Column: High OctaneFormula E

Formula One running out of fresh ideas to breathe life back into racing

Yay, it’s 2019 and we are going to get to witness F1 in its new avatar! Idiot! It’s still 2018, I had to remind myself and I wanted to crawl back into bed and continue watching Stranger things on Netflix! Anyway, being a petrol head too, zapped on the telly to watch F1 qualifying in Melbourne today and saw even more Stranger things!
A new fangled helmet covering a helmet?!!! Hmmm …..From the 70s era to now, the men and racing drivers have become boys in more ways than one! Men crashed and burnt alive during events that were more gladiatorial than it being a sport about ambitious drivers in fast cars. Then, as F1 evolved and Eccelstone, the creator of this magnum opus brought in 30 and 40 million and more as salaries for drivers, the current crop wanted to live a lot longer to enjoy this wealth!
The changes made in the 70s and 80s simply had to be done because the bloodshed was way too much and turning fans away. But this wussifying the sport by adding further fortification is the giddy limit.
The two examples of accidental death and disability can be understood from the unfortunate incidents of the two legends – Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. Ayrton had crashed a wall at close to 200kmph and a simple bolt ejected from the damaged front suspension like a bullet and went through his visor that opened up just that half inch. The result was the same as that of a bullet wound. He died on the spot. Schumi is fighting a losing battle after an innocent skiing accident. Just a day out with the family. Both heroes and both with absolutely no reason to be in that situation.
So, if F1 thinks that they can save lives randomly and take away the no guts, no glory somewhat, should rethink.
The qualifying today at the Australian GP did prove that the top four teams will remain there. A Ferrari win will improve the telly viewership substantially. In any case, the results of the first few races will not have too much bearing on the championship.
With limited testing time in hand, teams will need to sort out their machines under competitive duress. The racing really begins once the circus moves to the traditional racing circuits in Europe.

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