Poll What qualifying system do you prefer?

[FB]

F1 has messed about with various system to improve the entertainment value of qualifying in F1. These are the ones I recall over the years I have been watching the sport. Which did you like best, or do you have a suggestion for an alternative?

Me, I'd like to see a return to a 1 hour session (but what about the "important" TV advertising I hear you ask?) with the drivers time based on an average of their fastest 5 laps over the one hour session. If you don't complete 5 laps you start from the pit lane, even if a drain cover breaks your car. Pit lane order decided firstly on who completed the most laps, then on fastest average time

 

[The Artist.....]

There are two things that really bug me about the current system:
1. Teams are burning through huge numbers of tyres - five sets of tyres or more are usually used during qualifying
2. Because the windows are so short, drivers can have their laps ruined by elements outside of their control (e.g. yellow flags)

I think that I would be a great supporter of the knock-out qualifying (as we currently have), if it wasn't for the fact that the drivers basically ruin 5 sets of tyres just for qualifying. If we could have a position where drivers didn't gain huge amounts from a new set of tyres, it would be a big improvement.

 

[Johnny Carwash]

I went for single lap 2004.
I would have it now and run it in championship order with then championship leader going first, and then so on and so on.

 

[F1Brits_90]

I went for single lap 2004.
I would have it now and run it in championship order with then championship leader going first, and then so on and so on.

you know that the only change i would do to qualifying
Q1 - 18 mins - bottom 5 eliminated
Q2 - 15 mins - bottom 5 eliminated
Q3 - top 10, single lap qualifying running in reverse Q2 order

because we rarely see the pole lap & i liked to see the best drivers under pressure. who can do the best lap

 

[rsrocket1]

Put the qualifying start/finish line temporarily before the entrance to pit lane so the cars get off the track and don’t screw up others trying to qualify while they cool down. Indycar started it, NASCAR finally implemented it, it’s time for F1 to quit using cool down gamesmanship and whining excuses and make qualifying about the car and driver skill.
Keep the rest.

Of course pure skill would be one lap single car qualifying but that doesn’t sell drama.

 

[The Artist.....]

I always wonder if F1 should go down the increased jeopardy qualifying route.

• Take rsrocket's position, so that timing starts and finishes just before the pit lane entry (or at the end of sector 2)
• Cars can set a laptime at any time during each knock-out session, but, your last laptime replaces any previous laptimes.
  • Therefore, if you go out, and try to improve, but actually go slower, then you will fall down the grid.

Drivers then have a dilemma - set a fast time early in the session, and they have to decide whether to go out, to try to improve it (and risk dropping down the grid), or stay in the pits, and risk another driver coming out and beating your time.

 

[cider_and_toast]

I voted for the one hour everyone just get out there and do your thing version.

I understand why it was changed after 96 and dropping the two sessions thing made sense. The changes that came after were in part about the on track action but more about getting to see the sponsors more often. Minardi would always go out first, not because they thought they'd have an advantage on an empty track but because they knew the sponsors would get more exposure in 15 minutes than they would in the entire race.

Of course, in reality, we'll never go back to a one hour, free for all. It's not going to happen.

With the set up we have now, I have posted many, many, many times that I hate the way penalties are applied after the event because it's unfair that a car is prevented from running in a later session even though the one that did make it out will eventually end up behind it. I also hate the new tyre regs that mean they have to use 1 type in the first session then all change, then all change again. As I said at the time, if you are going to force them to use A, B and C, let the teams decide in which order they use those tyres. Will a team risk using C in the first session, running a slower tyre but having the faster car, and hoping to make it out while another team runs A in the first session with their slower car to try and get out of it? There is so little opportunity in F1 to do something different to the other teams these days.

By the mid 80's, cars would have super soft, 1 lap only, qually tyres, qually engines and everything cranked up to the max set ups. Today the cars are mostly set up in race trim because of the rules around what can and can't be changed between sessions. Its no wonder we get very few shocks anymore.

 

[TR]

Of course pure skill would be one lap single car qualifying but that doesn’t sell drama.

That assumes constant conditions. The problems with single lap qualifying come when conditions are changeable and it turns into a complete conditions lottery.