New qualifying format...

[Vasconia]

A theoretically interesting(good?) idea but with so many aspects to be clarified which will irremediably bring some controversy and discussion. Who is going to understand this? are the spectators going to understand this?

[bonjon1979]

... I really don't think we're going to see people running through all over qualy as some are suggesting. Teams will go out and set fast times and only those on the edge of elimination will be going again and again to try to make sure they're not the ones knocked out...

I'll say it one last time: The rules will enforce this.

...drivers must be on track throughout each part* until they get knocked out.

* - By "each part" they mean each session: Q1, Q2, or Q3.d the above quote... )

EDIT: Sorry, I think I misinterpreted the top quoted text but I see some people are still missing it.

You can say it, Autosport can say it, I don't see anything official requiring the cars to be on track at all times. I think that we'll see a very similar situation to the one we have with cars darting in for new tyres, waiting, then going for a banzai. The most obvious reason for them not being on track at all times is the fact that the teams would run out of tyres. If they were constantly running at qualifying speed for 16 minutes, 15 minutes and then 14 minutes there'd be no rubber left.

[ChrisDanger]

You can say it, Autosport can say it, I don't see anything official requiring the cars to be on track at all times. I think that we'll see a very similar situation to the one we have with cars darting in for new tyres, waiting, then going for a banzai. The most obvious reason for them not being on track at all times is the fact that the teams would run out of tyres. If they were constantly running at qualifying speed for 16 minutes, 15 minutes and then 14 minutes there'd be no rubber left.

Sure, okay, I see the FIA document doesn't explicitly state this, and was possibly incorrectly inferred by autosport.

[dot235]

So basically what it means, majority of the cars will set a time in the first 7 minutes and happily return to their garages for a nap waiting for all this circus to pass.


Oh, and what if someone is on a faster lap than the second last driver, but doesn't exactly cross the finish line before that stupid knock-out timer expires yet the session itself is still very much in the progress? The slower car gets to start the race ahead of him then? Oh how smart.

[bonjon1979]

So basically what it means, majority of the cars will set a time in the first 7 minutes and happily return to their garages for a nap waiting for all this circus to pass.

Yeah, kind of what happens at the moment. Until the knockout start begins. When it's wet, when one of the top teams has a nightmare start to q1 or a problem getting the car going then they might be hurt but ultimately the top cars shouldn't be too worried by the new rules. In final qualifying then cars will set an initial first time. Those who want to save tyres will leave it later than those with lots of sets. Teams will be able to manage three runs but I imagine most will only go for two. Cars who near the drop zone when the timer kicks in might be able to squeeze in another run.

[bonjon1979]

So basically what it means, majority of the cars will set a time in the first 7 minutes and happily return to their garages for a nap waiting for all this circus to pass.


Oh, and what if someone is on a faster lap than the second last driver, but doesn't exactly cross the finish line before that stupid knock-out timer expires yet the session itself is still very much in the progress? The slower car gets to start the race ahead of him then? Oh how smart.

Indeed! I imagine their time won't even be displayed though to stop us all realising how farcical that would be!

[dans79]

But this is not qualifying... It's a time trial... A time trial is where you try to not make any mistakes, but drive neither too fast nor too slow. The proposal is exactly that.

Might as well call it a time trial session...

I agree the whole idea is utterly stupid. Who ever came up with this should be drug out into the street and flogged.

Those who want this to mix up the grid to add drama, should go watch desperate house wives or one of the many other contrived reality shows and leave F1 to the real race fans!

[hollus]

Well, I won't be the end of the world, I guess. It will be confusing and the tire usage rules to go with this will be several pages long, but in the end we'll have something a bit similar to what we have now, only that many cars will qualify 2-3 positions away from their real rank, and that is a good thing IMO (being totally random would be bad, though). And in every race there will be 1 or 2 cars totally out of place, which might also be good as long as it comes with moderation.
But I think there is yet another aspect that hasn't been though through: the stewards will have to decide on corner cutting and driver blocking all the time on all cars and they'll have to take their decisions within 90 seconds max, ideally even less, because after that time irreversible decisions will have been made. Now that's going to be fun!

[henry]

After a few races with a frisson of uncertainty all the teams will figure out how to optimise their opportunities based on their position in the performance pecking order. Then same old, same old. In the meantime more confusion and uncertainty. A sure fire recipe for an improved spectator offering.

[djos]

The thing that annoys me the most Is we finally got some real qually tires and now this stupid system comes in and basically renders them useless!

<long string of extremely rude expletives>

[notsofast]

This new format penalizes the slower teams. The faster teams can put in a banker lap right away and then wait in the garage until (close to) the end of the session. The slower teams will have no choice but to stay on track to avoid being caught out in this game of musical chairs.

[BanMeToo]

This idea is thoroughly bad. F1's qualifying format is solid and doesn't need a change. Especially not one like this.

[RicME85]

It works on some video racing games as 'eliminator races' but I cannot see it working in the real world for qualifying. Just awful messing for the sake if it. Rather than trying to appeal to the plebs who complain about F1 being boring and complicated could we not just shoot them all instead and leave F1 alone from constant rule changes?

[mika vs michael]

I watch F1 since early 90's and I still can't figure out why the f1 bosses keep messing the sport so much.

[jetho]

How on earth do these "experts" always mange to fix or improve something that is totally fine. What on earth was wrong with the old format? It was simple and a good mix between time trial and entertainment (at least imo).

A more general thing that is anoying me, is that they waste time and energy in developing such bs ideas, while they keep doging the real problems. I find this seriously f-ing frustraiting.