| The National

You can almost picture the debate that has led to the decision to have standing starts after safety car periods inserted into Formula One from next season.

Person A: “Television ratings are down, what can we do to fix this?”

Person B: “What do people like most in Formula One?”

Person A: “The race start. Twenty-two cars all lined up, charging towards the same corner at the same time.”

Person B: “Lets have more of them then.”

Person A: Now that sounds like a plan . . .”

So, beginning next season, when a safety car is needed in a race, then proceedings will be restarted by the drivers lining up in race order back on the grid and waiting for the five lights to go out on the race gantry before racing off again, rather than the rolling restart, which is used at present.

The idea was among the changes ratified by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council on Thursday with the aim of improving the spectacle.

For the track guides, team profiles and the latest standings see our interactive F1 2014 graphic here

It had been mooted for a while and Daniel Ricciardo, the Red Bull Racing driver, summed up well the problem when he discussed the situation with reporters in Austria last weekend.

“It may be more exciting, because there’s a bit more variability with a standing start, but for me that’s a bit too artificial,” the Australian said.

“If it goes to the standing start you could go down to third or fourth. That’s just a bit too much of a disadvantage for someone who has earned the lead in the first place.”

At present if a full-course caution period occurs, the race leader loses whatever time advantage he had, but will still have a strong chance of holding onto the lead at the restart as the leader controls the pace once the safety car pulls back into the pit lane.

Under the new rule the leader will have to go through the pressure of completing a good standing start but, even if it is a good one, it still may not be enough for the leader to retain front spot out of the first turn if one of the rivals alongside manages a sensational getaway.

The rule will not come into force for incidents within the first two laps, or the last five laps of a race. Going by that, only two races this season, in Australia and in Bahrain would have seen an extra standing start.

The idea is among the latest in F1’s long line of attempts at making things unpredictable. The Drag Reduction System was brought into increase the opportunity of overtaking, upsetting purists in the process.

The points system was overhauled to try to give more drivers a chance late in the season and this year’s Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be the sport’s first double points race, all in the aim of ensuring the championship goes to the final round.

Worldwide television ratings were down last year after Sebastian Vettel’s 13 wins from 19 races.

Throwing so many unpredictable factors in to proceedings places the competitive elements of the sport in serious danger of being artificially diluted.

Vettel and Red Bull dominated F1 for the past four years, with 2011 and 2013 particularly one-sided.

They did the best job and deserved to win, but the problem with one-sided championships is they are not exciting and, when the title chase is over early, lead to a lot of races at the end of the season where nothing is at stake.

It is the same in any sport. You only have to look at the low TV ratings in the United States for golf’s US Open this month, where the viewing public’s response to the excellent golf of Martin Kaymer, who won by eight shots, was to change channels.

The idea of sport is that it is an even playing field, where the individual or team who does the best job comes out on top. It might not always be entertaining, but then that is sport.

The one-sided encounters should make fans appreciate the days when things are more closely fought.

F1 have put in place a scenario where someone leading a race could, through no fault of their own, be denied victory because of a standing start that is being conducted because of an incident in which the leading driver has had no involvement.

It may offer extra excitement and unpredictability, but it also feels staged and artificial.

In the pursuit of being entertainment, F1 needs to decide if it is a sport or a show.

The latest decision makes it feel as if they are looking to the latter.

gcaygill@thenational.ae

The FIA's decision to incorporate standing starts after safety-car periods does not sit well with everyone, writes Graham Caygill.