Teams say no to qualifying change

[Taku 0]

hmmm... *excuse me while i take a step outside.

FAAAAARRRRRK!!!! :twisted:

[Taku 0]

sorry about that little tantrum people.

the only thing that gives me hope is this, quoted online:

"Should there be further criticism of the new format, and rest assured, there will be, Ecclestone is sure to take the law into his own hands, since the wishes of the TV broadcasters and their audiences are paramount."

paramount team bosses, PARAMOUNT!!!! ffs.

now my only question is it possible for the bernmeister to do this?

or does this mean he'll have a word to max to "re-interpret" the rulebook?

[Taku 0]

more:

"F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone offered them two choices, one to revert back to the system used in 2003, or two, to remove one of the two one hour long sessions used for the first time in the Australian Grand Prix a week ago, all ten teams failed to agree."

what happened to richards' idea??

[webber 0]

what was richards idea??

[Taku 0]

richard's idea was to have 2 sessions, 1 on fri and 1 on sat.

the fri session would be 1/2 hour and all-out, like pre-2003. all cars would be limited to say 5 laps each and could go out at any time and run any set-up they wished.

the sat session would be just like the current sessions, with the order determined by the reverse of the times set in the fri session. cars would go straight to parc-ferme at the end and would thus have to run race set-ups in this session.

[webber 0]

yea lets getv that one thats a good idea

[Taku 0]

it certainly is a good idea, and that was the one people were talking about. im puzzled as to why it wasn't provided as an option to the teams.. :?

[eddoyle 0]

Taku,

I think your right and it was a good idea, but Id say the problem is that a lot of the new sponsors this season were brought on board with the promise of guaranteed TV coverage over the two sessions.

With these contracts in place, changing the formats would provide the sponsors with an ability to walk away at any point during the season if they were not happy with the level of coverage they were getting.

As such even though eveyone agrees that the DR's idea is better, its too late now, should have been agreed prior to the season so as the teams could have signed the deals on this basis.

The only thing that is going to make the teams fall in line, is if TV viewers start switching off the qualifying yawnathon, thus reducing the number of viewers. But it could take a couple of races before casual racers realise that they are watching a staged 3 hr Marlboro/B&H/West/Luckies etc advert rather than F1 qualifying.

Come to think of it the obvious next step in the current qualifying is that after the first session each driver must get out of the car, smoke one of his princpal sponsors finest cancer sticks live on TV, and then step back into the car for the second part of the advert. Why else do you think there is just 3 minutes between each session (just enough time for a smoke)

[Taku 0]

eddoyle,

thanks for the insight , it definitely makes more sense now. esp explains why bernie didn't even bother proposing drs' idea.

i think the pressure will definitely build on the teams, because even though i'm a huge fan and get excited at the slightest hint, smell or sight of an f1 car, i have to admit the new system is anticlimactic. just a long, drawn out foreplay imo.

[Senna 0]

Does anyone know exactly which teams were against the proposed qualifying change? I think that Minardi, Jordan, Renault, BAR and Williams all wanted it to be changed.

[Senna 0]

From ITV-F1.com:

The FIA have proposed minor alterations to F1’s qualifying format.

The sport’s governing body said the sport’s commercial rights holder would like to see the second of the new back-to-back qualifying sessions start at 2pm.

At it stands, the entire qualifying procedure begins at that time, with the second, crucial session beginning within two minutes of the first one.

The change has been requested “in order to facilitate television scheduling”.

By nailing the second session down to a 2pm start, it would make it easier for TV companies to join the action midway through the qualifying procedure.

The proposition has been circulated to the teams and, if agreed to unanimously, will be subject to a fax vote of the Formula One Commission.

Should the change be given the green light, it would come into force at the inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix at the start of April.

The sport’s new qualifying format has been widely panned since it was introduced at Melbourne a fortnight ago, not least because it dragged on for 1hour 52mins.

It is possible that more major changes will yet be made but the FIA is committed to retaining the existing format for at least the next two races.

[Taku 0]

"minor alterations" is definitely an understatement. all they want to do is bring it forward 1 hour..

or does that mean the 1st session will be a lot earlier? i magine there will be a larger break between the 2 sessions, because if they want to start the 2nd sesh bang on 2pm, they're going to need some leeway for stuff-ups in the 1st session.

lets hope they give the teams (at least poor minardi) more than 2 mins, and ideally a whole day, between the 2 sessions.

[nojvnof1 0]

Does anyone know exactly which teams were against the proposed qualifying change? I think that Minardi, Jordan, Renault, BAR and Williams all wanted it to be changed.

I heard Ferrari were against the change, although it was just a rumour. Taku, I share your first sentiment exactly!!! It was bloody borrrrring and I was there. I say go back to last years format simply for the sake of Fridays. It put some meaning into it, but now its nothing but a glorified test session. DR's idea makes a lot of sense, weird I know coming from him It would be good but then again, since when did the FIA give a sh!t about the fans??!!

shaun

[Taku 0]

i think stoddart said there were 3 teams who voted against it. hmm i wonder who they could have been?

using eddoyle's logic no doubt the 3 with the most sponsorship deals..

[nojvnof1 0]

My guess is Ferrari as they came out in support of it, Sauber purely because Ferrari supported it McLaren, but I don't know why. Thats just a guess though I'm pretty sure about the first two.

shaun

[Senna 0]

I really hope that the current qualifying system is scraped before Bahrain and that we return to last year’s format. What I liked about the previous format is that since its spread over two days, its possible that weather can play a large role in determining the grid order. Besides the current format is far too long and even the drivers have said that it is more boring…

[juany 0]

I would like to see both session times count towards the grid position using an average of both times.

[boftolod 0]

Now thats not a bad Idea :idea:

[Taku 0]

good idea juany, at least then they'd all push 100% in session 1.

[nichosnz 0]

That was considered before the 03 changes were finalised. It was decided that it would make it too difficult to follow. Who is leading what time does a driver need to set for pole, etc.

Pesonally I dissagree, just add a column to the timing screen. That shows the time needed for the driver currently attempting a run, to match each position/time set so far.

[Taku 0]

i too disagree. it still gives the fastest qualifier in session 1 the greatest advantage, and the preceding drivers all have to push to the maximum. either format (last years and the juany system ) means session 1 will be more intersting, with the latter system meaningh they'll push that much harder in teh first session.

too hard to keep track of ... thats such bs, as long as the commentators can dumb it down for the casual viewer and provide a decent timing graphic there should be no problem knowing what's going on.