Bernie Ecclestone Dooms Malaysian Grand Prix
Bernie Ecclestone has done much for formula one, but he has to take his fair share of criticism as well. His push for a twilight start to the Malaysian Grand Prix was a disaster.
The area you live in has certain weather patterns you just plan into the day. Maybe it is foggy most mornings. Perhaps it gets really windy around the noon. Perhaps it rains every spring day late in the afternoon…just like in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! Perhaps the wise Bernie Ecclestone will take that fact into account before he bungles another Formula One race.
The 2009 Malaysia Grand Prix was a predictable disaster. Ecclestone pushed for a twilight start so that the European audience could see the race in a timely manner. Well, at least part of the race. As anyone who lived in Malaysia knew and apparently told Ecclestone, the later afternoon in the spring is all about rain. This made the 2009 race a farce as it had to be abandoned.
Formula One is making far too many radical changes. The sport is the most watched form of motorsports in the world for a reason. The decision to trash the cars, tweak the tracks, the start times and such are simply messing it all up. Changes should be made incrementally so as not to impact the quality of racing. This hasn’t happened so far.
The Australian Grand Prix was survival of the fittest which is no different than any year, but Malaysia was just a joke. Having cars dive into the pits every two laps to change tires and then seeing the race stopped outright makes a mockery of the sport. The finishing order proves. Nick Heidfeld ran around the back of the field all day, but finished second because he hadn’t dived into the pits just before the safety car came out. It was a stroke of good luck for him, but this is racing? Hardly. Watching Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber try to pass each other at 80 miles per hour is not formula one racing!
Bernie and Max Mosley – please stop! You’re ruining the sport I love!
Lemmy