Qualifying... a challenge....

[Warmwater]

Ciao
A plea...
My poor brain is turning to mush. Please help.
As a devout follower of F! for decades, I have witnessed many changes and supposed improvements to "the pinnacle of racing". In recent years (relatively) these changes seem to have been manipulated to increase cash injection to specific bank accounts, in accordance with the 1990's credo of "greed is good". But I digress.

In my opinion, not especially expert, qualifying is the worst aspect of F1 "racing", as Stirling Moss said in the 1950's "if you start at the front, the race is mostly won"... or something to that effect. It is more relevant now than it was then.
It is relatively easy to predict the outcome of a race by studying the qualifying times tempered with a little wisdom (ala Wizzo). Qualifying is just a way of stacking the deck. Qualifying is not what it is meant to be, after all everyone gets to start.

At the expense of adding a day of nonsense, they should just draw straws or pick cards to establish the grid starting order. That would definitely make races more interesting....... No?

[Dare]

The idea of a reverse grid sounds interesting
but what would stop teams from sandbagging?
If they did how could you prove it and what could
you do about it.

I agree though with these new rules I fear the
boring races are here  again.

Just a after thought but its bad when you miss a
race and when you ask about it you hear it was good
for  10 laps or so

[Canada Darrell™]

The idea of a reverse grid sounds interesting
but what would stop teams from sandbagging?

For me, the answer is simple....flip a coin after every qualifying session..."heads we start as-is, tails we reverse the grid"
That way the teams don't really know whats going to happen!
Talk about a great TV event too! I can just pictures all the drivers in a big circle and then clamoring for position to see the outcome of the coin toss!!! 

[Jericoke]

Bernie's plan is to have a pretty girl do the grid lottery.

In terms of value for the fans, qualifying is a good show... in fact, it's probably a better show than the race - there's genuine strategy and tension.  Taking that away won't make F1 a better package.

The reverse grid is the best way to produce spectacle.  I think the biggest change it would make is that the 'top' teams would stop blocking rule changes that encourage passing  (why would the top team want passing to be easier!?).

The problem is of course, sandbagging, why go out of your way to qualify first, when it means you start dead last?  I see two possible solutions:  points for qualifying.  It would be tough to balance them out, but it could be done.

The other solution I propose is to completely revise the points system.  No longer is the winner the car that crosses the finish line first.  I suggest that the winner is the driver who passes the most cars.  As such, starting in last place would be a huge advantage, and teams will go out of their way to ensure the rules encourage passing:  you can't win without it.  There will be plenty of strategy, as having a pitstop isn't a great loss, but rather an opportunity to place a car with sticky tires into traffic.  Having the best car will still help, but there will be a greater emphasis on driver skill.

[SennaMan]

The idea of a reverse grid sounds interesting
but what would stop teams from sandbagging?
If they did how could you prove it and what could
you do about it.

I agree though with these new rules I fear the
boring races are here  again.

Just a after thought but its bad when you miss a
race and when you ask about it you hear it was good
for  10 laps or so

well one way Dare is just use the finishing order of the last race.

that should get rid of any 'sandbagging' don't you think?

[fredsone]

...qualifying is a good show... in fact, it's probably a better show than the race - there's genuine strategy and tension.  Taking that away won't make F1 a better package.

[fredsone]

Oops, wrong button, I forgot to add a comment. 

I think qualifying is generally the closest F1 comes to having an actual race (except when it rains).  I mean (as with the WRC) while they cars all are all racing the clock, they are actually having a real attempt, they are really trying during qualifying.

As for race day.....  well the drivers and teams do in put lots of effort, but are they actually racing.... really? 

I get they are competing but are they racing?  That is, I think that in order to race you must also compete, but to compete you don’t necessarily have to race (just run your strategy and get as many points as possible for each race/competition day).

And reverse or mixed starting grids, while it does produce added excitement history has shown us that it also results in a lot more wrecked cars (exciting for some, but very expensive and I want to see racing).

For me the boredom of the F1 Racing appears to be the result of a departure from F1´s original (historic) format/structure.  F1 was once the best people using the best gear they could make and their machinery and tactics were not exactly the same.  Now it is the best people using the best gear they are allowed by a rule book that appears to be written to ensure revenue streams are protected/enhanced.

It must be possible to allow for some variation in the machinery (and therefore also tactics) without significantly adding to the cost.  As an example, allowing teams to use normally aspirated engines or turbo chargers on a smaller engine and/or allowing one size of tyres in conjunction with the current wing restrictions or bigger tyres with a smaller wings etc etc etc.  Then allow the teams to mix and match what they think will produce the best car for the season.
 
Perhaps this would result in the respective car configurations demonstrating differing levels of performance at a given area of a track and also at different tracks.

[John S]

As for race day.....  well the drivers and teams do in put lots of effort, but are they actually racing.... really? 

I get they are competing but are they racing?  That is, I think that in order to race you must also compete, but to compete you don’t necessarily have to race (just run your strategy and get as many points as possible for each race/competition day).

From what I saw of the last race where we saw many cars coming out of the pits just inches ahead or behind others, desperate to keep or gain a places, shows that they are racing each other. Also the use of different strategies we saw in Aus & Sepang can only work out to your advantage if you truly are racing each other.

I think the kind of racing you are refering to is the close quarter racing in the IRL, Touring cars or lower formulae open seaters. F1 has never really been  close quarters stuff for the whole race, although most of the historic clips that we see appear to show it was. I would go so far as saying most GPs over the years involve battles between small groups of cars or drivers, with various battles taking place throughout the field between silmilary performing drivers and cars on the day, so no change there then.

The biggest difference I can find between todays cars and previous decades is the reliability, time was you could run your car a bit off the pace to preserve it and wait for others ahead to break down, not anymore; surely then we have real racing now.

[Jericoke]

The biggest difference I can find between todays cars and previous decades is the reliability, time was you could run your car a bit off the pace to preserve it and wait for others ahead to break down, not anymore; surely then we have real racing now.

Tell that to Vettel after Bahrain, or Alonso after Malaysia 

I'm sort of wondering about this 7 engine rule now though.  On one level I think it's absurd for the 'top level' motorsport to try and conserve their motors.  BUT, I'm starting to think that there's plenty of strategy to be had there.  Sure, it's artificial, but how many engines has Alonso already used?  He's going to have to tippy toe around a few races, or essentially become part of a reversed grid.  If some of the low mileage backmarker teams can get their chassis up to speed, they might find themselves with strong engines available at the end of the season, and in a position to be truly competitive.

That's strategy.

[FW14B]

Some interesting ideas there Jeri, I like the sound of what you suggest!  It would be very interesting if those scenarios play out this year.