FOTA to discuss new qualifying format

By Michele Lostia and Pablo ElizaldeFriday, November 21st 2008, 09:35 GMT

The Formula One Teams' Association, FOTA, will discuss a new qualifying format for the sport when the body meets next month.
FOTA is looking to spice up qualifying, currently divided in three sessions, two of them including a knockout system.
The new idea to be looked at consists of all cars jumping onto the track at the same time and with the same amount of fuel, with the slowest driver being eliminated after each lap.
After 14 laps, the six fastest drivers would then fight for pole position, fitting new tyres but still using the same amount of fuel.
The proposal might even include a championship point for pole position and prize money.
The current format, where the ten quickest drivers fight for the top spot in the final session with an amount of fuel decided by the teams, often sees pole position going to a car that's lighter than the rest.
FOTA will meet on December 4 and if the proposed format is agreed upon by all teams, it is expected to be submitted to the FIA for approval.

tbh its fine as it is

I got a chance to see the qualifying session for the Surfer's Paradise round of the IRL this year and it seems pretty interesting. A suggestion for F1 (borrowing very heavily from IRL) would be:

Part 1:
This is split into two 15 minute sessions with half of the field in each session. The drivers in each session are drawn at random.

Part 2:
The slowest half of each of the sessions from part 1 go into another 15 minute session to decide the back of the grid.

Part 3:
The fastest half of each of the sessions from part 1 go into another 15 minute session to decide the front half of the grid.

There are no limits on fuel in any of the parts, the only limitation on tyres is the current one (i.e. 7 sets per weekend or whatever the allocation is).

the idea of FOTA means there are only 3-5 sec gap between each cars....

Quote from scania :

The new idea to be looked at consists of all cars jumping onto the track at the same time and with the same amount of fuel, with the slowest driver being eliminated after each lap.

I actually like this idea.

Do it in reversed championship order (the championship leader goes out last, the last-placed driver in the championship goes out first) and it's even better.

My reading of the idea is that it would be a fourteen lap race with Burnout-style eliminations. Could be pretty amusing!

well... at Spa it could be a whole sprintrace considering that it would be about 25% of the race distance there

but immagine this qualifying format at Monaco :o I predict at least 2 red flags xD

How about this for a MAD idea.

1 hour free for all

adjusting qualifying is only a result of having to compensate for lack of overtaking come race day.

Quote from scania :

...FOTA is looking to spice up qualifying...

Why?

I'd prefer it to be just like in LFS. No rules regarding fuel load, just 15-20 minutes of open track time to set your fastest lap. Qualifying doesn't need to be a spectacle.

Quote from Intrepid :

How about this for a MAD idea.

1 hour free for all

adjusting qualifying is only a result of having to compensate for lack of overtaking come race day.

Agreed - it was awesome that way. 20 minutes with the odd car, but loads of time to inform the viewer about the rest of the F1 gossip. A bit like we have now (30 mins of gossip about what De La Rosa had for breakfast etc) only with the odd F1 car in the background. And then a really exciting half an hour.

None of this artificial one-lap or race-fuel shite.

I suggest a Top Gear style car football match. All against all, 1 goal. First person to score gets pole, 2nd gets 2nd and so on.

It could happen

I liked the old format where drivers would take turns on an empty track, starting with the highest car # and ending with #1, although I guess it just wasn't exciting enough. The newly proposed idea sounds good in theory, but has some problems like the incredibly busy tracks you'd see.

So, how about they just take away the daft race-fuel rule and keep the rest of the format? The fastest driver would be on pole and the track wouldn't be any busier than it was last season.

I think that fota suggestion is really stupid. Obviously it would mix up the field but in essence it's all about luck. Get stuck behind slower car and you're done.

The current system is imho just fine without the 3rd session. Just make the 3rd session to be driven with empty tanks as well. As for some excitement, make the teams to announce their starting fuel amounts before the quali. After the quali the cars are refueled to the announced amount and that's it. The pole sitter would actually be the fastest and the pole lap would probably be the fastest lap of the weekend. And the pole sitter would not have the adventage to best fuel strategy, unless he knew that he will be on pole.

Or then you could just throw some dice. The current system is kinda boring, the first session is hardly of any interest, the 2nd is barely interesting as well and the third part is just about waiting the cars to do the one fast lap in the end of the session. The system was fine too when the cars had just one lap to do their stuff even if the first 15 laps were about the 15 last spots...

Quote from tristancliffe :

Agreed - it was awesome that way. 20 minutes with the odd car, but loads of time to inform the viewer about the rest of the F1 gossip. A bit like we have now (30 mins of gossip about what De La Rosa had for breakfast etc) only with the odd F1 car in the background. And then a really exciting half an hour.

None of this artificial one-lap or race-fuel shite.

the sad thing is in 08 that would of been perfect with the field being soo close and all