Disastrous New F1 Qualifying Format Is Coming Back For Next Race
The new-for-2016 F1 elimination-style qualifying format was introduced in Australia and, quite simply, bombed.
F1 teams and bosses agreed immediately after its debut to scrap it and return to the old, well-liked system. “Hurray”, we thought. Back to normality. But, this weird tale has taken another turn.
To recap: for this year a new format for qualifying has been brought in where after several minutes of running, drivers are eliminated every 90 seconds. Seven drivers drop out in Q1 and the same number in Q2, leaving eight to fight in Q3.
Running takes place for five minutes in the final session before drivers are eliminated every 90 seconds. The theory was that the top two drivers would fight for pole position in the final minute and a half but in Australia, this failed to happen.
Despite a frantic start to Q1 and Q2, the end of the sessions were dull, with drivers climbing out of their cars and watching as they dropped out. It was boring, uneventful and sparked outrage from drivers, fans and even the team bosses who ironically voted to introduce it.
Having said afterwards that it would be binned and the old format would return, Bernie Ecclestone now says the elimination-style system will remain for the next race.
The Bahrain Grand Prix, which takes place next weekend, will use the new format. Other options and possibilities will then be explored, from reverting to the old system to tweaking the new one.
Ecclestone told Reuters:
“The outcome I think is that we are going to stay as we are. After Bahrain, we’re going to have a look at it.”
The news emerged just one day after the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association complained about the “obsolete and ill-structured” rule-making process and urged owners and stakeholders to restructure its governance, after the “disruptive” introduction of several new rules.
Comments
Ahhhhhhhhh for crying out loud
Go home F1, you’re drunk.
Literally no one wants this setup except the governing board
Yeah, no one does.Not even the fans. Or the team bosses and drivers for that matter.
Cancel F1 already and rebuild it from scratch with a whole new management. It’s becoming a disgrace to everyone involved.
And V10’s, don’t forget the V10’s
I actually agree with this, cancel it completely and rebuild it from the ground up, no stupid regulations that give 20 place grid penalties, no more 2/3 teams controlling the whole grid because they have all the money and the engines and no more ridiculous qualifying ideas! Stick to the old ways
So it lools like we have to wait for Bernie to “dissapear” to have a proper F1.
No. Enough with this. It’s time for Bernie, Todt, and the FOM officials to step down. F1 is a great sport with amazing drivers and incredible venues, but it’s time for this management to be replaced. I’m not going to suggest anything crazy like bringing back V10s or putting heat seeking missile launchers on the cars, in fact I’m fine with the current engines. Technology is going that way, deal with it. But the management and decision making is so hopelessly broken. No, F1 isn’t dead, at least the sport itself certainly isn’t. But it needs a new management, a new plan, and for the teams and drivers to have more of a say. If the teams, drivers, and fans don’t like something, out it goes.
Seems to me like this is Bernie putting his middle finger up to the drivers after the letter. Basically it’s him making a power play to put the drivers in thier place and say it’s my sport I do what I like.
But you wouldn’t mind having the V10’s back would you?
I would love to have the good old screaming V10’s back
If somebody could successfully press charges against Bernie for once then we would all be free from the mockery he is making of F1 year after year…. hell, even he couldn’t even follow the rules when he ran his own team back in the 80s… just wrong man
Actually what F1 needs is cost reduction. These current units are too damn expensive and technically complicated.
If I take over FIA and become the president, you’ll become the FOM president. Couldn’t agree more with your comment 👏👏👏
They should at least try to adjust the knockout time differently for each track, like the knockout time should have the time of a quick tyre change+out-lap+full lap or if you are in the middle of a lap while your time is over the new time should be still valid. To mitigate the longer knockout time that this would have, just make it so the knockout takes out 2 car at a time… And maybe make something more special involving the 3 remaining cars like a Q4 or single lap battle.
It blows my mind when the bosses are WELL aware of how F1 is losing viewers and they are WELL aware of what viewers want yet they still do things that viewers don’t want to see…
These attempts to make F1 artificially more interesting do nothing but create bizarre stuf like this qualify system. They think making F1 is an “easy fix” when in reality it is much more of a strutctural issue. Teams, drivers and fans should have much more influence on F1 than they have now.
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