Sprint races approved and happening in 2021. Balls.

[MonteCristo]

Bottom post of the previous page:

I attended the AGP the year of the aggregate qualifying.

It was awful to watch as an in-person spectator. Barely better on TV.

[Aty]

It is not that I fundamentally disagree with most honorable posters on this thread, however my impression is, that almost all without exceptions expressing their views from a position of someone on side-lines, an observer, a fan watching his hero to perform regardless issues his team might be facing. It is also true, that one can find odd cases which seemingly justify a change in the process of qualifying. I am not against a better system, but do we have one?

I've adopted a different position, namely, interpreting the same issues from a position of a driver and his team.

I can understand and feel for a driver who cannot launch qualifying lap when he wants, because his semi-developed equipment is not ready. There is a lot of reasons for that, and I will not bore you (again) with that. I wish to close this issue from my side with re-quoting my earlier post, and leave it at that.

I am getting tired of FiA's shoddy habits when they are trying mask poor car designs and unfinished development by interjecting into the system DRS, forcing lottery type of qualifications as a substitute for proper overtaking, etc. How many times drivers had just one hot lap, and lost others due to red flag, or was blocked by someone? I don't derive pleasure of seeing a driver in far back position for causes beyond his control. Drivers (and teams) do need several clean hot laps to find their proper place on the grid. Current system (IMO) is not accommodating for that.

As much as it pains me to say this, at the end even spring qualifications system under certain circumstance might be more fair than 3Q segments quali we have now. During 100 lap drivers can leverage their position, whereas 1 or 2 hot laps in one segment is just a bad joke from where I sit. (To be sure, I don't like either). Twelve laps (warm up lap, hot lap, cooling lap), all 4x if driver wants during one hour is the thing I am after.

[PTRACER]

Twelve laps (warm up lap, hot lap, cooling lap), all 4x if driver wants during one hour is the thing I am after.

Yeah, I hunker after such a system again. The sprint qualifying is an exciting format, but all teams seem limited to a maximum of two runs, which can easily get ruined. I don't think a 12 lap system would be any less interesting, and to prevent teams staying in the garage for most of the session maybe they could institute some kind of rule that at least one run must be completed every 20 minutes except in the case of a provable mechanical issue.

[Kai-Star]

A 12 lap system would be just like years ago - the track would be empty for 30 minutes and then full in the last 10 minutes.

After watching F1 since the 80's and seeing all the weird qualifying formats, this current one is the best, which is why they've stuck by it.

[Aty]

Twelve laps (warm up lap, hot lap, cooling lap), all 4x if driver wants during one hour is the thing I am after.

Yeah, I hunker after such a system again. The sprint qualifying is an exciting format, but all teams seem limited to a maximum of two runs, which can easily get ruined. I don't think a 12 lap system would be any less interesting, and to prevent teams staying in the garage for most of the session maybe they could institute some kind of rule that at least one run must be completed every 20 minutes except in the case of a provable mechanical issue.

Yes and Yes. In the era when track development is curtailed, cars are not in the best condition to produce just one flawless lap in Q1, Q2, etc., which is happening far too often in recent times. Teams do need to optimize their race strategy, and current system is not supportive of such effort (IMO). No need for me to repeat again how problematic current qualification is.

[Aty]

A 12 lap system would be just like years ago - the track would be empty for 30 minutes and then full in the last 10 minutes.

After watching F1 since the 80's and seeing all the weird qualifying formats, this current one is the best, which is why they've stuck by it.

Two opinions by two old timers looking at the same thing.

________________________

BTW, my first race that ignited my life long love for the sport dates back to Kyalami 74.

[Michael Ferner]

Well, as an oldtimer myself , having watched F1 since the 70s, and seen all the weird qualifying formats, I can honestly say they all suck. Qualifying is just a vastly overrated bit of superfluous track time for the cars which is inherently boring, so I look forward to the sprint races replacing the current system. Heck, if you like qualifying so much, you can still watch it on Fridays (or Saturday mornings), it will not go away. But having the grid for the Grand Prix proper decided by a race is something that should have been implemented a long time ago. It's a well proven concept, and it's been done since the dawn of racing (actually, there were qualifying races for the very first motor race, in 1894), long before one-lap qualifying was invented in the US in the teens (1910s, that is! ). I used to watch it when we were starved of racing on TV, or when tickets for the Sunday race were ten times more expensive than going on a Friday or a Saturday, but I can honestly say I wouldn't miss it one bit if it was gone forever.

[XcraigX]

long before one-lap qualifying was invented in the US in the teens (1910s, that is! ). I used to watch it when we were starved of racing on TV, or when tickets for the Sunday race were ten times more expensive than going on a Friday or a Saturday, but I can honestly say I wouldn't miss it one bit if it was gone forever.

Wait, just how old are you and what wizardry have you employed to get a TV in the 1910's??

[Michael Ferner]

Wizardry? I can read, s'all.

[MonteCristo]

I can read, s'all.

A witch! A witch!

[PTRACER]

But having the grid for the Grand Prix proper decided by a race is something that should have been implemented a long time ago.

But if you have a race deciding the grid for a race, then you still need a way of determining the starting grid for the first race. And you can't have a race to decide that or you'll end up stuck in an infinite loop of races to decide the starting grid of the race after. Great Scott!

[Aty]

Well, as an oldtimer myself , having watched F1 since the 70s, and seen all the weird qualifying formats, I can honestly say they all suck. Qualifying is just a vastly overrated bit of superfluous track time for the cars which is inherently boring, so I look forward to the sprint races replacing the current system. Heck, if you like qualifying so much, you can still watch it on Fridays (or Saturday mornings), it will not go away. But having the grid for the Grand Prix proper decided by a race is something that should have been implemented a long time ago. It's a well proven concept, and it's been done since the dawn of racing (actually, there were qualifying races for the very first motor race, in 1894), long before one-lap qualifying was invented in the US in the teens (1910s, that is! ). I used to watch it when we were starved of racing on TV, or when tickets for the Sunday race were ten times more expensive than going on a Friday or a Saturday, but I can honestly say I wouldn't miss it one bit if it was gone forever.

I used to literally sit on the edge of my chair, having my fingers bleeding from chewing them up when quali was on, and it was hour+ before Michael completed his last lap. Time stopped. My heart stopped. World stopped. This never happened again when changes to quali were implemented. I don't want to get into tussle which system is better, but I know how I feel about it. I've lost all my recordings of past races when I was moving from across ponds, but if you do, check Brawn's face on the pit-wall during those attempts, as blood was drained from his cheeks for the moment before we yell big YYYYEEEESSSSSS...he did it. It was a successful penalty kick in World Cup. That big for Michael's fans.

Or take in Jerez, when Jacques Villeneuve was first to set a time of 1:21.072, fourteen minutes into the one hour session. A further fourteen minutes later, Michael Schumacher posted an identical time. (Wiki.) Jacques had a better car, and my heart stopped. It was that tense. That was time for me which was precious and something I was waiting for between races....but no more.

[DoubleFart]

12 lap Quali was boring. Too many people looking through rose tinted specs here. Who remembers more than 3 Quali sessions from the over 100 races between 1996 and 2004?

[Aty]

Most contributors on this forum, as I interpreting their arguments, are concerned how much action (or lack of thereof) fans see during 60 min / 12 laps qualifying format. I am however having difficulty accepting current qualifying format from a position of a driver. I don't care about Saturday as much as I do care about grid on Sunday, that represents best of teams could muster. I have time, and if drivers stay in the garage during qualifying, that's fine. They have their reasons, and I can brew another cup of coffee, while reading pre-race news. Sure, there could be some tweaks to it, but substantively that's what I like.

In times like these when regulatory restrictions are worst and more copious than Covid, I want drivers to have chance for corrections. I don't want a driver (any driver) to get stack and being eliminated in Q1 or Q2 just because someone managed to go off, caused a yellow, and screw someone's hot lap behind him. That is not something I want to see. Parc fermé is another nuisance I was hoping they will revoke with installation of financial restrictions, but no such luck. Thirst for control over other people is just too sweet to give it up just like that.

[Everso Biggyballies]

I know there are mixed feelings of this concept but I am not a fan, particularly of the format and local times of sessions to meet the Friday evening Euro TV market. I will watch the main race but not the peripheral crap.

I was rather hoping it would stay at three events or (the concept) be canned but no.... the bean counters have got their way.

F1 finally approves six sprints race for 2023 following FIA delay

Formula 1 will hold six sprint races in 2023, after motor racing’s governing body finally agreed to the calendar tweaks after months of delays.

F1 teams and Liberty Media had unanimously backed plans back in April to expand the sprint race roster next season following the success of recent trials.

However, the FIA blocked the move as Ben Sulayem wanted to check on the financial impact of the changes – and establish whether or not there should be extra payment made to the governing body.

His stance prompted anger at the time, with some suggesting that ‘greed’ was behind the FIA’s decision to block the move.

They obviously have had a kiss and make friends session as a special vote of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council has now approved the plans.

In the FIA’s statement, they made it clear that the approval of the sprint races had not resulted in a change of financial terms between it and F1’s commercial rights holders.

Next question is where
When the plan was originally for there to be six sprints, F1 was pushing for Bahrain, Imola, Canada, Austria, the Netherlands and Brazil.

The sprints concept screams they are better held at venues where overtaking is possible. Im not sure they have got the right venues.... butt hey are just the proposed not the actual confirmed.

[Vassago]

I'm obvously against the sprint races but the hoopla around them has completely died down this season. It will always happen like this when it's another reason to widen the gap between a runaway leader and the rest. Ferrari has stunk the joint so often nobody gives a damn about sprint races anymore. At least they're honest about them being artificial enough to be only held on tracks where overtaking is supposedly possible. That totally didn't work out in Monza last year but the main problem is teams are running on the edge of penalties after the summer break so nobody will risk a 20 place grid drop for one extra point or two in the sprint race.