Just the splash Formula 1 needs

Artificial rain using sprinklers to spice up Formula 1! Now, that's a proposal that doesn't just demand debates and discussions but also a serious consideration. Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is never short on ideas to make F1 a more competitive and enjoyable sport. F1 is probably one of the few or may be the only sport that goes through changes every season, some minor, others game-changing. This has earned Ecclestone plenty of detractors and admirers, (more of the former than the latter I believe) and this time is no different. But no one can deny the genius that the man is.

Ecclestone's proposal is all the more interesting due to how unpredictable he plans to keep it. "My idea is that we should make a programme that nobody knows exactly which programme is going to be used and it would start at some time during the race. It would be raining effectively. It would maybe stop and maybe rain again later. Or maybe not. So nobody would know," he told BBC. In another interview to f1.com he said, "there are race tracks that you can make artificially wet and it would be easy to have such systems at a number of tracks. Why not let it rain in the middle of a race? For 20 minutes or the last ten laps? Maybe with a two-minute warning ahead of it. Suspense would be guaranteed and it would be the same for all."

Suspense and thrill are the ingredients missing from numerous races, many believe. The lack of a serious fight to the chequered flag is what people have been wailing about for long now. While there is no doubt that recent seasons have seen thrilling finishes to the title, the same cannot be said about individual races, with many circuits seeing start to finish winners due to the lack of opportunities for overtaking. Most new circuits on the calendar provide little space for overtaking, a facet that is essential to the success of the sport. Former F1 champion Sir Jackie Stewart recently pointed out in his column for the Daily telegraph that due to the new F1 circuits being designed by the same person - Hermann Tilke - most circuits are "carbon copies of each other and do not penalise driver mistakes" and allow little scope for overtaking, making the sport boring.

Although the artificial rain may not completely solve the overtaking issue, it is sure to make a huge difference and will add zing to the zippy sport. Unpredictable and exciting results may become the norm. Anyone who has even a slight knowhow of F1 would know how spurts of rain and wet tracks have not only turned around race outcomes but also given the audience some of F1's most memorable race moments.

Constant switching of gears from wet to dry will also add to the challenges of the teams who will be forced to make quick strategic changes. The drivers ability will also be put to a sterner test with the likes of Michael Schumacher and Sebatian Vettel likely to benefit at least intially due to their prowess over rain racing. It isn't for nothing that they are called rain masters.     

Ecclestone's proposal however, has found its critics even before gaining some ground. Red Bull's Mark Webber has already brushed aside the suggestion. The Australian told the BBC, "it can be more exciting when we have some different weather conditions, that does happen, but you just try and think of Jimmy Clark, and Jackie Stewart and (Ayrton) Senna and those guys, masters in the wet. Jackie's still here but the other two would be turning in their graves if they thought we'd have sprinklers and hoses lined up around the track... it wouldn't be the most sophisticated way to make the show more entertaining."

It may be hard to argue with that, but gratification almost always wins over sophistication. After all, gratification of the audience is the biggest aspect of any sport. F1 is anyway one of the most commercial sports - a sport where a driver who has the bucks backing him (read sponsors) gets the nod ahead of a more talented name for a race seat. Hard to think of another sport which openly functions with this reverse dynamics. 

The F1 honcho's idea meanwhile found little favour with Mercedes GP chief executive Nick Fry as well. "I think Bernie's putting forward some entertaining ideas, but Formula One is about contending with the conditions that prevail at the time," he told Reuters. "I think that fiddling with those conditions artificially is not the nature of Formula One. The beauty of Formula One is that there is now huge variety... we have races in the evening and during the day and halfway between the two and I don't think anyone could say that last year was boring. It was tremendous and I'm sure that this year will be better still."

A voice of support although has come from Paul Hembery, the motorsport director of F1's new official tyre manufacturer Pirelli. Having himself tested Pirelli's wet-weather tyres under artificial rain at Abu Dhabi, Hembery thinks there is potential in the proposal. "The technology is such that you can wet a circuit with a sprinkler system, so the idea is not as daft as it sounds," he said to the Autosport website.

Whether this will indeed find its way to F1 is a big question, but there's no doubt that if anyone can pull this off, it is Ecclestone. After all, the man has made dafter things work!