An alternative to qualifying...

[spider]

With F1 being a damn good show this year - primarily as the fastest guy in the fastest car keeps having problems, and thus has to put on a charge through the pack - making great TV, it got me thinking. Now, F1's hardly broken from a spectacle perspective, but...

If they rejigged the F1 weekend, to really spice up the racing. Here's an out their idea, that can be shot down...

You have one qualifying session at the start of the season - as part of a race weekend, or a separate event altogether.

After that, it's reverse grids based on Championship position for the rest of the season.

To always have the Championship leaders having to start at the back would make it somewhat entertaining every round...well, in my opinion...

Anyway - just an idea, as I sit here on a dull conference call...zzz.

[wnut]

KMN

[Greem]

But.. but...

IT'S NOT FORMULA 1!

[spider]

Originally Posted by wnut

KMN

[OZ_HCR32]

I loathe the idea reverse grid races. If you need to do something along these lines then I suggest they have a quali race where positions are drawn out of a hat and they have a 10 lap race from those starting positions. Lift fuel flow rate usage for the 10 lap race and make DRS free.

You add the randomness of the starting position and you have a quali race on Saturday. Their finishing position in the sprint race is their starting position for Sunday.

Given the current Q1 thru Q3 arrangement you would end up doing about the same amount of laps and use less tyres.

Introduce 3rd cars and drivers for the practice sessions so young punks get seat time and make the final 15 minutes of P3 an open pit lane shootout for 3rd cars to get 5 thru 1 points for the fastest 5 3rd cars. Those points go towards constructors

That I could pallet.

[chillibowl]

my biggest issue with eliminating quali is that it eliminates the need for saturday and that is terrible for those who chose to attend the event in person.

for the most part, friday already has been gutted because of long life parts and tire restrictions and if saturday goes then the GP weekend basically turns into a one day event. if that happened i doubt i would ever feel the need to attend an event in person again. if its just a 2.5 hour affair i might as well stay home and watch on my TV.

that said, OZ_HCR32, i like your ideas because they are aimed at adding relevance to the friday and saturday sessions.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Friday is relevant for the teams for data, etc, whilst Saturday dictates a large part of Sunday's race. Let's face it, recent qually sessions such as Spa 2013 and Silverstone this season have been more exciting than many great F1 races!

[TrapezeArtist]

It's an interesting thought, Spider. Of course most (or at least many) sports start with all the competitors on a single startline to give them all an equal chance. That's not feasible in motor-racing so we have to have some form of grid system.

Current system: Rewards the competitor who performs best in qually with an advantage in the race. Encourages races to string out quickly because the fastest competitors are already in front of the slower ones. Potentially makes the early laps safer because the faster cars are able to pull away rather than having to overtake.

Spider's suggestion: Introduces a degree of handicapping by putting better performers at the back, but not so much that the fastest won't win. Provides spectators with more overtaking spectacle as the faster drivers work their way to the front. Potentially introduces additional danger as faster and slower competitors concertina together.

The handicapping element of Spider's system would also be beneficial in helping drivers who have been "unlucky". At the moment, if you are unlucky in qualifying your race position is jeopardised. Under this sytem, if you are unlucky in early races so your championship position is not as good asit should be, you are helped by better grid positions.

I think it's an idea that is worthy of serious consideration. Of course some people will say that it is a gimmick only worthy of stock cars and the BTCC (same thing, really ). It couldn't possibly be as bad as double-points races or sparking undertrays though.

[JacobP]

There goes my Saturday morning entertainment..

But seriously, I never liked the idea of penalizing success. With such incentives, I can even imagine some drivers engaging in crazy sandbagging antics at one GP in order to have a better shot at the next (sort of, throwing away a points finish for the sake of having a shot at podium finish the next GP).

The fact that the qualification section decides so much of the race outcome simply means that qualification is just as important as the race. It's effectively part of the race. People should watch it.

[Paradise City]

Reverse grids and success ballast, I stop watching. I'm already gritting my teeth over DRS, my teef won't take more friction attempting to tolerate other gimmicky garbage.

Formula E are doing the texting rig. You text in your favourite driver and they get boost or something. That's coming in the pipeline for F1 I suspect.

[Mike E]

Why would the front running teams ever agree to this?

[Tucky]

Not qualifying but i'm intrigued by the third car idea for practice. Not for the race mind, each team will only run two cars, but for friday practice teams should be allowed to run a third car with a young driver/3rd driver. That way there's:

1. More for the spectators
2. actual seat time for young drivers
3. Current drivers don't miss out on seat time and therefore can't complain that they had to give up their seat on Friday.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by Mike E

Why would the front running teams ever agree to this?

thats the right question.

personally i cant think of a reason.

[wolfhound]

Originally Posted by Mike E

Why would the front running teams ever agree to this?

Well they normally can't agree on the time of day, so this has much chance of happening as Bernie offering to pay Silverstone £20 million to use their track to run a GP.

[Paradise City]

5 minute qualifying.