Mark Webber has dismissed Bernie Ecclestone's idea of using artificial wet weather conditions to increase excitement in Formula 1.
Ecclestone revealed his radical idea earlier this week to install sprinkler systems at some tracks to help improve the chances of passing. Although the idea then received backing from F1 tire manufacturer Pirelli, Webber thinks that some of the sport's legends of the past would be hugely disappointed if grands prix were manipulated in such a way.
Speaking to Britain's BBC about whether F1 needed such radical innovations, and whether he was in favor of them, Webber said: "No and no. It wouldn't be the most sophisticated way to make the show more entertaining."
Webber believes that the weather already throws enough intrigue into races without the need to artificially make it better.
"It can be more exciting when we have some different weather conditions, that do happen," he said. "But you just try and think of Jimmy Clark, and Jackie Stewart and [Ayrton] Senna and those guys, masters in the wet. Jackie's still here, but the other two would be turning in their graves if they thought we'd have sprinklers and hoses lined up around the track."
Yet Ecclestone is not backing down from his idea, suggesting that the sprinklers could be used at random intervals in races.
"I'm happy to make it happen," he explained. "My idea is that we should make a program that nobody knows exactly which program is going to be used and it would start at some time during the race. It would be raining, effectively. It would maybe stop and maybe rain again later. Or maybe not. So nobody would know."