Paul Hembery, Johnny Herbert support Bernie Ecclestone’s ‘artificial rain’ idea – Formula 1 news
Recent reports suggest that Pirelli F1’s boss Paul Hembery and former grand prix winner Johnny Herbert support Bernie Ecclestone’s suggestion that Formula 1 races would become even more entertaining if the organisers set up an artificial rain system at some
of the venues of the sport.
Most of the critics do not support this idea as they believe that this new system is going to create a lot of conflicts between the teams and the organisers. Changing weather conditions make racing entertaining but if the organisers can control these conditions,
then doing justice for all of the teams would not be possible for them.
“The idea is not as daft as it sounds. You could argue that running at night under lights is a gimmick. But Singapore has turned out to be one of the most spectacular races of the season. At the end of the day you want people to watch what you are offering,”
the Pirelli F1 boss Paul Hembery told the media.
Johnny Herbert agreed with Paul’s statement and stated that it is going to be as close as one can get to the real rain.
“People will say it is artificial but it would be the same for everybody. Many of the best races in the past few years have been when it has rained,” Johnny stated.
Other than that, John Watson also stated that he first proposed this idea to Bernie in 1994 as fans want to see exciting races where the drivers have to make an effort. During rainy conditions, a driver’s versatility can be checked at its best and as a result,
the race becomes quite dramatic and intense.
The Formula 1 head honcho Bernie Ecclestone stated recently that during wet conditions, racing usually becomes exciting and if the FIA has the ability to “make rain,” Formula 1 would become a lot more entertaining. He added that the FIA would also be able
to decide the duration of the rain as well in that case.
The idea seems quite appealing but one has to admit that this rule would make it unfair for some of the teams. During the 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix, the unexpected rain inversed the situation for McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen who started on pole and as a result,
Michael Schumacher took the advantage to take the win.
In such cases, the affected team can blame the FIA if they have the ability to control the weather conditions and if such an occasion occurs, this flaw in the sport’s regulations would affect the image drastically.
However, if the FIA comes up with a just system regarding this proposal and if the teams agree to it as well, it would definitely spice up Formula 1 and make racing even more entertaining in the future.
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