Don't hate Mercedes as such Adam, I just hate how they go about F1 racing, but I guess the rest of the teams voted for the token system too and Mercedes were bright enough, and committed enough to invest the money up front.
The Mercs taking one another out early did lead to a better GP though.
How can it be said that stipulating a tyre choice in January(?), for a compound that you have never run and does not perform as specified, for a new car that is still being built, be seen as anything but random?