New Qualifying format a flop or not?

[Hawkmoon]

Qualifying can either be a way of finding out who is the quickest and rewarding them with a start at the front or it can be a way of starting a race in such a way as to garner the most 'entertainment'. The decision makers seem to want to do both at the same time and, in my view at least, it doesn't work.

If you want 'entertaining' races why not start each race in reverse championship order? It's clean, easy to understand and can't be 'gamed' by the teams. It makes a mockery of everything the sport stands for and the value of a grand prix win is effectively meaningless but at least the masses will be 'entertained' watching the front runners make their way through the field each race.

[Jag_Warrior]

This. I really don't understand Bernie & Jean's apparent obsession with the need to "mix things up". It's a motor race. The fastest driver & car combination that makes it to the checquered flag is supposed to win.

And really, is Bernie concern with the races being "a bit boring" actually valid at this point? Right now we've had two really interesting races (all the way up and down the order!) and everything points to that situation continuing. All this nonsense with qualifying is creating a new problem in the name of solving one that doesn't exist.

Qualifying was the one part of the grand prix weekend that actually worked and was exciting to watch (most of the time), and now it's not.

Yes, why can't they just LEAVE IT ALONE???!!!

[BleAivano]

Well, here we go. Qualifying format will be reverted to last year's format, starting at the Chinese GP.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report...ack-from-china

[MrJan]

We've heard that before

[steveaki13]

We've heard that before

I want single lap aggregate qualifying in a solid one hour session with everyone waiting until the 58th minute to set a time and then randomly reverse sections of the grid.

[AndyL]

I want single lap aggregate qualifying in a solid one hour session with everyone waiting until the 58th minute to set a time and then randomly reverse sections of the grid.

The only way I could accept that is if they have a wheel of fortune with pictures of the drivers' faces stuck on it, to decide which part of the grid to reverse. That was so classy when they did it in BTCC.

[Bagwan]

"Lost in Space" response from our Bernie , saying that nobody understood at all that they were trying to "muddle up" the grid .

We all understood very well , simply because they never avoided any remote opportunity to tell us exactly that when being asked why such a stupid set of rules was being considered .

Really curious , when he could have characterized it as being a case of "listening to the fans" , which would , at the same time , demean the teams , showing them as unimportant in the process .
It seems strange to see such a missed dig .

I did see , though , that he had the teams agree to revamping the whole shootin' match for next year , so , this nightmare may not actually be over .


And , who knows , it could have all been designed to display the teams as a cartel , as we know the European Commission looms possible in the near future .
The whole change the qualifying idea was so stupid that it had me looking off to the side to see the man behind the curtain .
Maybe there's a bigger picture here .

[Whyzars]

I got bored again.

Qualifying with fuel minimums of one kilo per championship point (0.03 seconds per lap per kilo handicap).

			After Handicap	New Grid	Change
1	Nico Rosberg	1:35.402	1:36.902	7	-6
2	Daniel Ricciardo	1:35.917	1:36.637	4	-2
3	Kimi Räikkönen	1:35.972	1:36.512	2	+1
4	Sebastian Vettel	1:36.246	1:36.696	5	-1
5	Valtteri Bottas	1:36.296	1:36.476	1	+5
6	Daniil Kvyat	1:36.399	1:36.579	3	+3
7	Sergio Perez	1:36.865	1:36.865	6	+1
8	Carlos Sainz	1:36.881	1:36.941	8
9	Max Verstappen	1:37.194	1:37.464	9
10	Nico Hulkenberg	1:37.333	1:37.513	10
11	Felipe Massa	1:37.347	1:37.767	11
12	Fernando Alonso	1:38.826	1:38.826	12
13	Jenson Button	1:39.093	1:39.093	13
14	Romain Grosjean	1:39.830	1:40.370	14

Bottas pole!!!

After 2 races, handicapping is working to mix up the top of the order. The cream will rise to the top in the race we would expect.

As the season progresses, a fuel weight handicap should begin to have an affect further down the order.

I'm thinking that Hamilton will finish on the podium tomorrow. I still have a feeling that mixing up qualifying is about creating gambling markets.

[inimitablestoo]

Beginning to think it doesn't matter what qualifying system they use if they're all going to crash into each other at the first corner - not an ideal way of shuffling the pack, but it seems to work

[Nitrodaze]

"Lost in Space" response from our Bernie , saying that nobody understood at all that they were trying to "muddle up" the grid .

We all understood very well , simply because they never avoided any remote opportunity to tell us exactly that when being asked why such a stupid set of rules was being considered .

Really curious , when he could have characterized it as being a case of "listening to the fans" , which would , at the same time , demean the teams , showing them as unimportant in the process .
It seems strange to see such a missed dig .

I did see , though , that he had the teams agree to revamping the whole shootin' match for next year , so , this nightmare may not actually be over .


And , who knows , it could have all been designed to display the teams as a cartel , as we know the European Commission looms possible in the near future .
The whole change the qualifying idea was so stupid that it had me looking off to the side to see the man behind the curtain .
Maybe there's a bigger picture here .

I bet they would try numbered balls in a bucket next.