Despite the obscene amounts of money invested in Formula One, despite the hype, the glamour and the sheer technical wizardry, there are times when it seems the 'sport' is run and contested by complete and utter morons.

How is it that a sport as hi-tech as F1 can make such a pigs ear out of what should be a relatively simple process for deciding the starting grid for a race?

The old 12-lap free-for-all wasn't perfect, but it's was a damn site better than anything we've seen since.

The back-to-back sessions were bad enough, but the current format was never going to work, and it defies belief that 'the powers that be' went along with it in the first place.

OK, it worked once, in Japan 2004, but that was under special circumstances, it was a fluke.

However, in his infinite wisdom, he who must be obeyed, decided that he had found the gimmick that F1 needed, and for the most part the team bosses, drivers and rule makers followed like sheep, even though they will now deny this.

It hasn't taken long to realize that the new format isn't working, and rather than say what we really feel, we'll simply go along with Paul Stoddard and agree that it's a "dead duck", or something similar.

Meeting with Bernie Ecclestone at Imola this weekend, it appears that the team bosses have been unable to find a quick solution and therefore it looks as though we'll be stuck with the current format for the foreseeable future.

As ever, it would appear that the teams believe that there is no rush to make a change, however, they couldn't be more wrong.

Suddenly, man down the pub is talking about F1 again - we know, we've heard him - suddenly F1 appears to be capturing the public's imagination.

There is still a long way to go, but it appears we are getting there.

If only the millionaires in 'Planet Paddock' would listen, they'd realize that a key element in re-establishing F1 could be found simply by sorting out qualifying, and rather than coming up with various hare-brained schemes they might find quick a return to the old format would reap dividends, as would a trawl through various F1 website forums and message boards.

It is broke, so fix it.