F1 doesn't need sprinklers to repeat German GP thrills

When Bernie Ecclestone famously touted his plan for sprinklers to produce 'fake rain' to help spice up Formula 1 races, it didn't generate that much support either among fans or inside the paddock.

Mark Webber gave a pretty succinct response as to whether he was in favour of the idea. "No and no," he declared.

The thrills of last weekend's German Grand Prix showed where Ecclestone was coming from though, because there is little doubt that the unpredictability caused by the changeable conditions ensured Hockenheim gave us the very best of F1 drama.

Ecclestone's original plan was for a number of venues to be fitted with a sprinkler system that could provide a random amount of water at any time over the grand prix.

"My idea is we should make a programme that nobody knows exactly which one is going to be used and it would start at some time during the race," said Ecclestone at the time.

"It would maybe stop and maybe rain again later. Or maybe not. So nobody would know.

"There are racetracks that you can make artificially wet and it would be easy to have such systems at a number of tracks.

"Why not let it 'rain' in the middle of a race? For 20 minutes or the last 10 laps? Maybe with a two-minute warning ahead of it. Suspense would be guaranteed and it would be the same for all."

The purists hated it, teams never got behind it and like some of Ecclestone's other ideas - including elimination qualifying, a medal system to decide the championship and track shortcuts to create passing places - it has been filed away, never to return.

While trying to artificially recreate what happened in Germany may be a step too far for the pinnacle of motor racing, if you dig a bit deeper into the specifics of what made Hockenheim so spectacular then you realise that it's not impossible to deliver those elements all the time.

The uncertainty meant there was scope for drivers and teams to roll the dice and take a gamble, and the gains could be phenomenal

First of all, what Germany proved was that when teams and drivers are in a situation where there is uncertainty about tyres - in terms of both their performance and their lifespan - that opens up the scope for great jeopardy.

At almost every stage of the German GP, the drivers were on tyres that weren't ideal for the conditions. It was not soaked enough at the start for the wet, but drivers were not allowed to run the intermediate because of the safety car formation laps.

Then when the field changed to the intermediates and slicks, the weather always seemed to be one step ahead and put teams under pressure to make yet another change.

The debate over whether the soft or medium slick was best proved intense, and Red Bull clearly got it wrong with Max Verstappen.

The uncertainty meant there was scope for drivers and teams to roll the dice and take a gamble. The gains could be phenomenal - as Lance Stroll proved - and this is exactly why things were more exciting than normal, when the only strategy option for the midfield teams is whether to pit at half distance or a lap later...

This roll of the dice opportunity and the unpredictability is something that does not happen on a typical grand prix weekend, when teams have the entire Friday to gather all the data they need.

The hours of analysis, plus later work overnight on simulators and making simulations, mean that come Sunday, the teams and drivers pretty much know everything they need to about tyres and the strategy they need to run.

It allows them to comfortably manage things, run to a set delta to minimise pitstops, and it ends up nudging the championship towards a procession rather than a thriller. F1 then becomes a scripted affair rather than an unscripted spectacle.

F1 has a great opportunity in 2021 to create tyre rules that could ensure even dry races deliver the kind of uncertainty that manifested itself in Germany. Simply force teams to run tyres in races that haven't been run before that weekend. There needs to be more opportunity for teams to get it wrong as well as get it right.

Then we have the issue of track limits. Some of Hockenheim's most dramatic moments came at the final loop of the stadium section when drivers who had run wide were caught out by the slippery drag strip area that offered almost zero resistance to them sliding off into the wall.

Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jr all came to grief here. They may have been a bit upset about the specifics of having such a slippery area in that spot, but equally they are all men who understand that going off track should have consequences.

Having tracks where mistakes are brutally punished makes for a better spectacle; it creates uncertainty in the race, and rewards those who do get it right and don't make errors. Everyone loves the Wall of Champions in Canada, for example.

You can have F1 races like this everywhere without the need to turn on a single sprinkler

And while suggestions that every track should have a wet 'drag strip' around around the outside would be a bit extreme, having circuits that aren't surrounded by acres of runoff area - but instead just grass and gravel - would be just as good a solution.

Drivers should know that one mistake is enough to end their afternoon. Small errors such as the one Valtteri Bottas made at Turn 1 should have huge consequences. In terms of drama and spectacle, that's a much better route for F1 than a get out of jail free card of running slightly wide across some asphalt.

One of the other consequences of a tough track limits situation was that the number of crashes went up, and that meant more safety cars - which helped neutralise the race and make it even more exciting.

While some may not like races being interrupted by the safety car, and teams especially hate hard-earned leads being wiped out in such a manner, caution periods do help reset the race and offer more opportunities for surprises and shocks.

That really is no bad thing - as long as safety cars are not used in a false way because things have got too boring.

Hockenheim also showed us the excitement that can come from new formats, as it was the first race to begin with a standing restart. The intrigue about how that would play out - for fans, drivers and teams - was great, and the fact some outfits got it wrong, including eventual winner Red Bull as its cars suffered excessive wheelspin due to incorrect engine mapping, again shows that making things unpredictable produces a better spectacle.

F1 has hinted in the past it could vary race weekend formats through the season depending on the venue, and Hockenheim proved there is value to that idea. Let's have a few options for different qualifying or race formats spread throughout the year just to spice things up.

While the weather certainly played its part in making the German GP so great, the reality is that if you commit to rules that help repeat the opportunity, jeopardy, uncertainty and risks Hockenheim produced, then you can have F1 races like that everywhere without the need to turn on a single sprinkler.