I agree. I don't mind these sprint races, but if I want that sort of thing, I can go do a daily race. The 30-lapper we had at Interlagos a few seasons ago was something I'll remember. This, probably not so much.
I'm not a fan of the longer qualifying. I think you're right. The ability to get one great lap is not the same as the ability to maintain a consistent race pace. Mostly, though, it just seems like a dull way to spend time we could be using for real racing.
Is this a real concern in your lobbies? Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've never come across any trolls in my lobbies. Aggressive and bad drivers, sure, but nobody being intentionally nasty. I'm well aware that they exist, but it isn't something I've experienced enough to worry about it.
We've had the longer qualifying sessions for those RA-72 races -- Watkins Glen and Eiger Nordwand. I missed the first, but when I did the second, I had plenty of space in qualifying. No trolls. Plenty of time to exit out the pits and start over again if I got caught up in traffic.