THT (Tinfoil Hat Time) Malaysian GP

[Stormwind]

A little late, but this dawned on me only minutes ago.

The Reject of the Race award was given out to Mr.Bernie Eccelstone. And that is not in contention, it was well deserved. However the crieteria of his earning of this prestigious award is a rather intriguing subject. The question is, Why would anyone in their right mind push the Malaysian Grand Prix into the twilight hours during monsoon season? Well we all know that Bernie, Max and the FIA are NOT in their right minds. Still I think I can understand their (for lack of a better word) reasoning.

Ever since the introduction of grooved tyres and the narrower tracked cars back in 1998, the races had become rather boring and it was worsening with time. Ultimately culminating into the snorefests that were 2002 and 2004. Those were the pinnacle of boredom to be sure, But the seasons between them weren't much better. A good race during this time period would have been considered a boring race pre 1998. The long 10 years of grooved tyre hell have left fans screaming for a good race again, that the slightest bit of action was enough to give fans some enjoyment of a mediocre race, but it's analgous to giving a starving person a cracker to eat. The only half decent races during these days were wet races where the field was somewhat levelled and offered a chance of a team other then McLaren, Ferrari or Renault winning.

Now with Formula 1 fans deserting over the years with even the drivers remarking how Formula 1 was boring with the lack of overtaking, the brassheads of Formula 1 now seem to be trying to improve the show. Some good ideas have come about such as the much delayed return to slicks, more emphasis on mechanical grip, etc. Still these initiatives do not guarantee a good show. Here's where the conspiracy theory comes in, in Bernie's twisted mind hoping to win back some of the lost Formula 1 fanbase. It is conceivable that he pushed the Malaysian Grand Prix that is generally boring by design to a later hour during Monsoon season where rain is virtually guaranteed and therefore a much higher chance of an interesting grand prix in the paranoia of the snorefest of Formula 1 past. Though what Bernie has in scheming power he lacks in foresight and in his infinite wisdom does not think that rains during Monsoon season become torrential to the point where even monsoon wet tyres can't cope with, and at the late hour rain is unlikely to stop in a timely fashion as well as making a race restart impossible with the later timeslot. Hence this scheme pretty much backfired on Bernie and thus has earned himself Reject of the Race this time around.

[thehemogoblin]

I maintain that rainfests are good for Formula One; personally, they're my favorite races.

They also save some people from sure rejectdom...

[CarlosFerreira]

Hey Stormwind, imagine if that was effectively true. Bernie would surely get Reject of the Decade, at least...