New F1 Qualifying Format for 2016.

[Furinkazen]

Didn't see this coming.

 

[GTPorsche]

Well, if anything, it'll eliminate sessions where nothing happens for 80% of the time and everyone waits to the end to go out on track.

 

[Famine]

Didn't see this coming.

I think after Bernie's tantrum yesterday where he proposed reverse grids, a slightly less unpalatable version was inevitable.

Didn't expect it to be this fast though

 

[Robin]

Sounds awesome, picking them off one by one. This way they have to stay out and gun it for the whole of the session rather than doing tactical stuff which is usually boring (not going out till the last minute, not going out at all, waiting for less traffic, waiting for weather etc etc).

 

[Eva]

I like it, it's gimmicky in a good way. It only makes it more encouraging to use every possible second of qualifying, which actually will make me want to watch it now.

 

[Roo]

This way they have to stay out and gun it for the whole of the session rather than doing tactical stuff which is usually boring

Will they, though? The tail enders of any session will have to, sure - but the fastest cars can wait for the first however many minutes, set a mighty time and then sit in the pits. It won't change anything bar the last few minutes of Q3.

Edit: If they have to be on track, the fastest cars will do one or two laps and then trundle around saving tyres. It'll also give the quickest cars more opportunities to get through if they make a mistake, as they'll have more laps to make up for it.

I think this might mix the mid-grid order sometimes, but overall I think it will reduce the chance of a jumbled grid - and jumbled grids almost always produce good races as the fastest cars come through the pack.

I'll reserve judgement on this new format until I've seen it in action though.

 

[sems4arsenal]

Sounds good actually (on paper atleast). Will be confusing to the viewers for the first few times.

 

[Tornado]

I'm kinda confused. It sounds like they want the drivers go out and do hotlaps until they are eliminated?

 

[Pezzarinho17]

Good that we will see cars on track throughout the hour, but I just hope spectators are kept well informed of what is going on. I'm glad that something as drastic as this change is actually being discussed and chanced.

 

[Com Fox]

This will add a lot of action, and I see this to be benefitial for the actual racing on where you have to start since you have to battle traffic throughout Qualifying.

I also love Elimination style racing/qualifying, this will be exciting to watch. As long as the winner isn't predictable but they'll still be predictable

 

[Liquid]

Hello, Toca Shootout.

 

[ECGadget]

Not sure what to make of this. On one side this should be fun. On the other side, if this is happening they need qualifying tyre sets to avoid making a mess of the race.

 

[Aloha62_2]

Uhm... what?

'Hey guys the racing is dull, half the teams don't have sponsors and many fans now can't watch because of paywalls. What can we do?'
'Add musical chairs to qualifying?'
'Genius!'

 

[sems4arsenal]

Not sure what to make of this. On one side this should be fun. On the other side, if this is happening they need qualifying tyre sets to avoid making a mess of the race.

Is there any word if they'll get extra sets? surely they'll need one since you'd probably need to always be on track.

 

[ECGadget]

Is there any word if they'll get extra sets? surely they'll need one since you'd probably need to always be on track.

Not that I know of. But it hasn't been finalised yet, so I assume that they shall have it ready by the meeting on the 4th of March

 

[sems4arsenal]

With regards to the thread title, my understanding is this is not final. Probably will on March 4th.

 

[mustafur]

This will shake things up badly imo, especially considering alot of tracks are over 90 seconds long.

 

[Robin]

Will they, though? The tail enders of any session will have to, sure - but the fastest cars can wait for the first however many minutes, set a mighty time and then sit in the pits. It won't change anything bar the last few minutes of Q3.

Edit: If they have to be on track, the fastest cars will do one or two laps and then trundle around saving tyres. It'll also give the quickest cars more opportunities to get through if they make a mistake, as they'll have more laps to make up for it.

It's currently a bit ambiguous but the way I have read it is that all cars have to be going fast at all times because, apart from initial few minutes of each session, every 90 seconds whoever is slowest at that point is eliminated.

 

[Legro]

This might actually be more interesting than the races themselves. Either way it cannot possibly make the weekends worse in terms of excitement, so I'm cautiously looking forward to see how it'll go.

 

[TRGTspecialist]

Oh for god's sake - putting the idea itself to one side for a moment, have they actually agreed to change qualifying, the ONE THING that isn't broken, that people aren't complaining about, and isn't a key part of the many many problems the sport does face?

You couldn't make it up. An excellent parody of F1 governance......

 

[catamount39]

Formula 1 and NASCAR are now equal in terms of joke factor. THANKS A LOT FOM/FIA/BERNIE/F1 Teams! 🤬

 

[mustafur]

Oh for god's sake - putting the idea itself to one side for a moment, have they actually agreed to change qualifying, the ONE THING that isn't broken, that people aren't complaining about, and isn't a key part of the many many problems the sport does face?

You couldn't make it up. An excellent parody of F1 governance......

The reason something like could pass rather then something to do with the car is it would have little to do with effecting someones competitiveness, so there is no self interest confliction.

Formula 1 and NASCAR are now equal in terms of joke factor. THANKS A LOT FOM/FIA/BERNIE/F1 Teams! 🤬

Even though it's radical I don't really think it comes off as gimmicky.

This will have the biggest effect when there is weather, or if there is big track evolution happening.

 

[Marqus]

My heart will go out to all those drivers who'll have their perfect laps ruined by continuous traffic.

 

[Robin]

We actually could end up with slower teams appearing regularly in high qualifying spots, I don't think that's so much of a bad thing.

 

[sems4arsenal]

My heart will go out to all those drivers who'll have their perfect laps ruined by continuous traffic.

That's the thing though, nobody can afford to have a slow lap.

In theory, only the eliminated driver will be not doing a Quali lap so the traffic should not be an issue.

 

[Samus]

It's certainly not the worst idea they've come up with in the last decade. They rightly haven't tinkered with Quali in many years because they hit upon a great formula but I have to admit the last few years it has been losing it's excitement, with the first 3-4 minutes of each session wasted and Q3 more often than not being a damp squib.

I think it's worth giving this a try, if it doesn't work they can always revert.

 

[Northstar]

Formula 1 and NASCAR are now equal in terms of joke factor. THANKS A LOT FOM/FIA/BERNIE/F1 Teams! 🤬

It's not quite there yet as they haven't sold naming rights to their gimmicks.... yet.

(Watch, tomorrow they will announce the "Mobil 1 DRS Zone")

 

[GTracer38]

It will be especially interesting at Spa (and other longer tracks). Each session has, basically, a one shot quali at the start. Big chance for an upset result there.

That said, I thought the current format was fine.

 

[JBF77]

What's with all the complaining??? Seems like it could certainly spice things up a little!!

 

[GTPorsche]

What's with all the complaining??? Seems like it could certainly spice things up a little!!

People don't like change, especially when it hasn't been seen yet.