New qualifying

[J.Clark]

This will be a bit difficult for the fans, especially those who are more-or-less 'casual' fans who don't actually keep track of things.

I do find it an interesting proposition to the drivers however, and teams.

It will not allow the big hitters to sit in the garage for the first 80% of Q1 and Q2.  They will need a competitive time early on and not just wait until just enough time to set one quick lap and move on to the next session.  That is something the fans will like because it will mean the factory boys and others in the upper mid-field will be on track more.

I get it.

I actually think it could produce the occasional instance of a front runner starting near the rear.  A wet qualifying session will almost always be affected by the change.

[lkjohnson1950]

You don't generally win new fans and recapture old ones by making F1 more complicated and difficult to understand.

[Jericoke]

You don't generally win new fans and recapture old ones by making F1 more complicated and difficult to understand.

I think this is about increasing the show on Saturdays.  At the track during qualifying there can be long lulls in the 'action'.  The top teams wait for the track to warm up/rubber in, put in a fast lap and that's it.  People paying for fancy seats aren't there to watch their favourite driver turn in 3 hot laps, they want to see race cars on the race track.

It's not about the TV audience, but it IS about casual fans at the race track wondering where the race cars are.

Ultimately, I don't think that casual fans are going to be turned off by a complex qualifying system any more than they're going to be turned off by 5 minutes of 'qualifying' that features a backmarker warming up tires.

And dedicated fans will have something to talk about when Ferrari blows their strategy and Vettel doesn't bank a time because he was held up by an MRT car.

On paper it's a mess, but I the more I think about it, it's a win for fans at the track, it's a win for race promoters, it's a win for casual fans and I think it will be a win for people who want to talk about what's happening. 

The only people who lose out are the ones who think F1 is only about the fastest car, period.

[J.Clark]

I just read an article in Crash.net that implementation will be delayed until they return to Barcelona and begin the European rounds.  Evidently, the software for this system won't be ready before then.

[John S]

I just read an article in Crash.net that implementation will be delayed until they return to Barcelona and begin the European rounds.  Evidently, the software for this system won't be ready before then.

If that's the case wouldn't it make sense to leave the introduction until Monaco so the teams can get a bit of practice with the new format and software at the post Spanish GP test on 17/18th May.

[Scott]

http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/35677549

[cosworth151]

It looks like this hot mess is back on for Melbourne.   

http://www.racer.com/f1/item/126646-revised-knockout-qualifying-to-proceed

[Jericoke]

It looks like this hot mess is back on for Melbourne.   

http://www.racer.com/f1/item/126646-revised-knockout-qualifying-to-proceed

I'm glad they're not changing it mid season.

I'm curious to see if/how it works.

It will cause confusion, and that's where interesting things can happen.

[Andy B]

If it ain't broke don't fix it especially at the last minute! 

[Jericoke]

If it ain't broke don't fix it especially at the last minute! 

It is broken though.  In Montreal at least, there were far more people at the race than qualifying.

If the promoters pay a fixed fee to host a race, the best way they can offset costs is to sell more tickets.  Race day sells out fine, but practise and qualifying days are harder sells.   They have to try something, because the promoters need to sell tickets (and beers and tshirts)

[Ian]

They didn't get much money out of me at Monza. 

[Scott]

Trying anything and trying this are not quite the same.  At the track the last thing you need to do is make it even more complicated.  Trying to keep things sorted out watching a big screen with very little audio is tough enough, but adding a rule that adds confusion (as you are watching for your favourite car to come by, and suddenly it doesn't is not going to make the track fans more interested). 

Thumbs down on this one.

Luckily Ian is such a good looker that all the beer he drank was free from the portly Italian barkeep at the track.  So funny watching them flirt with each other with no idea of each other's language. 

[Jericoke]

Trying anything and trying this are not quite the same.  At the track the last thing you need to do is make it even more complicated.  Trying to keep things sorted out watching a big screen with very little audio is tough enough, but adding a rule that adds confusion (as you are watching for your favourite car to come by, and suddenly it doesn't is not going to make the track fans more interested). 

Thumbs down on this one.

Luckily Ian is such a good looker that all the beer he drank was free from the portly Italian barkeep at the track.  So funny watching them flirt with each other with no idea of each other's language. 

What other suggestions are there to keep cars on the track during qualifying though?  Go back to single car timed laps?

Qualifying works fine on TV when there are people talking over the empty track, but like you point out when you're at the track, if there are no cars, there is nothing going on.  We've all seen over the last few years cars are being more and more conservative when it comes to running qualifying laps.  We also know that the most exciting part of qualifying is when the clock has run out and we see who has made it and who hasn't.  They're adding several of these moments to each qualifying (so yes, my concern about this format is eliminating a car on hot lap removes that tension somewhat)

Okay, yes, there's one other suggestion that will encourage more action during qualifying:  get rid of the engine limits.  Let teams go through as many engines as they wish, if you go all out in Q and burn out your engine, then great, the fans got a show, and you put in a fresh one for the race.

[Ian]

Bueno Scott. 

[Scott]

I've always suggested heat races on Saturday to set the Sunday grid.  Just as a suggestion, take the top and last 5 finishers from the previous race for one heat, and the rest for the 2nd.  Reverse the order from the previous finishing order.  But they could mix up the grids anyway they liked.  Give the fans a couple Saturday races (even 10-15 laps each) and a Sunday race and I guarantee the fans will fill the stands and be in front of the TV's. 

Let the teams bring plenty of spare parts and ditch parc ferme rules so they have time to fix the cars before Sunday if they crash. 

...and yes, ditch the stupid engine/transmission/ERS etc restriction rules.  There have been enough articles written suggesting the R&D required to build 4 race engines per season far outweighs the cost of casting and building a few more clones.