Mark Webber has warned his fellow-Aussies to pray for rain here at Albert Park next weekend - or prepare to be bored mindless by the Australian Grand Prix.
The Australian driver, who races alongside German Sebastian Vettel for the much-fancied Red Bull team, highlighted the concerns in the sport following last weekend's processional opening contest in Bahrain.
"We normally get a pretty decent race in Bahrain, but that was boring wasn't it?" he said.
"Let's hope there's a surprise in store in Melbourne - everyone knows the weather is very changeable at this time of the year, so a lot of things could change and liven it all up.
"I reckon a bit of rain might help the entertainment value - yes, it could be useful!"
Webber's tongue was only partly in his cheek.
After finishing eighth while Vettel finished fourth, he knows not only that he and his Red Bull partner need to maintain decent form, but also that the image of F1 is given a timely boost with a competitive race.
Many in the sport were calling for changes and blaming the new rules that ban refuelling for the dreary opener.
But Webber was not in a hurry to join the chorus calling for changes to the rules - instead, he said, he thought the teams needed to learn more about the new rule-book.
"We had totally new regulations again last weekend and that race taught us a lot. The team (Red Bull) did well and for me it is an exciting time, even if that race was a bit dull.
"Now it is really crucial for the engineers and the mechanics to get the first pit stop right - and then it is all about speed.
"For me, the fuelling thing is not such a big deal. All the cars are so quick now - which is what we drivers and the fans love - but trying to keep the right balance in everything to deliver good racing is not that easy.
"In the last race, I spent 48 laps staring at the gearboxes of first Michael Schumacher and then Jenson Button and there was nothing I could do to get past them.
"I tried everything - different lines, pressure, the lot. They are both great drivers and they didn't make any mistakes."
Webber agreed, however, with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone who said it was too early to take any knee-jerk reactions even though his Red Bull team chief Christian Horner had already suggested, to Ecclestone, that they swiftly introduce a rule calling for two mandatory pit-stops.
Ecclestone, as so often, blamed the teams for the dull racing.
"I had a meeting with the teams," he said. "I told them that our business is about racing and entertaining the public. Not about computers and going fast for one lap.
"The truth is that you cannot really have the teams playing a part in drawing up the sporting or the technical regulations. We need an outside set of engineers to do that - and then give the teams two years' notice."
In the end, it is like Webber said - pray for rain, and watch this space.
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
