10/11/2004
NEWS STORY
F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has said that the proposed qualifying format for 2005 might not go ahead as planned.
It was intended that there would be two qualifying sessions, one on Saturday and another on Sunday. The aggregate times from the two sessions would decide the grid order for Sunday's race.
The format used in 2003 and 2004 has been wholly unpopular and there is nothing to suggest that the proposed format will prove any better, indeed it could well be worse, with few broadcasters willing to devote so much time on a Sunday to a sport that is already haemorrhaging viewers.
Rather than waste further time attempting to perfect a format that will never work, the FIA and Bernie should simply remember the adage 'if it aint broke don't fix it', and return to the old format whereby cars ran for a maximum of 12 laps, rather than the current (dreadful) format of one-car single lap qualifying.
At that time, 'the powers that be' were concerned that little was happening for the first half hour of the Saturday qualifying session, as teams waited until the end of the session when conditions would (hopefully) be ideal.
A simple solution would be to create a rule whereby drivers must complete a minimum amount of laps or simply divide the session into segments, ruling that drivers must complete so many laps in each segment.
Quite what it is going to take to make Mr Ecclestone realize that the current format isn't working isn't clear, but somebody needs to get the message across that the current format is not doing Formula One, or any of those involved, any favours.