Ecclestone has launched another campaign to medal system F1

[Anishcgnr]

President and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration Ecclestone has launched an additional campaign to see a medal system initiate to F1, where the championship is awarded to the driver with the most wins. Ecclestone first suggested the idea in 2008 but it was widely panned and the existing points system, which puts more emphasis on a win than the old one, was introduced instead. However, Ecclestone is keen to see medals in F1 as he still believes it would encourage drivers to race for wins rather than settle for points... Read Full Article

I personally do not agree with the suggestion of bernie for medal system in F1

What you think aboutmedal system in F1?

[andrew]

I'm undecided. It may add something extra to spice things up but them again it could make F1 look like the Olympics!

Having drivers knowing when to say enough is enough and settle for getting the car home for a good points haul rather than keep pushing and make a mistake and loose all points is surely better for the sport. Having thinking drivers rather than foot to the floor numptys gives a better impression I think. Best eaxmple is probably Alain Prost - fantastic driver and one of the true greats, but I still remember him knowing when he had achieved the best he could on the day and settle for points.

Bernies meddles would probably create a lot of crashes and offs towards the end of races, thus increasing the attraction to a certain type of viewer, but in terms of increasing the attraction to true F1 fans I doubt meddles would be a go-er.

[autogyro]

Sounds like a Briatore idea to increase the number of crashes to me.
Bernie meddles, says it all.

[manchild]

Having drivers knowing when to say enough is enough and settle for getting the car home for a good points haul rather than keep pushing and make a mistake and loose all points is surely better for the sport.

Nope. That's what makes dull processions and boring races.

Win or nothing was exactly what made racing so great in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. Once they became point-pickers F1 became boring.

In the good old days, winning a GRAND PRIX really meant something, for the team, for the driver, for the fans. Drivers who managed to achieve that were respected and praised as much as championship winners. Gilles Villeneuve for example. Always all or nothing, several wins, but greater than many WDC.

Now winning means nothing because all that matters is final score which decides what sponsor will put his sticker on car that will carry No1 next season.

Bernie's logic is ok, and it could be translated into point system too by awarding win with let's say 3 times more points than second place. Let them fight, make calculations equal to pointless cruising and you'll have real racing that will separate man from boys, average drivers from true masters.

First place 120 points, second 40, third, 20 etc.

[andrew]

Having drivers knowing when to say enough is enough and settle for getting the car home for a good points haul rather than keep pushing and make a mistake and loose all points is surely better for the sport.

Nope. That's what makes dull processions and boring races.

Nope, it shows true skill. Any idiot can drive like their backside is on fire and then bin it on the final lap and loose everything, but it takes great skill to know when you have been beat and get the car home for a good result.

[Just_a_fan]

Hate the idea of medals.

The championship is a season-long thing. Taking Bernie's idea, one could win the title by winning the first half of the season and then not turn up for the rest of the season.

Perhaps Stirling Moss should be asked his opinion of the idea. He won more races than Hawthorn but lost the title in '58. I'd bet he'd be against Bernie's idea as he felt that the manner of winning was what was important.

Bernie's idea feels like the sort of thing dreamt up by someone who has never watched motorsport and thinks that F1 is a motorised version of athletics. Indeed, I wonder if it's even Bernie's own idea. The whole idea smacks of further 'dumbing down' of F1.

[manchild]

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.

[Morteza]

the championship is awarded to the driver with the most wins

Wow! So the No.2 driver will be the worst driver ever. You've got two drivers in your team and you want one of them to win and the other to finish on the podium only, then the No.1 driver will be the champion if he has the most wins but the No.2 won't win anything even if he's been on the podium all the season but has not won a single race, then a guy who accidentally has won a race due to for example weather conditions or crashes of the top drivers will be in a superior place than No.2 chap!

[manchild]

Morteza, wouldn't it be actually good if some new rule would eliminate No1 and No2 driver separation within the team?

It is not up to team to "want" where they driver should end and in what order, but to provide them with equal cars, and let their skill decide their position.

How can anyone like sport or team, knowing that one driver is not given same chance to give best of himself as his teammate?

That's not sport, that's business.

[Morteza]

Morteza, wouldn't it be actually good if some new rule would eliminate No1 and No2 driver separation within the team?

It is not up to team to "want" where they driver should end and in what order, but to provide them with equal cars, and let their skill decide their position.

How can anyone like sport or team, knowing that one driver is not given same chance to give best of himself as his teammate?

That's not sport, that's business.

You're right, I got it wrong to be honest with you. This whole medal thing discourages a driver who comes second or third, he may have more points than someone with wins but he has a lower place, this is my idea. Forgive me for putting it in a bad way.

[donskar]

[quote="manchild
Nope. That's what makes dull processions and boring races.

Win or nothing was exactly what made racing so great in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. Once they became point-pickers F1 became boring.

In the good old days, winning a GRAND PRIX really meant something, for the team, for the driver, for the fans. Drivers who managed to achieve that were respected and praised as much as championship winners. Gilles Villeneuve for example. Always all or nothing, several wins, but greater than many WDC.

Now winning means nothing because all that matters is final score which decides what sponsor will put his sticker on car that will carry No1 next season. [/quote]

Manchild, you know better ("Win or nothing was exactly what made racing so great in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s.") Think about what you call the "great" racing of the 60s: steady finishing (Phil Hill in 1961) and team orders (John Surtees in 1964) helped decide the WDC. The ability to make the most of a bad car, to get a podium position when a win is impossible, has always been rewarded and always should be.

The "all-or-nothing," "first-or-nowhere" philosophy will also encourage more of the Senna-Schumacher kamikaze approach to racing. Do we want more of Senna ramming Prost or Schumacher ramming any number of opponents? When too much value is placed on first and too little on lower placings, we will see more dangerous chopping and more examples of the Schumacher-Barrichello scenario.

Medals? No. Meddles.

[SPH]

If you're going to cite Villeneuve, you should remember that one of his best known fights was for 2nd place:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G59v-l-NPE[/youtube]

Personally I don't think the sport could survive on a "winner takes all" system. Not with 12 teams and two cars apiece. With fewer cars, maybe, but who wants that?

[manchild]

The "all-or-nothing," "first-or-nowhere" philosophy will also encourage more of the Senna-Schumacher kamikaze approach to racing. Do we want more of Senna ramming Prost or Schumacher ramming any number of opponents?

The "all-or-nothing" or "first-or-nowhere" philosophy has nothing to do with driving into rival's car in order to get him out or race (Senna>Prost, Schumacher>Hill, Schumacher>Villeneuve).

The "all-or-nothing," "first-or-nowhere" philosophy considers risking DNF or at least position(s) by driving as fast as possible in order to win or gain better position, which can result in running out of fuel, getting tyre puncture, overheating the engine etc.

Those are natural, welcomed risks fans would love to see.

I'm not saying that a driver should risk WDC in last race or several races aiming for win when several points would be enough to secure the title, but I hate to see when they pick points from first race of the season and repeat that through each and every race.

[raymondu999]

The reason I'm not 100% fully behind this is,is flet's say there are 6 contenders from the 3 big teams. 5 of those each get 3 wins, and are consistently on the podium. The other guy, who has gotten the extreme scenario of 4 wins and 15 dnfs, would win the title.

[WhiteBlue]

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. It would be a coup with far ranging consequences. For Bernie making money is the only benchmark for doing a job and he is committed like hell to make as much money for CVC as he used to make for himself when he owned the sport. I can imagine that the laurels of being an olympic champion would improve the reputation of any F1 driver and push F1's recognition with sponsors to new heights.

Perhaps the medal idea can be reconciled with the points system.