2020 Formula 1 thread

[ZCanadian]

Originally Posted by Cyber370

Agreed! Best F1 race I’ve seen in years! Makes a great case for reverse qualification. Faster cars to the back and slower cars to the front. This would completely transform the F1 series into the best show on earth. Or, just hope that Mercedes gets tired of winning all the time and decide to leave the championship. Even Toto Wolff admitted it was a hell of a race for the fans.

Although I agree that it was the best race of the year (or maybe more), I cannot see the reverse grid being of much use. The only thing it will do is cause greater havoc at the first corner.

What made this race what it was:
- Lewis got 10 seconds stationary, not 5.
- The drive-through at Monza is longer than most pit lanes (by 4 or 5 seconds).
- The penalty happened on lap 27 of a 53 lap race, which negated all gains from the first half, bunched up the pack, and made the second half essentially a sprint.
- Bottas and Verstappen had obvious issues which drove them out of contention on the day. Ferrari was running a different series from F1 (in a bad way) already.
- The midfield (McLaren, Alpha Tauri and Renault) are all strong at the moment.
- Monza has demands not typical of an F1 track.
- Monza actually has good passing opportunities in several areas.
- The two safety cars meant that some teams had used up their tire choices. Alfa would never have put Kimi out on reds for 26 laps otherwise. That cost the team at least a point.

Given that most of the cars get lapped by the podium-sitters during a race, and the mid field is still in the middle regardless of who is in the front, I don't see what reverse grid would do to liven up the spectacle. It would likely be a dis-incentive for the top and bottom teams to develop their cars. If Haas were to podium because of a trick at the start, would that improve the sport in anyone's eyes?