Aggregate qualifying finally axed

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An agreement between the teams at Monaco has finally given the unpopular two-session aggregate qualifying system the boot. As of the next round, the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, starting positions will be determined by a single qualifying session on Saturday where drivers will run with the same load of fuel they will start the race with.

To coin a phrase, this seems like a backwards step in the right direction. It will not confer a huge advantage on those teams who built cars with bigger fuel tanks this year, and it will allow us to know the grid on the Saturday before the race. On the other hand, it means a return to no F1 action on-track on Sunday morning before the race, and we will not get to see low-fuel qualifying laps that indicate how fast the cars really are. But the positives appear to outweigh the negatives.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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