F1 doesn't need sprinklers to repeat German GP thrills

The way rain spiced up the German Grand Prix harked back to Bernie Ecclestone's notorious suggestion of a sprinkler system at Formula 1 tracks. But the elements that made Hockenheim great can be replicated without 'fake rain'

Jonathan Noble Jul 31, 2019, 9:40 AM

Upd: Jul 31, 2019, 2:10 PM

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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," declared the Australian.

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Author Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.

Jonathan has won multiple awards for journalism - in 1991 he was the winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Sir William Lyons’ Award for young journalists, in 2010 he was awarded the Outstanding Individual accolade for consumer journalism in the Haymarket wards, in 2011 he won Haymarket’s Scoop of the Year, and in 2018 he was awarded a prestigious Medaglia d’Oro at the Lorenzo Bandini Awards for his contribution to F1 journalism.