New Formula 1 Qualifying Rules!

The more I think about it the more I see potential for a track full of people trundling around slowly causing all sorts of carnage.

And then I realise what the FIA will do, they will just introduce even more rules stipulating a minimum lap time...
 
Brundle has just Tweeted this which sums it up perfectly...

'Future F1' needs a masterplan, not bubble bursts of random ideas that find a way through the many faceted and largely impenetrable systems
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Oh you really couldn't make this up. I can barely keep up myself with these rules. Let's make the sport less and less accessible...

Quali is one of the few good things left in the sport.
 
I've just been reading about the 'bonkers' new qualifying format, it actually sounds a lot better than the current format if drivers are given enough tyres to get plenty of laps in.

EDIT: I'm not so sure about the time ballast feature though, it sounds like the FIA interfering to try and keep the title close.
 
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There's been no mention of a change to the tyre rules, and the description from Autosport suggests the drivers must remain on track to stay in Qualifying, which would mean doing each session on a single set.
 
mmj_uk said:
I've just been reading about the 'bonkers' new qualifying format, it actually sounds a lot better than the current format if drivers are given enough tyres to get plenty of laps in.

EDIT: I'm not so sure about the time ballast feature though, it sounds like the FIA interfering to try and keep the title close.
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When would they put stop to change tyres, even if there were more tyres. Pit stop and lap is way mire than 90seconds at most tracks.
 
What are they going to do about fueling for each qualifying session, given that fuel weight has a drastic effect on lap times?

Do cars have to have use a standard amount for each session, or can teams decide on how much to use?

Can cars be fueled multiple times per session? 3.x laps of fuel to do out/hot/in- lap plus fuel sample, into box for another slash and dash?

Provisionally, while cream crackered, this sounds almost as complicated as those new silly tyre rules!
 
Refueling isn't allowed on the pit lane, the cars have to go back into their garage and be filled using much slower pumps than back in the refueling days.
 
Fuel isn't the issue, its tyres. How is the last 90 seconds if qualifying meant to be exciting if its just going to be 2 guys struggling to get round on 10 lap old Ultra Softs?

The fastest times will be set in the first few minutes and then the rest will be people trundling around waiting to be eliminated as they don't have the tyres to allow them to improve.

Elimination/knock outs work in computer games where you have no degradation in the cars performance, but in real life I just can't see how it's going to work.
 
Meh, in reality, last years rules, Merc 18+ poles, who cares which one of them get it.

This year there will definitely be more randomness. We had a LOT of team qualifying and team finishes last year, as in Merc 1-2, Ferrari 3-4, williams 5-6, and the championship points ended up the same. This will lead to less predictable qualifying.

I can see both packed grids and blocked laps cause more upsets in Q1 than we got last year by a long shot and if Manor/Haas are actually semi competitive it means the 5 that go out will be extremely random this year as opposed to almost always 4 slots taken by the same two teams every single race with one wild card which 95% of the time is between the same 2-3 drivers.

Q3 could get interesting, say Ham/Ros expect to be the final two, they want to save tires for the fastest possible final lap with the least fuel but a couple of other guys went balls out not caring about pole and both of them go faster. There is less chance of blocking and bad timing in Q3 but still room for more tactical mistakes.

Will it be brilliant, I don't know, should there be an exception at Monaco, definitely... that track is a joke and 22 cars in Q3 will be stupid, probably first or last car out wins, everyone else has no chance.

I'm not exactly pro the format, but not against it either.

When watching on tv the existing format isn't bad, but honestly if I'm travelling a long distance and paying hundreds of quid mostly to watch a few specific sessions it's not exactly bad for on track spectators to see more action while qualifying is on.
 
Skeeter said:
There's been no mention of a change to the tyre rules, and the description from Autosport suggests the drivers must remain on track to stay in Qualifying, which would mean doing each session on a single set.
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I mean, realistically everyone throws away the tires from qualifying, the only time you don't is if you do bad laps and end up needing to use more sets of tires which... won't happen under this format. What is it, 7 sets, 3 for quali, 4 for the race. I can't quite remember what the tire rule was here but presuming you still get an extra set for Q3 it should work out.

Though they should probably make it mandatory that everyone uses the same compound, harder for Q1, softer for Q2, the extra softer set for Q3.

That is another point, if people are doing repeated pretty damn fast(well above race pace) laps then tire life also becomes problematic.

Tactically if you try and do your fastest time with the track the busiest you may get blocked and you'll have an extra 10 laps of fuel onboard. If you try and save your tires for the end you risk going out early. It's likely that tire life will throw up some surprises, some extra lock ups and some less good laps at the sharp end of each session.
 
Why would you save your tyres? Just go out, flat out first lap when your tyres are at their best, and then cruse round in 8th listening to Radio 4 for the rest of the session.

There's no way a guy on 10 lap old Ultra Softs is going to go faster than someone on 1 lap old ones. Pole time will be set within the first 5 minutes of Q3, and the remaining 9 minutes will be pointless.
 
Skeeter said:
Why would you save your tyres? Just go out, flat out first lap when your tyres are at their best, and then cruse round in 8th listening to Radio 4 for the rest of the session.

There's no way a guy on 10 lap old Ultra Softs is going to go faster than someone on 1 lap old ones. Pole time will be set within the first 5 minutes of Q3, and the remaining 9 minutes will be pointless.
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You will burn off fuel.

That is why lap times improve in a race even on the same set of ageing tyres.
 
The tyre rules are 6 sets for qualifying and the race, plus an extra set just for Q3 if you get to it. However, that extra set is pointless if your not allowed to pit during the session and fit them.

These rules conflict with other rules and just make no sense.
 
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