Familiar Top Three as New Qualifying Format Falls Flat on its Face

[Angelo dos Santos]

The problem with Formula 1 is that they are constantly forgetting to be Formula 1.

All this thing: "We have to listen to the fans...the fans matter the most...is all about the fans...", is completely nonsense.
Formula 1 by definition is suppose to be the TOP class of racing in the world. This doesnt mean have the best races, not at all.
Is about the best teams, having the best drivers, competing to see who is the best. Simple as that. Regulations should be about be innovative, criative...about freedom of choices, to have the absolute best machine available and give it to the best driver available.
Formula 1 needs to become Formula 1 again. The fastest cars with the better drivers fighing until the dying seconds for Pole Position...(Senna, Mansell, Schumacher, Hakkinen...anyone?)...and if one team is dominating, kuddos to them...fair enough. Let the others work harder if they want to catch it!

And if fans enjoy it...great....they will enjoy! If they dont like...there are plenty of "fans" classes around the world. NASCAR, Formula E...you name it.

Formula 1 needs to be Formula 1. Not for the fans...but for itself.

That was how all this started in the first place a lifetime ago.
And the worse thing that can happen is you forget who you are.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

god, one is getting old when one says: the quali format when i was a kid (70s): 60 min, track free for all, at the end the best time counts, should be reinstated. everybody can understand it. everybody has the same opportunity, everybody should be happy. just give the teams two sets of quali tires which will last about 30 mins and may not be used in race, so everyone needs to do one pit stop and noone needs to save tires. i suppose the more simple the solution, the better the outcome.

 

[Qazdar Karim]

Can someone explain why Ferrari didn't push Vettel and Kimster out for a second flying lap in Q3? Was it because they figured they had no chance at beating Merc and didn't want to waste a set of tires? Aren't the super softs going to be useless in the race?

Because they werent going to be faster than merc anyway ...

 

[Andy_J]

Why oh why can't we just go back to having a 1 hour qualifying session, any tyres, any fuel and all cars?

 

[Rokas Charlapavicius]

Just watched the re-run of the qualifying - what a joke that was... Shameful.
The old qualifying was almost perfect. What they would need to do to avoid lack of action on the track and lack of mixing up the grid in my opinion is to split the qualy into smaller parts - lets say 4-5 ten minute sessions. After each of them eliminate let's say 3-4 cars. Then you'll definitely get more action and to quite some extent reduce the 'empty track' phenomenon.

As for the tyres - just use the same pre-chosen set throughout the qualy and then give a new set of the compound that was chosen for qualy for the race.

I think that would mix up qualy much more because think about it - if you make a significant mistake early (i.e. lock up) you will be compromised throughout the session which will mix up the field.

And even choosing a compound would be significant because if you chose option you would be compromised later and you would possibly lose out for the guys on primes however if you would choose primes.you would risk being eliminated early.

There would never be a clear cut qualifying because of the combination of:
1. Any mistake would almost definitely by fatal for the good result.
2. Many more possible strategies because of the tire wear/tire compound combination differences.

I think I covered the fix for the main issues - lack of qualifying action and predictable results.
Feel free to tweak this opinion.

 

[BSH]

This is what happens when business men (and women) try to run a sport. Yea I know Formula one is a "business". But it's a business that revolves around a sport. Let the sporting aspect lead the way, these drivers and teams are extremely talented. Let us see them in action, no need to dress it up with this and other nonesense.

This isnt WWE.

It is becoming under welimngly artificial.
The sport needs more racers & engineers at the head of the table, and less of these clowns.

 

[Ichthus]

The money makers at the top of F1 have systematically destroyed and taken it from the glory days of the 80's to the joke it is today.

I watched the qualifying this morning and when I wasn't nodding off through boredom I was almost weeping at the shame of 'the sport that F1 has become'.

 

[gamer19]

I have just watched MotoGP qualifying session.
It was a blast.
I see nothing wrong in their qualy format.
Marques and Lorenzo are the first two.
And, same Ham & Nico, they most likely will always do that.
And, wow, they didn't change a thing in qualy format.
Why they don't change anything? Are they mad? Everyone wants that. Everyone wants a (fake) spectacle.
And if those two (Mercs) manage to somehow clinch the front row, they should just be place where they belong. At the back. No reason needed.

Didn't we have "dominant" teams before?
I mean... in '80, '90,... and we stick with it?
I thing F1 boss(es) becomes greedy, they want more people, more money, and they put a blame - on a wrong reason.

 

[rubaru]

I did not like that drivers were being eliminated before they could finish a flying lap. Both Haas drivers hit this issue and would have advanced to Q2 if allowed to finish. Silly to cut off the first 5 with a timer and let the 6th finish when the flag comes out. Should let everyone finish the lap they are on when the timer hits zero. Old system, slowest drivers still had a full 10 minute session; here, Wehrlein eliminated after only 5.

 

[dcollins22585]

If you want to mix the grid up give everyone 1 lap and that is it.

 

[Galin Dimov]

This is the next qualifying:

Seriously, that was just rubbish! Outside of the idiotic qualifying format, normal order has been restored with the usual suspect top 3 and Nico taking his rightful place as #2

 

[LacSlyer]

I did not like that drivers were being eliminated before they could finish a flying lap. Both Haas drivers hit this issue and would have advanced to Q2 if allowed to finish. Silly to cut off the first 5 with a timer and let the 6th finish when the flag comes out. Should let everyone finish the lap they are on when the timer hits zero. Old system, slowest drivers still had a full 10 minute session; here, Wehrlein eliminated after only 5.

This is probably the worst part of the entire fiasco. And it'll only get worse when you realize that the majority of circuits have lap times over 90 seconds. That's utterly ridiculous that flying laps don't count and if they don't change it the crews will continue to protest - which is exactly what I believe they were doing at the end of Q2 and Q3, protesting this ridiculousness.

 

[Sk3ptik0n]

Why? Why mess with something that worked?
If they wanted more cars on track during qualifications, just limit the time in the pits. Make it illegal to bring the car into the box and have them do pit stops like they do in the race. Heck, award a manufacturer point for the fastest pit stop so we have more things to watch and give the pit crew something to compete for.

Other possible way to make qualifying more interesting that are arguably better than the current system:

• Make it a rule that one member of the pit crew has to be on fire while changing a tire.
• Give the drivers a few tricks like smoke curtains, bags of nails or oil slicks
• Randomly switch all the computers of a team to Minecraft
• Mandate that at least one crew member has to be a trained ape
• Have Pirelli make chocolate wheels and mix them up with the real ones (That may not be noticed on some tracks)
• Give the pit crews fire hoses to disrupt other teams while a car is pitting

 

[Nick Gregory]

The new qualifying format is .

 

[Luke1974]

The TV coverage was appalling, at one point Rosberg was 4th behind the Ferraris and they couldnt be bothered to show what was happening on track when he was doing his fast lap, they were more interested in showing drivers getting out and going for a walk. This was channel ten in australia, not sure what other people got to see. Also because of the stupid coverage now in australia I wont get to see another qualifying session this year.

Why should I bother to watch F1 at all? Supporting supa-mega rich corporations that obviously don't care about viewers at all, just making as much money as they can for themselves with no care about anything else, is totally wrong.

It will just be another boring season with the mercs driving off into the distance.

 

[LacSlyer]

I'm fairly certain that all networks that cover F1 receive the same feed via the FIA. I do recall that issue though, and it happened multiple times where instead of focusing on the driver who was on the timer they chose to focus elsewhere for who knows why.

 

[Chris]

Updated the original post with new details on the decision to ditch the system for Round 2 and beyond.

 

[LacSlyer]

That's great to hear.

 

[Galin Dimov]

Updated the original post with new details on the decision to ditch the system for Round 2 and beyond.

Kind of expected considering key people openly called it "rubbish" and "crap". Having said that, I'd prefer coming back to the old format but with having a super pole in Q3 instead of what we had.

Everyone will have 1 shot on new tires and TV time. It will also mix up the grid as people will make mistakes. I believe this is a far better solution than what so many smart people came up with and it's also better than the old format.

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

Kind of expected considering key people openly called it "rubbish" and "crap". Having said that, I'd prefer coming back to the old format but with having a super pole in Q3 instead of what we had.

I am almost surprised that they didn't go for a complete mock-up of it. The new knock-out for Q1. Last years Q2 and Super-Pole Q3. That would've been the typical way!