[flowersnewacq]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/7282861.stm

A radical idea to improve the spectacle of Formula One and make overtaking easier has been proposed by Williams team co-owner Patrick Head.

The veteran says races can be boring and wants the fastest cars to start at the back and the slowest at the front.


"I would like to see the grids in reverse order of championship position," Head told BBC Sport.


"It's the same for everybody, and over a whole season the right guy would still win the championship."

[Morageort]

Well he's right that the idea would "upset the purists", but the reason he's suggested it is his view that current proposals to facilitate overtaking and improve the spectacle were unlikely to work

[vRmy0Fzg]

Band-Aid solutions never work.

[Crilosajsamq]

This is ridiculous. I would not watch such travesty. If rain makes a weird grid, it's OK. But to make fixed spectacles is wrong.

[layevymed]

Utter bull$hit.

[Jadldqys]

The idea is great, we might not need to adopt the whole concept that reversal. It's kinda obvious that the back runner are the slower car, but those finished in top 8 are drivers and cars have shade difference of performance and have the slightly different opportunity to win.

The problem may arise how to judge the order considering F1 has only a single race? It'd be difficult to determine position from qualifying, driver might want to finish 8th in each qualifying.

I think the idea would be applicable once the rule said F1 has two series of race.
I can't believe that Ananda Mikola can stand up in the same podium with Jean Alessi

[TaliaJack]

I think it would be cool. It would be the only chance for Toyota and Honda to start at the front

[Morageort]

"If you allow the guys to do all this practice and testing and then you line them up with the fastest at the front and the slowest at the back, why should there be any overtaking?" http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65623

You can kind of see his point...

[flowersnewacq]

You could also have a situation where the leaders will get blocked, or even taken out by other cars as they make their way through the pack. Potential for lots of trouble!

[vRmy0Fzg]

Reverse grids were canned in V8 supercars because it was just an utter catastrophe.

[SypeKifef]

Even if this Idea accomplished what it is proposed to accomplish. I would object to it because it would make all previous records and winning streaks too unfairly comparable! And I don't and will not buy the reconciliation of a travesty like this to be written off as simply a new era, which we can't compare anyway. It would be to F1 What the Designated Hitter is to Baseball. Or worse yet It would skew the records in the same way that introducing aluminum, graphite, ceramic, and carbon fiber baseball bat's, which all exist. I haven't mentioned a single one that I haven't personally used. And are allowed in non-professional Baseball. (Personally I prefer the ceramic coated bats They are hard well balanced, but more importantly contact with the ball produces a sound almost Identical to wood). It may work! But the implications to the legacy are catastrophic from a purist’s perspective

[layevymed]

We had plenty of overtaking with the current system for decades.
What destroys F1 is this stupid race fuel qualifying strategy.
Another sh!tty idea dreamed up by a certain Ecclestone to make the show more interesting and subsequently earn him more money!

[Guaranano]

If the formula wants more spectacle, the most sporting way to do it, IMO, is to place spending caps on teams, since there is a strong correlation between a team's spending and their likelihood of success.

And to make it fair and reasonable, make the spending cap be relatively low, like, say $100 million. Then teams with Ferrari-like bank accounts can't justify spending 50 million to gain an extra three-tenths. With this sort of proposal I'm very inclined to think that the difference between rows 1-5 to be less than .8 of a second, and that the field would be covered by less than 1.5.

Here's another interesting proposal, that I haven't completely wrapped my head around, although it has less to do with the number of passes in a race: the NASCAR model of a de facto "playoff system." After, say 10-12 races, the top 6-8 cars are equalized (to a degree), then these get on with their championship, while the others have their own.

On principal, I'm opposed to it, but in NASCAR the winners do tend to emerge nonetheless.

[esanamaserrn]

Disaster of an idea. I hate the thought of artificial grids if F1. Fastest cars first, let the rest fight it out. Any change to this time honoured system will end in cat calls of cheating, or worse, championships been won based on who doesn’t get crashed into making their way from the back…

[flowersnewacq]

A better idea than reverse grids is success ballast. Note I said better not good, it's still a very bad idea

[jojocomok]

Reverse grids are stupid. I'm a rally fan and many of us on the other board were pretty upset when the FIA decided to re-introduce reverse grids in the WRC. Doesn't make any sense to punish a team for excelling! Also, keep in mind that some teams might revert to using tactics. If this is implemented we could see Kimi stop his car for a few seconds just before the white line during qualifying and get a front start on the grid.

The idea of top teams purposely underachieving to get on the front of the grid is already making me laugh. Not my idea of fun!

[flowersnewacq]

It's rather different in rallying where quite often starting first is a massive disadvantage!

[cookiemonster]

Hmm, how about RANDOM reverse grids during the season? Like say, the fastest teams are WAY faster than everyone else in qualifying, or maybe just 1 team or driver is WAY faster than anyone, then a reverse grid may make a BORING race EXCITING! I agree it wouldn't work to do this every race. And maybe even then, not a FULL reverse grid, but only partial. After I typed this, it does seem rather riduculous to have such a thing in the pinnacle of motorsports... :P

[Guaranano]

I'm not sure how GP2 qualifying goes these days, but in F3000 in the 90s, qualifying would be in two groups, with each group lining up on a given side of the grid. Now that could spice things up.

[jojocomok]

It's rather different in rallying where quite often starting first is a massive disadvantage!

Correct. I was just trying to show that in any case a reverse grid is a mistake. Having the slow cars go first in rally allows the leaders to have a clean road during gravel events. Now in F1 having the leaders in clean air and a better a stake at the front for a win is advantageous.

Hmm, how about RANDOM reverse grids during the season? Like say, the fastest teams are WAY faster than everyone else in qualifying, or maybe just 1 team or driver is WAY faster than anyone, then a reverse grid may make a BORING race EXCITING! I agree it wouldn't work to do this every race. And maybe even then, not a FULL reverse grid, but only partial. After I typed this, it does seem rather riduculous to have such a thing in the pinnacle of motorsports... :P

LOL! Yeah, then we could guess which race would be in reverse order in FGP.