Why we the fans and F1 drivers love qualifying

[John S]

It's summed up perfectly by Brendan Hartley here :-

"The 100-kg fuel tank is emptied to all but fumes as you cross the finish line, engine turned up to 11, aerodynamics and downforce settings maximised and sticky tyres that have one lap of pure performance.
"It takes a lifetime of preparing and honing your skills to put an F1 car close to - and sometimes over - its limits in qualifying. That's the feeling I will never forget, and one I know I'm privileged to have in my memory bank.
"F1 cars broke most track records in 2018 and with constant regulation changes it's possible F1 will never be as quick again.
"Another way I try to describe the forces to people is through load on the neck. We are pulling around 5 Gs every time we hit the brake pedal and yank on the steering wheel, that's equivalent to about 35 kilograms of force on the head with each movement.
"It's only the long straights that we get a chance to breathe, although there are gear changes and the thousands of potential setting changes (via buttons and rotaries on the steering wheel) to adjust, which fill that time up pretty quickly.
"When I think of a pure thrill, I think of quali in F1."

from 'Qualifying... the ultimate thrill in F1' courtesy Pitpass.com, 31 Jan.

  Now that's what I call brilliant copy from Driver and F1 news site.