The end of qualifying?

[Andy B]

So Trulli thinks that qualifying could be over after the way Turkey went, he states that with some only doing a single run in Q3 and Massa not only doing a single run but not doing a second even though he had not set a time in the first.

I think he may have a point I used to enjoy the "shoot out" for pole  but it has become quite tame for the sake of the racing. If we are to have tyres that degrade to such a degree then should they not be supplied with one or two sets more to allow for the degradation and for qualifying to continue as it should. They can always take a set or two away after Q3?

Where do we go from here, if a driver has a poor run in Q3 does he then pit and not complete the lap then park the car up?
Who will want Saturday tickets if the cars are not going to run? Much!!

Its all very well changing the tyre specifications for the racing but the rules need to be tweaked to accommodated them in qualifying.

[John S]

I think Jarno is a secret member of GPWizard
We have been discussing this subject for a few days, from about halfway through this other thread. 

http://www.gpwizard.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=13262.0

and previous to the race in this thread.

http://www.gpwizard.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=13233.0

In fact Stephano must also be keeping an eye on us at GPWizard as Massa took David's advice and stayed in the garage for Q3.       

Trulli has raised the same issues, he's right though it sure is something that they need to look at - and Pronto!

- How cool does that make all of us then?      Sub Zero, to coin a 'Top Gear' phrase. 



 

[Jericoke]

Instead of messing with the tire allowance, which is in there for cost reasons, a simple rule tweak could make quali interesting again:  only allow 'scrubbed' tires to be used in the race.  No longer will tires be saved for the race... and if you crash out in practise or quali, you're really behind the 8 ball.

It forces cars to participate in practice and quali, giving promoters the spectacle they desire.

[andyb]

To be honest i have never been a fan of qualifying. It's the race that matters, the race I personally like watching and the race you get points for.
The lack of qualifying runs to save tyres etc has only improved the spectacle on Sunday's in my opinion. It makes strategy so crucial and keeps us all guessing right till the end about the result. I love it!!

Who would have ever predicted Webber would make third and be less than 10 seconds off the lead at China??

Andy

[Jericoke]

To be honest i have never been a fan of qualifying. It's the race that matters, the race I personally like watching and the race you get points for.
The lack of qualifying runs to save tyres etc has only improved the spectacle on Sunday's in my opinion. It makes strategy so crucial and keeps us all guessing right till the end about the result. I love it!!

Who would have ever predicted Webber would make third and be less than 10 seconds off the lead at China??

Andy

1)  Promoters sell tickets to Quali.  Bernie's fees aren't going down... without Quali, ticket prices are going up.  Quali does need to be fixed for the health of the sport.

2)  When I started watching F1, they had one hour, 12 total lap qualifying.  There were no budget limitations.  No tire limitations.  No engine limitations.  (How often did Ferrari use 3 engines per driver per weekend!?)  At the end of qualifying the cars would be stripped down, rebuilt to the point where the car that qualified was at best a second cousin to the one that lined up on the grid.  It was expensive as hell and it was exciting, it was nailbiting, and often more so than the race itself. 

Bring some of that back.

[David]

How about this for an idea? Cut quli down to two rounds. First all the cars go out for 20-30mins as usual. The fastest 10 cars go through to the pole shoot out the rest start as they finish. However this is the twist, go back to the old system of each car gets one fast lap on a clear track (with KERS, DRS and fumes in the tank) so we get to see who really has the fastest package. I love the idea of seeing who can cope with the pressure and put in a stonker, plus it would save on the tyres.

[Scott]

Got my vote David - that'd be fun.   

[John S]

Sounds mighty good to me as well David.    The only thing I would add is a 3 place grid drop if you're a no show in final Quali, whether by choice or car breakdown. 

[Andy B]

No no no no
Single lap qualifying was soooooooooooooooo boring it nearly drove me away from F1.
I like the format as it is although the old days were better, but a tweak is needed to get it back on track. Pun intended!!

[Scott]

David's format with Jeri's rule about only scrubbed tires allowed for the race.   

[John S]

No no no no
Single lap qualifying was soooooooooooooooo boring it nearly drove me away from F1.
I like the format as it is although the old days were better, but a tweak is needed to get it back on track. Pun intended!!

Any change to the format in the current year must have the approval of all teams so any change for this season must be a compromise, since it's only the last part Q3 that needs sorting qualis 1 & 2 can stay the same.

Sure a longer term solution can be found but already they are only going out for one run in Q3 and sometimes not at all, so single lap runs as David suggests in just that final part would mean we get action throughout the time period.

Only tweaking Q3 will not require any additional costs for extra tyres and therefore small teams wont vote it down if proposed for this season. The Big teams and midfielders should be happy because they know they only need to use one set of softs in Q3.

[Andy B]

I have to disagree I want to see all ten cars on the track battling for pole and if it were to change to single lap for the top ten I would not bother to watch it.
As I said one car on 2.5 miles of track is boring it would be like going to a musical and all the individual parts sung seperately.

[John S]

Yeah but we don't get 10 cars battling on track currently with the way the teams save tyres. I'd rather have a full concert too, but 10 unplugged solos may be better than a limp group effort where half of them are not playing. 

[Andy B]

That's why they have to treak the rules I remember in the distant past they tweaked the rules over qualifying to ensure cars ran on the track, I cannot remember why they did it but they were told they had to do a minimum number of laps.

Oh! Bring back Sunday morning warm up too!!

[Jericoke]

That's why they have to treak the rules I remember in the distant past they tweaked the rules over qualifying to ensure cars ran on the track, I cannot remember why they did it but they were told they had to do a minimum number of laps.

Oh! Bring back Sunday morning warm up too!!

Minimum laps would be a bad idea.  After Vettel sets his pole time, he could easily go out for a leisurely lap, call it another attempt and not be penalised for blocking.

Unless... your pole time is the average of your best x laps (4?).  If you set less than x, then your average will be pathetic.  It adds tension, because it's not about one perfect lap now, but x.  I believe Indy 500 qualifying is an average, so it's not all that foreign a concept for motorsports.