The German publication Auto Motor und Sport last week revealed that plans are being considered whereby the grid for a Grand Prix is decided by a special qualifying race on the previous day.

The plan, part of Formula One Management's move to revitalise the race weekend format, could include reducing the race weekend from three to two days, and reducing the length of races or even running them over two days.

Indeed, Auto Motor und Sport claims that while Friday would continue to consist of two practice sessions - though both run in the afternoon - Saturday would feature a 100 kilometre sprint race, the result of which would decide the starting grid for Sunday's Grand Prix.

In a further twist, the qualifying race would see no limit placed on fuel or tyres, with the aim of seeing drivers go flat-out for the full distance.

Ignoring the question of how the grid for the qualifying race might be decided, talking to Sky Sports, F1 technical boss Ross Brawn defended the idea.

"What we've done is invited lots of stakeholders to give us a view on the race weekend," he said. "The objectives are, can we make financial improvements, help the teams in terms of their finances, can we help the promoters have a better show and can we get some diversity into the race without making it false.

"If we can get some diversity into the starting grid, which is genuine because it's come from a race, maybe that's worth considering," he continued. "Having an extra race is an impact on the teams, but we need to look at the whole thing."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Trixi, 12/04/2018 20:47

"NO—just NO!"

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2. Posted by Ro, 08/04/2018 19:07

"Oh give us a break! 3 engines for a whole year and you want to race them on successive days? There is absolutely nothing with the way qualifying is now, so why change it ? The only reason I can think of is : MONEY.
No need to worry about fans, is there ? "

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3. Posted by GrahamG, 08/04/2018 14:54

"Surely fuel and tyres aren't the issue. Engine and gearbox life and car damage if everyone is driving hard are the issues. A couple of grid places vs not being able to start the race and/or half a dozen grid penalties for a premature engine change - no one would even bother to race, each team (or even each engine supplier) would agree what the outcome was going to be based on practice times.
Why aren't these people capable of coherent thought!
No restrictions on fuel and tyres for the race, DRS whenever a driver wanted to use it, standard front wing, all of these would make a difference"

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Brawn: Qualifying race is worth considering

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