So F1 is considered boring. So bad that not even the BBC want it anymore.
So F1 powerbrokers go into panic mode for new regulations for 2017, which should have been set well before now, but no surprise aren’t. Worse still is their idea to enhance the qualifying experience that may even be introduced for 2016.
Where the previous qualifying formats were slightly improved with each tinker, the idea makers have gone a lot more out there with these rules, and as a result now have a complicated, dog’s breakfast of a proposal.
Here it is for those interested.
- Q1 is now 16 minutes
- The slowest driver is eliminated after seven minutes
- Then one will go every 90 seconds until seven drivers are out
- Q2 is now 15 minutes
- The slowest driver will be eliminated after six minutes
- Then one will go every 90 seconds until the end of the session
- That leaves eight drivers in final qualifying.
- Q3 will last for 14 minutes
- The slowest driver will be eliminated after five minutes
- Then one will go every 90 seconds until there are two drivers left
- There will then be a final 90-second shoot-out for pole position
Complicated? Of course it is. That’s what F1 does best – overcomplicate where they can.
So in the current format on TV it is near impossible for the TV to keep up with the action when the cars are all bunched together at the end making qualifying, so to have several cutoffs and multiple cars on the track at the same time will be akin to a cockroach race for broadcaster. Live timing will not just an addition but mandatory.
To be considered is that the final elimination in each session occurs when the relevant drivers pass the chequered flag, not when time is up. So how easy is that going to be to follow.
F1 drivers like Lewis Hamilton are already against, and at least with the Ham, he’s confident enough not to just poo-pooh the idea in case it affects his status as top dog. He knows it will be crap.
Maybe instead of tinkering with qualifying the boffins could have found a way to allow teams to improve instead of setting up the formula so the best engine is frozen in front, giving current competitors and potential new engine manufacturers no hope of catching up fully. All under the guise of cost cutting.
So, does qualifying really need to change, yes and no. Yes something needs to happen if Mercedes are to conquer every Saturday, but that is down to an overall competition issue not qualifying. No, as qualifying has been good thus far and the two cut-offs before the final shootout is a great format. All we need is another super compeditive car.
If we had a choice, the only change we would make is the final Q3 session is run as a Top Ten shoot out (similar to Bathurst 1000) where each car has just one lap to nail it. The cutoffs from the two previous sessions does not change. The running order of Q3 is determined by the aggregate of Q1 and Q2, and the driver gets to decide when they go. This is an improvement for a few reasons we’ve listed below.
- It will allow viewers to follow the best cars in Q3 one at a time, as currently TV are unable to keep up and coverage is awful.
- The one lap blast will allow for some mixing up of the top 10, as one mistake could ruin a lap, and with only one chance it’s all over.
- The running order of Q3 based on aggregate Q2 and Q1 times means those sessions have a little more use now, as they are not just to determine the slowest 6.
- To allow the running order to be decided by the driver instead of just fastest going last, will allow the best driver in Q1 and Q2 to get some reward and not to punish the fastest in times of wet weather or other changed track conditions.
But that is us, we’re quite simple, but in our opinion that’s what F1 needs – simple solutions, not more complications. How many races do commentators have to continually explain the technology or rules. As if anyone watching is joining for the first time given recent seasons.
Stay tuned for our thoughts on the first Testing session and other news.
Maybe they are looking for chaos in qualifying. All we see is pfffft.
UPDATED
The above qualifying system is so complicated, the timing system won’t be able to handle it until the Spanish GP. Merely confirming that folly of this rule change.
Start placing bets on whether it will happen at all, and how long it will last once it does.
