The pole sitter spent the entire weekend tuning the car to the track, and then putting the car on pole, only for it to be spoiled by him spinning the tires for half a second at the start? Its like a basketball game that awards 10 points to whoever wins the opening tipoff. Such a small part of the game/race that has very little bearing on how good you are at the rest of it should hold very little weight
Standing starts are popular because they add a ridiculous and unnecessary element of chance to the race, the sad fact the 4th place driver may lead the field into turn 1, or vice versa
There are a million little scenarios we could claim the race was spoiled by.
"A driver spent the whole weekend putting the car on pole and tuning the car..only for it to be spoiled because of a safety car"
"A driver spent the whole weekend putting the car on pole and tuning the car..only for it to be spoiled because his team are rubbish at pit stops"
"A driver spent the whole weekend putting the car on pole and tuning the car..only for it to be spoiled because of a terrible pit strategy"
"A driver spent the whole weekend putting the car on pole and tuning the car..only for it to be spoiled because the Chevrolet engine is more powerful than the Honda engine"
I personally prefer standing starts because it introduces an extra set of skills into the equation. Getting the perfect launch and picking the right place to put your car are crucial, but they don't always lose the race (unless a driver happens to suck at them..like Mark Webber). Only in race series where overtaking is rare does the race start determine the win. Otherwise it sets up a much more exciting start to the race as everyone sorts themselves out.
There are pro's and con's to both standing and rolling starts. I don't mind either but I've always enjoyed standing over rolling. Some of the best racing I've ever seen has been after a standing start, with drivers pulling dan-dare moves around the outside, etc.
We could apply the same argument for driver aids - its really a small event changing gear, modulating the throttle, avoiding locking up brakes, looking after the engine - but they add up to a set of skills which make the racing harder and more entertaining both because of mistakes and because of perfection. Its easier to be impressed by someone winning because they rarely make a mistake when it is so easy to make one rather than never making a mistke but having more compeition for the win. Or at least it is for me.
Either way whoever won because they were better at those sets of conditions. I just prefer the conditions including standing starts. Yes, its disappointing when a really great driver screws up the start and puts himself out of a win...but disappointment and mistakes are all part of making a sporting event interesting and exciting to watch. If it was easy and people didn't make race-losing mistakes, it wouldn't be as interesting.
Most of the time when a driver I was watching for screwed up his start, I usually instead look to watch how they recover through the field from it rather than despairing at the lost race win. And then when they win the next race after nailing the start I can appreciate it all the more.
