Teams propose a $1m Friday overhaul

Wednesday 1st October 2008

The F1 teams are considering proposals that would see a complete overhaul of grand prix weekends, including the introduction of a $1million Friday jackpot.

At present the Friday of a F1 grand prix weekend consists of two hour-and-a-half hour-long practice sessions, where the teams put in a lap after lap trying to find the optimum set-up for qualifying and the race.

The sessions don't attract many spectators compared to a Saturday and a Sunday as there little to play for, it's just the teams putting in the mileage.

However, under one proposal that the new Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) is considering, a $1million Friday jackpot will be offer to the winner of a special shoot-out session.

"We are looking at the whole format of a race weekend," McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh told Autosport.

"At the moment we formulated a Friday testing format, but in reality no one is doing the normal disciplined testing. We are preparing for the race (instead).

"If you give a race team the chance to go on the race track where they are going to race at on the Sunday on the Friday before, then we must have been nuts to think that we will be doing engineering testing. So we are all as bad as one another.

"So we say, is this good value? Does it help the show? Or do you perhaps do something where you say, let's cut it down to 45 minutes only, maybe you give a completely different specification of tyres, a really hard tyre, and you create a mini competition where everyone tries to set the fastest time and you give a million dollars to the winning driver?

"It means there would be something to write about and it introduces the weekend. It is separate from the race. So there are all those sort of ideas about.

"The good thing is that people now realise that we do have to do something and I think (we are having) quite a creative open discussion. And I hope over Japan and Shanghai that we will reach some conclusions.

"We then have to make recommendations to FOTA and that has to then go through the FIA, but hopefully we can do that."

Your Comments

johnbt

"Tough one. Let's make it clear. As for the Teams - it can be beneficial for the mid-fielders as it does show in 'live timing' that they do occasionally top the timesheets for Fridays and Saturdays free practises. But if the jackpot thingy comes in, the drivers of the top teams will surely push for it. A million dollars is a million dollars! If I'm a racer I wouldn't mind the extra million in my pocket, wouldn't you? Now for the FANS - I'm a hardcore, so I observe 'live timing' for the whole season (wished I could be at all the venues, but that's only a dream). As 'nixtrix' mentioned "The 'true F1' fan will turn up to Friday session." So if F1 wants to fill the seats on Fridays & Saturdays, I'm sad to say they have to literally make it a gambling issue. Just follow the horse racing punting schemes. (1) Select the top driver, prize money will be average. (2) Select "Triple Trio" means spot the top 3 drivers in the right order, largest prize money. (3) Bet on "Quartet" means mark the top 4 drivers but not in order, second largest prize money. You know, they say "follow the money, follow the money", there's a lot of truth in this philosophy. SIGHHHHHH."

gdm2007

"OK.1 more time:

give the $1M to a Race fan with ticket at venue that picks out the car/driver with fastest lap(in any set up).

obviously prediction submitted to organisers beforehand.

GIVE SOMTHING BACK!!!"

DarkDefender

"A single make series similar to M1 Procar would be excellent. I've already said it but seriously, it's a brilliant idea! If the timing permits, they could even bring in some hotshoe GP2 drivers eager to prove they can mix it with the F1 boys. That'd be a brilliant spectacle, we'd actually see how some of the drivers compare to each other in identical machinery."

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