PDA

View Full Version : It's official: Qualifying reverts to single one-lap session


sydude
05-23-2005, 01:09 PM
Finally. And hopefully next year they'll revert back to the old 12-lap system, which was infinitely better still.

---------

Planetf1.com
23/05/05

The FIA have confirmed that a new qualifying format will come into effect this weekend at the Nurburgring as F1 reverts back to a single session on Saturday in which drivers will have a one-lap run with race fuel on board.
In a statement released on Monday afternoon, the FIA confirmed that the unpopular aggregate system had been scrapped with immediate effect and said that the single-session qualifying hour will now be held between 1pm and 2pm on Saturday and that cars will run under the parc ferme conditions of 2004.

The running order will be a reversal the result of the previous race – so Kimi Raikkonen, for example, will be last on track this weekend for the European GP qualifying session after winning in Monaco.

The statement read:

'With the agreement of the competing teams and the Formula 1 Commission, the FIA World Motor Sport Council has changed Formula One qualifying, starting with the European Grand Prix this coming weekend. The new qualifying procedure will be:

- one qualifying session only from 13.00 to 14.00 on Saturday;

- single lap qualifying with race fuel under parc fermé conditions (as 2004);

- running order to be reverse of finishing order of previous race (ie winner of last race goes last).'

rhpearson
05-23-2005, 01:42 PM
Finally. And hopefully next year they'll revert back to the old 12-lap system, which was infinitely better still.

It is better... nothing beats the old one hour, do as many laps as you want sessions. I so loved sitting opposite the McLaren garages to watch Senna come and go, watching the times as he sat waiting to pounce.

The only good thing about the one-lap sessions has been the end of complaints about traffic mucking up a good lap.

MJAmok
05-23-2005, 04:50 PM
I have only been an F1 fan for a few years. Not long enough to remember the open session format, though those sound cool.

I agree that last year's format, with the first lap only used to set qualifying order, was stupid.

But, I don't understand why no one liked this year's format. I thought it worked pretty well. Why is one lap better than two laps combined? Seems like 1/2 the effort for the driver and 1/2 the excitement for the fans.

rhpearson
05-23-2005, 04:59 PM
I have only been an F1 fan for a few years. Not long enough to remember the open session format, though those sound cool.

My first GP was Montreal in 1988... we never had great TV coverage here in Canada back then, but I had read about Senna and his qualifying routine. It was incredible to see it in person. Not to mention the hour long session was always busy. Not like in the 12-lap days when there were extended periods of inactivity. I recall one year in Montreal sitting at least 15 minutes into the session before even a Minardi ventured out.

In my opinion the one-lap format has been designed for TV, it has, after all, the TV timeouts just like hockey ;)

What was neat, as well, about the open sessions (as was the case I guess with the 12-lappers) was that a driver could go out, assess the track conditions, change a setup, try again, and so on. I miss what always happened: someone would get several good laps in, building momentum as the went, and reeling off a series of great--entertaining--laps. We just don't get to see that anymore in F1.

Lime Rock was my first Skippy weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed the open Q sessions for the SBNC drivers.

sydude
05-23-2005, 09:17 PM
The greatest thing about the 12 lap qualifying session was how the tension built up through the session, and usually culminated in an exhilarating last 15 minutes. You never would know who would go out late enough to take advantage of the most rubber laid down, but early enough to miss the last-minute rush hour traffic. It was TEN times more exciting than either of the more recent iterations.

The only reason why they came up with these dumb new versions was so that the slower teams would get guaranteed TV coverage. The cameras were more attracted to the big teams running under the old system, and the slower teams would go out early in the session, even when it was slow, just to get some TV time. But meanwhile, now no one watches the slower teams qualify anyway, so let's go back to the old!

MJAmok
05-24-2005, 07:10 AM
All of that sounds great, and I've heard the TV coverage issue before. It makse sense too. But 12 laps wasn't an option this year. Yet, everyone seems to applaud this week's change.

I still don't see why one lap is better than two...