The Moronic New F1 Qualifying Format Has Finally Been Ditched For The Old System

The new elimination-style Formula 1 qualifying format was met with a pretty bad response when it was initially announced at the end of February. The system’s unpopularity only increased when it debuted in Australia, failing completely.

F1 bosses said it would be scrapped for the next round in Bahrain but alas, it was not. And when it bombed for a second time, it was clear there was only one thing left to do – bring back the old knock-out system from last year.

This wasn’t what FIA president Jean Todt and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone wanted and other alternatives were discussed at a meeting with bosses on the Sunday of the Bahrain Grand Prix. An aggregate system was put forward, where the classifications from Q1, Q2 and Q3 would be from the driver’s best two laps.

However, team bosses didn’t like this one bit and sent a letter to Todt and Ecclestone ahead of Thursday’s meeting. In a rare showing of unity, all 11 teams said they wanted to revert back to the old format and also made clear any attempts to bring in an aggregate system would be rejected.

Changing a rule at last minute requires unanimous support from Ecclestone, Todt and the 11 teams. All of them decided at the meeting to go back to the three-session, knock-out system from 2015. The regulation switch will go before the F1 Commission and the World Motor Sport Council next week, where it will likely be ratified.

The FIA’s statement read:

“At the unanimous request of the teams in a letter received today, Jean Todt, President of the FIA, and Bernie Ecclestone, commercial rights holder representative, accepted, in the interests of the Championship, to submit a proposal to the F1 Commission and World Motor Sport Council to revert to the qualifying format in force in 2015.

“This proposal, if approved by the F1 governing bodies, will take effect as from the Chinese Grand Prix and will apply for the rest of the season. Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone welcomed the idea put forward by the teams to have a global assessment of the format of the weekend for 2017.”

Thankfully this whole qualifying mess (which didn’t even need to exist in the first place) looks to be over and done with.