A delayed decision to deploy the safety car, a missed instruction from the race director, a crash and a stop and go penalty, combined to create a perfect storm at Monza, providing one of the most talked about races of the year and producing a surprise podium.

It came as no surprise therefore when poacher turned gamekeeper turned PR man, Ross Brawn leapt on the chain of circumstances and what ensued to suggest that the sport once again look at the idea of reversed grids.

Of course, when leading Benetton, Ferrari and his own eponymous team to world championship success, Brawn wouldn't have given reverse grids the time of day, but in his new role as the 'friendly face of F1', he's all for another gimmick aimed at spicing up 'the show'.

Having vetoed the idea when it was proposed earlier this year, it is clear that Toto Wolff hasn't had a change of heart, the Austrian saying that the proposal is against everything the sport should be about.

"I don't think that we should mess with the format," said the Austrian. "We see racing series that have tried to change formats that have historically been understood by the fans, NASCAR and the Chase comes to my mind, and I don't think we should be messing around.

"This is not because I have a Mercedes bias," he insisted. "On the contrary, I like the variability and the unpredictability, and we will have races that will be very different such as the Monza race.

"But nobody wants a winner that has started from a reverse grid. I don't think we should be designing freak results where it is almost impossible to overtake, just because we believe that the pecking order should be a different one. This is a meritocracy, this is a sport where best man and best machine wins, this is not WWE where the outcome is completely random.

"If you want to do random, let's make it a show. But I think the core DNA of the sport is being a sport, and then an entertainment platform. It's not a show. It's not a reality show, it's not Big Brother, and I don't think we should be going there."

While Toto has never spoken truer words, the fact is that in the current circumstances, the approval of only 8 of the ten teams is required for the proposal to get the green light.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by ZJAY, 13/09/2020 12:52

"No doubt qualifying will suffer as people will try to game the “reverse grid”. An alternative would be to awards points for qualifying, and totally computer randomize the grid for each race. That would be fair as each driver/team will gain points for being fast over one lap and randomizing they grid is just leveling the playing field for the start. "

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2. Posted by GordonG47, 13/09/2020 9:12

""Race what ya brung".

Crude but accurate. If you've got the fastest car, you'll win. You want to win? Go faster."

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3. Posted by alvarezh3, 13/09/2020 7:41

"Doubtful it will ever happen, RB, MB and SF, will most likely reject this idea. To convince a fourth team is not completely out of the equation either, just to make it even harder."

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4. Posted by Tudor, 13/09/2020 6:57

"Toto: But nobody wants a winner that has started from a reverse grid.
Me: I do!!! How about, success ballast on qualifying, and then let the cars loose on race day? Or success penalty after qualifying... dunno, 0.020s per point or something... "

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Wolff slams reverse grid proposal

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