F1 or WSB...oh what to watch...

Well here I am on Sunday morning with both the Malaysian F1 race and Valencia World Superbikes about to start.

A good day to be on the sofa then.

Both F1 and WSB have gone through changes in the off season. The new qualifying format in WSB is working really well, and has produced exciting sessions in all three rounds of the championships so far. This qualifying rule, with three knock-out rounds within the overall qualifying session, is a copy of an innovation in F1 a couple of years ago.

Mike Scott wrote is his GP Week column a few weeks back about the strength of WSB and the fact the MotoGP is well and truly on the back-foot. Innovations like the F1 acquired qualifying format is just one factor, but a much more significant weakness of MotoGP is subtly highlighted by the mass of rule changes for this years F1.

I'm not expert on F1 (or anything else for that matter) but what is clear about the F1 rule changes is the have shaken up the pecking order profoundly. McLaren and Ferrari are struggling (OK, not helped by 'Liegate' as the Hamilton affair has been called by some) and Brawn, Red Bull, Williams, Toyota et al find themselves competing at the front.

In short, the playing field has been well and truly leveled, and everybody has benefited.

Some of the powers-that-be in MotoGP will no doubt look at those rule-changes and consider something similar, but will as ever miss the point completely.

The fact is it's not the technicalities of the rules that have this effect, its the structure and governance of the sport.

These kind of rule changes would never happen in MotoGP because the technical rules are set by the MSMA - in effect Honda, because of Japanese politics.

If the equivalent situation existed in F1 the rules would be set by McLaren and Ferrari, and would surely be to suit their needs. What is more small teams like Brawn wouldn't be given sight of those rules until McLaren and Ferrari had tested various options and figured out what works best. In short they would never be able to win. The rules would say so.

WSB sits somewhere between the two. Not totally hamstrung by the MSMA to quite the same extent, but nonetheless still some way from the effective sporting governance of F1.

So perhaps that is why a die hard motorcycle racing fan like me finds himself watching the F1 while the WSB is being recorded....

A sad state of affairs.