Australian Grand Prix - Blinded By The Light
The powers that be in Formula One have made another decision that makes you scratch your head. They’ve moved the start time of the Australian Grand Prix to early evening.
Let us all bow before the might television. It is our new god. Well, at least in Formula One. The powers that be in the sport have moved the Australian Grand Prix to a start time of 5:00 pm in Australia. Why? This makes for a better viewing time in Europe. As a person living in California, I’m happy to as the race comes on at 11 at night instead of four in the morning!
As happy as I am, there is no doubt the decision shows the hypocrisy of the FIA, Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone. Why? The drivers are going to be blinded by the light during this race. The setting sun is going to be a nightmare. This was readily apparent during the second practice session when drivers were complaining repeatedly of it. Throw in the major shadows and it is going to make for unsafe racing.
You should laugh the next time you hear the FIA, Mosley or Ecclestone blather on about driver safety. If driver safety was a big issue, this race would not be so late in the day. It’s as simple as that.
The Australian Grand Prix is going to be one of those races where back markers score points. Why? The cars are going to have reliability issues and there are going to be a host of accidents and safety cars. Adding the blinding light and deep shadows is just going to make things worse.
Lewis Hamilton may be in the back of the pack at the start, but he might win the race if he just drives around and avoids all the anticipated problems. Wouldn’t that be a shocker!
Lemmy