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F1 to revert to 2015 qualifying system for Bahrain

Published on 21 Mar 2016 14:36
5
By: Rob Veenstra

F1 will revert to the qualifying system of 2015 at the next race in Bahrain, after the farcical debut of the new 'musical chairs' format on Saturday. Team bosses got together in the Melbourne paddock before Sunday's Australian grand prix and voted unanimously to simply scrap the new concept in its entirety.

The next step is to get the F1 Commission and World Motor Sport Council to rubber-stamp the change. "If we want, we can have the old system back overnight," Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene told Bild newspaper. "There are ways to communicate digitally. Then we go 'ping, ping, ping' and we have the old format," he explained.

However, it is believed that some voices argued in the meeting that the new system should be modified rather than scrapped altogether, as it was Q3 rather than Q1 and Q2 that proved the most unsuccessful. Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz said: "Q1 and Q2 were good but the ending (Q3) should be the same as last year, because it was very exciting, no?"

But the team bosses agreed unanimously that 'musical chairs' had been so bad on Saturday that leaving it in place was not an option. "I believe it is easier to just return to what we had," said Haas' Gunther Steiner. "That is better than trying to come up with something new and miscalculating again."

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg agrees: "The most sensible option is to return to last year's format, which has totally proved itself." (GMM)

F1 News Nico Rosberg Ferrari Mercedes

Replies (5)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Might be the best thing to do as of present. It wasnt bad, but it wasnt better than 2015's system. Q1 was pretty neat though, so I would not be disappointed if they decided to keep that and just use the old system for Q2 and Q3. For the new system to work the teams would need more soft tyres, or else more will simply stay in instead of trying to defend their positions.
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- Mar 21 2016 - 15:31
- dr002
  
  Posts: 141
  I thought Q1 was pretty good, and it seemed to bring P3 into play also. Why not tweak it a little bit before scrapping it altogether, by giving them more soft tyres and changing Q3 to a shoot-out.
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  Mar 22 2016 - 05:51
khasmir

Posts: 893
The farce continues...
This really is a joke, if you were to run any other public company in this way you would be fired on the spot. You can't just change the rules without running some simulations and proper thinking about the possible side effects.
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- Mar 21 2016 - 18:44
- dr002
  
  Posts: 141
  They did for the right reasons, so good on them for having a go, I reckon..... In a dynamic sport based on innovation, why not think up some new ideas and try them out.... You never know until you try.... In my experience the most worthwhile innovations arise 'after' taking action..... Sure, there were some issues in respect of strategic motivations, but perhaps these could be overcome with a few tweaks.
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  Mar 22 2016 - 06:37
Pompey

Posts: 84
Hooray!!!!
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- Mar 21 2016 - 23:19