Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
It is not surprising that the latest move by Formula One to change its format has received excessive reactions - ranging from the radical to the ridiculous.
Because the problem with F1 is its excesses - it is excessively handled, excessively ruled and, above all, excessively funded and taken excessively seriously.
The other reason for this is obvious. This time the change is being proposed by the ring master himself - Bernie Ecclestone.
On the surface of it, the idea of introducing medals rather than championship points from next season makes a lot of sense - for it would immediately instal a system whereby the driver winning the most races would rightfully be the champion.
If this system was in place this year or way back in 1958, the eventual winner would have been different from what the record books show.
Felipe Massa would have been the champion this year on the basis of his five victories compared to Lewis Hamilton's four and in 1958, Stirling Moss would have become Britain's first world champion after winning four races and not Mike Hawthorn who clinched the title by a point even though he won just one race.
But the same system would have looked ridiculous, say in 2004, for example, when Ferrari and Michael Schumacher were winning races with monotonous regularity to make the championship race more pedestrian than predictable.
The German would have clinched the title by August with four races still to go by virtue of having won nine gold medals by then - even before Ecclestone's home race, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
No wonder then this proposal has received such widespread reactions. Former Jordan boss Eddie Jordan, who is Ecclestone's fiercest critic, says it's nonsense while others have been more charitable in their criticism. For some, it is sublime idiocy while for others, it's nothing short of being 'nihilistically pointless'.
If those are radical reactions here is a ridiculous one. According to a blogger, the motive behind this move is Ecclestone's grand vision of seeing Formula One becoming an Olympic sport! My first reaction when I read this was to laugh out loud.
By introducing the medal system like at the Olympics, Ecclestone may be accused of tinkering with a format which has just produced one of the best Formula One seasons. But to suggest an Olympic vision is rubbish. F1 has as much chance of becoming an Olympic sport as say kite flying or a game of marbles.
Seriously, the new system, if introduced, will have its own advantages and disadvantages, just like the present format. Abolishing the points system would leave the bottom teams with no incentive to race and a sense of futility may prevail.
Even at the Olympics, less powerful countries have the chance of winning a medal or two in less popular sports. But once the points for the team finishing anywhere between fourth to eighth (points five to one respectively) are abolished, teams like Toro Rosso and Force India may have nothing to race for.
At another level, the minor points are not just making up numbers or 'scraps dropped from the Ferrari and McLaren table' as one critic put it. They are linked to huge financial gains and certainly fighting for a point is better than a battle for no point.
There is also no guarantee that the medal system will ensure wheel-to-wheel racing, great overtaking manoeuvres and excitement right through the year. For instance, take this worst case scenario of a driver winning three gold medals in the first three races and then not finishing any other race.
The same driver may still win the title over his nearest rival who may have finished all the races in second place. Thus reliability and consistency, so important in a sport like F1, will be devalued.
Perhaps, the best way forward under the circumstances is to balance the medal system with the point format. Let the medal system come in and the point system also stay so that all the teams on the grid start on a positive note.
Gold, silver and bronze for the top three and points as well for the next five teams down the order may be worth trying. But a race without points, according to me, may get pointless.
Ecclestone certainly has his hands full with the medal system to be discussed at next month's FIA meeting. But right now it's time someone reminds him of an old phrase - 'if it ain't broke don't try and fix it'.
