F1 World Split in Half Over Boredom Issues

After the first race of the 2010 season, the Formula One paddock seems to have divided into two opposite parts. One the one hand, we have some drivers, team officials and majority of the media that believe the new rules have failed in providing an extra show in the series, on the other hand we have a few drivers, teams and even F1 commentators who believe everybody should be patient before slamming the new rules.

Among the former, we have all the 4 reigning champions that are currently competing in the sport – Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button – joined by Mark Webber, while also team principals such as Christian Horner (Red Bull), Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren Mercedes) and Nick Fry (Mercedes GP). The solution to improve the show, as the team officials look at it, would be to increase the number of mandatory pit stops to 2 per race.

Needless to say, after the boring Bahrain Grand Prix the past Sunday, the media also slammed the refueling ban in F1, that brought the level of show to a minimum – no overtaking inside the Top 8 whatsoever, except for Vettel's, which was related to engine problems.

But on the other hand, Felipe Massa, Adrian Sutil (among the drivers) and also Ferrari's team principal Stefano Domenicali urged the world of Formula One to wait for a few more races until issuing such a drastic verdict, as different circuits might witness different racing and different levels of tire wear during the Sunday action.

Former F1 racer and current BBC commentator Martin Brundle also joined the positivism row, insisting that nobody should hurry into criticizing the new Formula One.

“We must give the new system a chance at a number of different circuit layouts with alternative tire compounds. Many football matches are scoreless draws, and five-day cricket test matches end in draws, too. Similarly, we have been spoiled these past couple of years – not all F1 races can be classics,” said Brundle, who also insisted that in a few races all teams could be level in terms of performance, which could lead to some incredibly close racing in the series.

“Keep the faith – F1 can sort it, especially if Mercedes and McLaren can get themselves on the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari,” added the 50-year old.

He also expressed his doubts over tire manufacturer Bridgestone agreeing to change the compound of their tires for each grand prix in order for the softer one to wear out quicker in the race (after previously being used in Q3 of the qualifying session). As the Bahrain GP has showed us, the first stint of the drivers who used the softer compound in Q3 did not differ too much from the other drivers who used brand new tires for the race.

“Bridgestone understandably want to make racing tyres which perform well and represent their technology and brand in a positive light so they won't want to supply overly soft compound tires," said Brundle, who added that introducing a second mandatory pit stop would help the series gain in spectacle in the near future.