F1 "All Star" race - good idea?

in another thread I mentioned I had thought of this idea this morning - an idea that has apparently already been thought of and (for whatever reason) not implemented.

In baseball we have an All Star game, same with hockey and basketball. It's a chance to take the best of the best and see what they have - in a somewhat-competitive-but-not-counting-towards-the-championship type of way.

I think in F1, this would be a great thing - but since all drivers race against one another, you wouldn't cherry pick drivers, but rather you would put every driver in equal machinery and let them race it out. Then you could have a little fun with the event and maybe implement some ideas that are oft-talked about, but never done, such as making the start order the reverse of quali so the polesitter starts at the back.

The problems would be

1) Teams don't want to spend the $$ on it if it's not counting towards the WDC

2) Teams/drivers don't want to risk getting hurt and hampering their WDC competitiveness

3) Making drivers take it seriously and actually race. Most drivers have a very competitive spirit... no doubt the 'slower' drivers will want to prove themselves against those considered 'faster' and a slower driver who does well in the All Star race may get extra attention later in F1 (see what happened to Kovalainen when he beat Schumi).

4) The logistics of it all - how is it funded, who pays, how is money made, etc.

Personally I think such a race would be the most fun event on the calendar. I would dearly love to see all the drivers duking it out in equal equipment. Maybe they could mix up the pit crews as well? So the drivers are randomly matched with a pit crew? So we could see Alonso's pit crew instead being the pit crew for Button, and Albers pit crew working for Massa. This would also give the pit crews a chance to show their stuff - since it would be 100% equal equipment and fuel consumption, a lot of attention would go towards who could pit quicker. They could also do a pit crew challenge like they do in NASCAR to let the crews show off their stuff.

I think such an event could be a really fun weekend thing. Maybe do it mid-way through the season (more interesting to see how drivers stack up during the season vs. how they do in an all-star race). Although I think teams would want it at the end of the season (could be dangerous, for example if they did it last year and MS handily beat Alonso, people would be calling MS the "real" WDC).

I think if they gave sponsors prominent coverage, and required all drivers to participate, it would be a great event. It would also be a great time for Bernie to try out his pet projects like new qualifying methods, and night time races.

What do you think?

 

You raised another couple of great points

1) How GREAT would it be to see past F1 drivers racing. Maybe a special "vintage" race (vintage drivers, not cars - haha) racing. I would love to see Schumi beating up on Jackie Stewart, Nigel Mansell, Eddie Irvine, et-al. Maybe the winner of the "vintage" race gets to compete against the young bucks in the all-start F1 race? Only drivers who voluntarily retired from F1 should be allowed... we don't need Yoong, McNish and Monteiro polluting the waters.

2) Where would it be held - another great point is that there are MANY tracks jockeying to be F1 race events. I am sure some of these tracks would be willing to pay to have the race held there to "show Bernie what they can do". They would be giving it their all, most likely putting some serious $$ into the sport, and Bernie can get a chance to try-before-you-buy some new tracks before they commit to F1 events. And the fans get to see races at places they wouldn't otherwise see. Imagine an All Star race at Laguna Seca! Or some other exotic places? Would be awesome!