Qualifying in Formula 1

Suggestion for F1 Qualifying

I’m sure the FIA have gone through many possible ideas for revising the format of qualifying and on top of that received as many other suggestions from outsiders also. This is just my idea, as a spectator, for how it could be:

Q1

All drivers have a long shared period (perhaps 20 minutes) out on track with all flying laps timed, similar to the 2015 Q1. Tyres are available only from the stipulated number available for the weekend. Drivers may clock-up as many laps as they can within that period and may pit, change tyres, re-fuel as desired. Any car to pass the start/finish line before seeing the checkered flag may complete their next lap under timed conditions.

At the end of Q1, each driver’s fastest lap is compared and a preliminary grid is drawn up of all drivers. The top 10 continue to Q2, all others will start the race the following day from that position (subject to any position alterations for penalties).

Q2

The remaining top 10 drivers each get one flying lap opportunity to set a time. The sequence in which each driver goes out is the reverse order from the Q1 preliminary grid - i.e. Position 10 goes first, Position 9 goes second etc.

Each driver is released from the pit lane by race control and has a stipulated maximum time in which to conduct their out-lap, one flying lap and in-lap. No other car should be out on track at the same time in order to avoid any cause for obstruction or interference. Thus the next driver is released only after the stipulated time for the previous driver is finished. The duration of the stipulated time would be varied for each track, in order to force drivers to make their out and in-laps reasonably fast, yet avoiding pushing too much on the longer tracks.

Times set in Q1 are not carried over - i.e. if a driver cannot improve on their Q1 time in Q2, their Q2 time stands and they could potentially be given grip position 10, despite better previous performance in Q1.

Other Details

Drivers entering Q2 (grid positions 1 to 10) must start the race on the set of tyres from which they made their fastest lap in Q1. Drivers not reaching Q1 (grip positions 11 onwards) will have free choice of tyres from their allocation for the weekend.

My Comments

In Q1, teams will plan their sequencing to suit the changing track and weather conditions similar to recent previous years. The duration of this session is sufficiently long to allow all driver three or so flying laps. There should be relatively few surprise qualifying positions in Q1.

An anticipation will be created in Q2, that the lap times will continuously get faster, resulting in the fastest lap likely being the last driver out. However, weather conditions or changing track temperature (cooling as less drivers are out) may mix this up. (This is less artificial that forcing the sequence to reverse e.g. 10th track time given pole, 9th given 2nd etc.)

The one-chance nature of Q2 combined with changing conditions will make probabilities of mixing up the grid at little, for some added excitement in the race.

Tyre management (particularly in Q1) will influence the race the following day. Though those drivers that make it into Q2 will likely use an additional set of their softest tyres in qualifying. If this would lead drivers in Q2 to drive more carefully in order to retain the useful tyres, then instead an extra free set of soft tyres should be given to those that reach Q2.

(There could be an additional qualifying period inserted between the above described Q1 and Q2, making three sessions, more similar to the current format, though I like that suggestion less.)

The beauties of this idea, to me, are:

• the simplicity of the rules, yet
• the complexity of team management that could be deployed in Q1 and
• the simple comparison of each driver’s performance in Q2
• The chance of mishaps leading to grid mixups

What do you think?