11/04/2016
NEWS STORY
The FIA's World Motor Sport Council has today officially today approved, via e-vote, the decision to revert to last season’s qualification format for the remainder of the 2016 season.
The format, whereby the slowest six cars are eliminated at the end of the first two qualifying sessions before a final ten-car shootout for pole in Q3, will return for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.
The return follows an embarrassing month for the sport which appeared to consistently shoot itself in the foot. Having been widely panned in Melbourne, team boss met the following day to call on the sport to drop the format in time for Bahrain.
However, at a subsequent meeting Bernie Ecclestone, who initially supported calls for the scrapping of the new format, back-tracked, whilst FIA president Jean Todt didn't even offer a return to the old format as an alternative.
As a result the new format was used again in Bahrain and this time around was even more badly received than in Australia.
Still adamant that the sport would not be seen as going backwards - or the FIA or Ecclestone losing face - Todt suggested a new format that would be based on drivers' aggregate times in each phase of the session.
However, in a rare move the teams stood their ground and united, demanding the return of the old format, Ecclestone and the FIA having little option but to relent.
Today's e-vote essentially rubber-stamped the move.
However, with Ecclestone and the Todt likely to suffer further ridicule at their climb-down, as the Oscar winning movie declared; There will be blood...