[TheF1Engineer]

I think any qualifying suggestion has to take into account the sporting practicalities, the commercial practicalities and, unfortunately, the political practicalities of Formula 1.

For those reasons, here is my suggestion, in a headline, for a qualifying format idea;

1.) 12-laps of qualifying over 1 hour.
2.) 4x 12mins mini-sessions (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4), with a 3-4mins break in-between.
3.) NO eliminations. NO knock-outs. NO running order. Drivers CAN finish a lap they’ve started.
4.) EVERY driver does a single-lap run in EVERY mini-session.
5.) ALL lap-times count towards a final overall lap-time. Those who don’t run are given a penalty lap-time.
6.) Fastest starts first. Slowest start’s last.

For those who are interested, here is a more detailed description as to why I think this would work;

1.) The 4x 12mins mini-sessions keep things short, sharp and exciting. They also allow for teams to turnaround/improve cars session > session, and for TV to breakaway for adverts and/or titbits of analysis. They also set a provisional grid session > session, so should we get a downpour for example, a grid is already set.

2.) Never been a fan of elimination-qualifying, and I’ve grown to not become a fan of knock-outs either. The thing is, whichever format you have, the slowest guys are always going to be at the back aren’t they? A knock-out system doesn’t change that, so what’s the point in having it? We might aswell have ALL cars out on circuit as much as possible, getting them as much TV time as possible, and helping these guys to actually survive.

3.) Obviously, if you’re therefore not going to knock drivers out, you need some other “deterrent,” and this is where the “single-lap” together with the “ALL lap times count towards your final lap-time” comes in. We all know the merits and pit-falls of single-lap qualifying, but under this system, you get all of it’s benefits, and none of it’s downfalls. You still get the pressure, excitement and adrenaline of the single-lap, BUT, they take place inside 4 mini-sessions, so the effects of rain, track improvement etc are negligable. Also, there’s no running order, so it’s completely fair to all.

4.) Carrying on from the above point, obviously a big PRO for single-lap qualifying was the fact of guaranteed TV coverage. It might seem like this system stomps all over that, but, if you remember back to the “old” 12-lap qualifying hours, you’ll remember the small teams went out first, and the big teams went out last. It’s almost an unwritten rule in F1, and this is partly because the smaller teams KNOW they aren’t going to get Pole, so they go out early when the track is empty to maximise their opportunity for their optimum lap-time, but also because this gives their sponsors advertising visibility. Under this system, the exact same would happen. At the start of the session, the small teams go out, at the end, the big guys go out. The small teams get their visibility up front, only now it’s multiplied across 4 sessions, and the big guys get there’s at the end. This naturally gives you your crescendo too.

5.) As we’re doing 4x single-lap qualifying runs, you only need 4 qualifying tyres from your total allocation of 13 sets for the weekend, so it slots in with the current tyre rules rather nicely.

My final point is really more of a summary. F1 trying to mix up the grids through qualifying is fundamentally wrong. Qualifying is about driver and car being on the absolute limit, on that knife-edge between setting their ultimate lap-time, or sticking it in the barrier. That is what this qualifying system achieves.

Any attempts to mix up the race, should, in my view, be done with rules on “race start tyres.” Starting the top 5 on a “used” set of the softest compound for that particular race weekend for example, would drop them back into the pack inside a handful (maybe 2) of laps, and from there, you then have your jumbled up running order. This same rule could extend in a pro-rata fashion down the grid, so positions 6>10 start on a “used” version of the middle compound tyre for that weekend, and positions 11>22 get free choice.

There are numerous variants of that kind of rule which you could play around with, but the premise is solid.

So, the above is how I would sort out qualifying (and spice up the grand’s prix). Apologies for the dissertation, but sometimes I think it helps to explain WHY, as opposed to just writing a concept.

I hope you guys agree :).

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