Formula 1 News

Patrick Head suggests reverse grid system 

Williams co-owner Patrick Head, during an interview with BBC Sport, has suggested that Formula One would have even more interest if a reverse grid system – system where the fastest driver starts the race from the back of the grid – would have been implemented. “I would like to see the grids in reverse order of championship position. It’s the same for everybody, and over a whole season the right guy would still win the championship.”

“If you allow the guys to do all this practice and testing and then you line them up with the fastest at the front and the slowest at the back, why should there be any overtaking? Maybe overtaking will be less difficult, but if a guy is back there because he is 0.3 seconds slower than the car in front, why should he overtake?”

“I’m sure people would complain,” Head continued. “But I do come across a lot of people who say they like watching motorbikes and I have to say I’m a little bit in that camp because there isn’t a lot of overtaking in Formula One. What’s really boring is if there’s a car that is genuinely faster sitting on the tail of the car in front and his race is destroyed.”

“We’ve had some races at Monaco where people have been held up for 30 or 40 laps when they’ve been a second or two faster than the car in front, and I think that’s a pity,” he added.