of points? Surely, if the number of wins was more important I would have thought any team that saw their drivers 1st and 2nd, with the driver least likely to challenge for a WDC leading, would be even more inclined to use team orders! No?

Practically, it could mean that on a year like this, with 3 teams genuinely challenging for the title and another 1 or 2 capable of claiming a victory in exceptional circumstances, as soon as one of the drivers had two to zero wins against their team-mate it would be all over for the unlucky team mate!

[xpensive]

Why don't they go all the way, with a winner-takes-all system at every race?

The lot of price money, all the points, a big mother of a gold-medal, a case of Moet and a nite with MrE's daughters?

[Just_a_fan]

Following Davekillens' spirit, here's a very good reason to avoid Bernie's Medals. Which one do you prefer?

Code: Select all

Mark Webber       202 points
Fernando Alonso   191 points
Lewis Hamilton    182 points
Sebastian Vettel  181 points
Jenson Button     177 points

or...

Code: Select all

Webber    4 wins, 2 second, 2 third
Alonso    4 wins, 2 second, 1 third
Hamilton  3 wins, 3 second, 1 third
Button    2 wins, 3 second, 1 third
Vettel    2 wins, 2 second, 3 third

That's interesting. For example, Hamilton is third on points but if he'd had another win he might still be third on points but leading the table on medal count back with more seconds than Webber or Alonso. Which would seem odd to many.

[xxChrisxx]

Bernie will be dead fairly soon anyway, I means he's what? 50,000 years old now? To be honest i've started to think that he's going a little strange in his old age. Medals, things he says when interviewed by the BBC.

What made racing dramatic back in the day was awfully unreliable cars. You has to fight for a win, because even the championship winning teams only had 60odd% reliability. I mean how dramatic were Hakkinens last lap engine blow ups, Murray going apeshit?



Also one thing that totally off topic but is partially Bernie making the sport boring. The way the F1 world feed is presented is transmitted. The cars now look really really slow with long helecopter tracking shots, and stabilised on board cameras.

I've been watching old Grands Prix, when you got cars going past a static amera mounted on the gantry, you can really feel the speed.

Consider:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gs2h924smY
vs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peZsE3mS ... re=related

The first one just looks faster even though it isn't.

[mkw0101]

Medal system is not a good idea it will indeed be just like the olympics and remember the judging scandals.

Why not every driver should get points for fully finishing the race and the only time the driver won't get points when they have a DNF or get disqualified from the race.

[WhiteBlue]

If it was on Joe Saward's blog I would disregard it completely. I have read it a couple of times and the guy just comes accross like an on-line Eddie Jordan and as someone put it on the comments page "a self appointed expert".

It appears your knowledge of the guy isn't too deep.

Joe Saward (born July 14, 1961 in London) is a British Formula One journalist. He was educated at Haileybury College and attained a degree in history at Bedford College, University of London. In 1984 he joined Autosport magazine in London. He began reporting on Formula One in 1988, working alongside Nigel Roebuck and remained as Grand Prix Editor of Autosport until 1993. He later wrote for the F1 News magazine, and went on to create the Business of Motorsport newsletter and grandprix.com, a Formula One website.

F1 editor of Autosport is a pretty good credential. He has traveled to all GPs for 22 years. There are probably very few more senior guys in the F1 paddock. "self appointed expert" is a good joke.