New F1 Qualifying System

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I would be in favor of having Q1 and Q2 being like they were last year and having Q3 be one flying lap per car.


I wouldn't mind this. Overall, this new qualy system stinks. I felt bad for the fans who had to watch the last 4 minutes of Q3 with nothing happening

Gosh those Mercs are fast though... only 0.3 seconds off of the fastest lap time ever (Sebastian Vettel qualy 2011).

 

[bdcardinal]

I felt for the fans, but at least they also got to watch the V8 Supercar race.

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Gosh those Mercs are fast though... only 0.3 seconds off of the fastest lap time ever (Sebastian Vettel qualy 2011).


That was Schumacher's 2004 time, (V-10).

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=F1+lap+record+at+Albert+Park

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: billt460
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Gosh those Mercs are fast though... only 0.3 seconds off of the fastest lap time ever (Sebastian Vettel qualy 2011).


That was Schumacher's 2004 time, (V-10).

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=F1+lap+record+at+Albert+Park


Schumacher's lap record of 1:24.1 was the RACING lap record. Vettel's 1:23.5 is the qualifying lap record in 2011. Hamilton put in a 1:23.8 in Q3 today.

 

[Bill888]

Like most of you, I've been an F1 fan for a long time now (50yrs +) and for the past several years I've seen it deteriorate into something that blatantly tries to compete with other sports entertainment offerings and repeatedly fails.
CART, TransAm, CanAm and others have fallen by the wayside. For a long time F1 was still a place for the true motorsports fan, but it's getting harder every year to justify my spending some serious money for DirecTV upgrades just to see F1.
Maybe it would be better if Bernie just cut to the chase and took F1 to what he probably considers to be its final incarnation - a series with big money, guaranteed competition (including the lesser teams) and, above all, unequaled excitement for the world television feed. What I'm referring to is do-or-die circle-8 racing. Maybe a future formula could specify something like school buses for added flavor.
JMO
Bill

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted By: Bill888
For a long time F1 was still a place for the true motorsports fan, but it's getting harder every year to justify my spending some serious money for DirecTV upgrades just to see F1.
Bill


I feel much the same. It's getting harder and harder every year to justify the time and money I spend watching it. For example, I find it a bit silly that the lap record at Albert Park, along with several other tracks, was set by Michael Schumacher back in 2004. So much for "technological advancement". If I want to see cars travel slower as technology advances, I can watch NASCAR for free.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Tosh
Anything in F1 makes sense from the point of view that Bernie's random idiotic ideas and one-liners get everybody's tongues wagging and reading about F1. Genius PR man! I'm going to miss that rotten troll when he's gone.

Well, this wasn't his idea, and he distanced himself from it when he saw it.

Bill: With respect to technological advances, check the thermal efficiency increase of a Formula 1 powerplant over the past three seasons. From an engineering perspective (not a fan perspective, of course), it's absolutely astounding.

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted By: Garak
Bill: With respect to technological advances, check the thermal efficiency increase of a Formula 1 powerplant over the past three seasons. From an engineering perspective (not a fan perspective, of course), it's absolutely astounding.


I can agree with that. The problem Formula 1 is having, is not it's ability to advance technology. But rather doing it in a way that can keep the fans awake.

 

[Garak]

And that's quite true. There's no questioning the academic chops and engineering minds in the teams. Of course, that has limited appeal. In any case, the race was nice, despite the qualification disaster.

Even Bernie has said it. Leave it alone, or revamp it so it actually changes something, like reverse grids or something in that direction. This exercise didn't work out well at all. The grid order was essentially what we expected anyhow, with not much going on to watch. You can have Charlie Whiting do a grid with a pencil and paper and save a lot of fuel and time, too, and still come up with the same result. It won't be exciting, either.

 

[Garak]

Well, it seems the tampering isn't finished, yet! Apparently, they were premature to announce a fix to the fix on Sunday, thanks to those involved in making the decision not having sufficient authority to do so, and there's no guarantee of what's happening on the next qualification.

Maybe they just need to send team principals running around the track to see who makes the fastest time. After a few weeks of that, they may be willing to negotiate. Vijay looks to be about the slowest, and Sir Frank could get a rocket pack or something and beat them all.

 

[Garak]

Apparently, they're reverting to the old system this time, for China, assuming everyone agrees and everything gets approved in time. With this whole fiasco, Bernie snapped at the drivers. Todt isn't happy, either. Vijay Mallya isn't impressed, but he's got bigger things on his plate than the qualifying format.

 

[billt460]

This is one time the drivers should take control. Let Bernie "snap". What's he going to do, fire them? Simply tell both Bernie and Todt either they go back to the old format, or they can get the mechanics to drive them. That should go over like a turd in a punch bowl with the fans. Remember the tire fiasco at Indianapolis about 10 or 12 years ago? Forget a refund. Bernie was lucky to get out of there with his life.

 

[Garak]

With respect to the qualification system reverting, that's been approved today, with Bernie and Todt backing the reversion before the vote.

Oddly enough, not a lot of people are on the drivers' side in their complaints. Sure, they're onside with qualifying, but much of what the drivers were complaining about wasn't qualifying, per se, but the entire governance structure. That's where he said they shouldn't even be allowed to talk about it, since they don't even understand it, except, he noted, perhaps one or two drivers. Heck, the team principals have enough trouble understanding it. Bernie has an ally in this in Jacques Villeneuve, who said much the same thing - drive and shut up. The concern is that if the drivers are seeking more control, that's another cook in the kitchen, and that's the last thing F1 needs.

On the other hand, you're quite right. Without the drivers, the show shuts down; that is something they should wield carefully and sparingly. But, neither Bernie nor Todt have the authority to simply revert to the old qualification system on their own. With respect to Indianapolis, I suspect Bernie learned something very valuable there. There's a reason he wasn't at the season opener in Australia. And it wasn't because he was sick or otherwise occupied, or just getting old (that never stopped him before then or since then). He can't get Shanghaied in Australia like he did in Indianapolis if he doesn't show up in the first place. I think blaming Bernie for the qualification system is mistaken, but he knew darned well that he'd be the one answering to the mess on camera.

Speaking of which, any ideas for a replacement for Bernie? Love him or hate him, and even given his obvious vitality, he can't last forever. Someone has tossed around the idea of Ross Brawn. I don't think Todt could handle it now. He needs Bernie as a buffer between him and the F1 world itself as it is already. Sir Frank could probably do it, but he wants to do less, not more, especially not this kind of "more."

 

[bdcardinal]

I think Ross Brawn would be a fantastic replacement. He has been out of the game just long enough to not have to face claims of partiality.

 

[Garak]

Is he masochistic and nuts enough for the job, though? As Bill and I have mentioned before, how nuts does Bernie have to be to be doing this job, let alone at his age?

Ross Brawn seems to be way too level headed for this.

I do think he likes a challenge, though.

 

[bdcardinal]

I have read Christian Horner mentioned to replace Bernie before. I think he would be great for the position, but since he still works for RBR, there would be claims of favoritism.

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I have read Christian Horner mentioned to replace Bernie before. I think he would be great for the position, but since he still works for RBR, there would be claims of favoritism.


You could say that about Braun and Todt in relationship to Ferrari as well. The fact is anyone remotely qualified for that job is, or has been tied into one Formula 1 team or another at some point in their career. And besides, no amount of favoritism can make a slow team fast. There is just too much involved.

 

[Garak]

Christian's big positive is his youth. While Ross Brawn isn't Bernie's age, he's not exactly young. But, one has to counter that with experience, and he has no shortage.

 

[A_Harman]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I have read Christian Horner mentioned to replace Bernie before. I think he would be great for the position, but since he still works for RBR, there would be claims of favoritism.


That's about par for the course for F1. Bernie used to run Brabham. Jean Todt used to run Peugeot and Ferrari. It's not unusual for team owners or managers to enter management of the FIA.

 

[Garak]

It looks like qualification got shook up a bit, even under the old system. Between Lewis's engine issues and Force India bringing out the red flag in Q2, I think some plans went out the window.