2016 Rolex Australian Grand Prix

[SagarisGTB]

The problem is that instead of getting further attempts he's essentially limited to the first couple minutes because his car is too slow to avoid being caught by faster cars on his out lap or flying lap that he has to concede to.

Anyone on a flying lap is not required to move over for faster cars. It is the responsibility of the faster car behind to leave enough space at the start of the hot lap.

The reason Hamilton caught and was held up by Grosjean was because Romain ran wide at turn 6 and abandoned his lap. Like Vettel and Rosberg, Grosjean did a second hot lap on his first run, which ultimately cost him. Had he not made that mistake, he would have ran his second run concurrent with Gutierrez and would have given himself a chance to move up the grid.

Wouldn't work. The only way this could possibly work is if they had specific quali tyres that were hard enough to allow them to just constantly lap and potentially get faster.

Unless it was mandated that all cars have to start qualifying with a certain amount of fuel, the qualifying session would go much the same as it does now. Why make yourself vulnerable to being eliminated first by running with more fuel when you can post a much faster time on minimal fuel?

 

[Endless-Wilso]

Like they said on NBC this new Quali is just a bunch of clock watching.
Hopefully it'll scrapped before 3 more races pass by.

 

[GTPorsche]

Like they said on NBC this new Quali is just a bunch of clock watching.
Hopefully it'll scrapped before 3 more races pass by.

I think we've already seen the last of that format.

 

[Pete05]

I've been watching F1 for over 30 years now & the best qualifying format I've ever seen was the old times session with qualifying tyres and hand grenade engines on qualifying boost.

Everything since has failed to deliver the excitement of watching a driver at the absolute limit.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Not only that, Button said that they did not have the tyres left. Now taking into consideration that FP1 and FP2 were on inters, that shows how bodged up this system really is.

Plus, the commentators pointed out that everyone had plenty of tyres; more than enough to make it through to Q3 without burning a set of race tyres.

 

[Tired Tyres]

Is this sarcasm?

The cars are much more physically demanding these days. I dare you to operate a cloth to wipe off your visor on a straight going close to 200mph, imparting your own vision with the wiping, and winds trying to blow your hand and cloth off.

Are you serious? Have you seen how many controls are on a wheel these days? You are very severely underestimating human capabilities.

 

[ECGadget]

Plus, the commentators pointed out that everyone had plenty of tyres; more than enough to make it through to Q3 without burning a set of race tyres.

So something in this is not adding up too well. There seemed to be a LOT of confusion in qualifying. Also, are the rules still stating that you start on the tyre you qualified on in Q2?

 

[Peter.]

Are you serious? Have you seen how many controls are on a wheel these days? You are very severely underestimating human capabilities.

Fixed buttons on a wheel is definitely a lot easier than wiping your visor off with a cloth at 200mph.

 

[GTPorsche]

Yeah, I think the rules are still requiring that they start on the tires they use for their fastest lap in Q2. That's understandable that teams didn't want to risk those tires, but the lack of action in Q3 was odd.

While the format is flawed, and it's only been done once, I think teams were intentionally making it worse to show that they want nothing to do with the format. I still think we won't see it happen again unless it's better thought out before being implemented.

 

[chromatic9]

However, the real question is, did F1 qualifying need tampering with at all?

I think it does.

Old Q1 was boring. I don't think it's a good way to start for the audience. The only thing good about the new quali is Q1 was interesting from the very start, was nice to see the drivers getting a move on but obviously what followed half way through Q1 up to Q3 was a shambles though.

I liked the old Q3 very much. it often lead to a grand finale so I'd keep that intact and look at merging Q1 and Q2 into a 20 minute session which makes up the order outside the top 10. The drivers will get going from the start and
I think you'll see them going out late on to try and get a better time. The top ten will have to be on their guard as they know Q1 will be final for most of the pack and everyone will trying very hard.

Biggest problem though is that is only 30 mins of action. The pay per view will want something longer and to keep the carrot on a stick for ad breaks over an hour, or at least 45 mins. In saying that it would be a good 30mins. What we saw today had about 5 mins of interest out of 45 and 15 mins of ad breaks on top. Total waste of everyone's time.

 

[Timppaq]

What would you guys think about this kind of setting?

http://tinyurl.com/jyzooj4

 

[prisonermonkeys]

So something in this is not adding up too well. There seemed to be a LOT of confusion in qualifying.

Like I said, I think the FIA had a grand vision of drivers racing one another in a mad scramble to the line to knock one another out, but nothing came of it.

The new qualifying format is like cricket: has the potential to be fascinating, but is horrible to watch. I like the idea of putting pressure on drivers to deliver a perfect lap on a moment's notice, and I like the idea of forcing teams to balance risk against reward; do they fuel light to hammer out a perfect lap, but risk an error and the inability to turn the car around in pit, or do they fuel heavy to get more laps in, but risk chasing the pack?

Also, are the rules still stating that you start on the tyre you qualified on in Q2?

Yes, and it's a stupid, unnecessary rule. It was introduced in the hopes that drivers would chew through their tyres, forcing them onto a strategy that gave the other drivers a fighting chance. But the teams were already well ahead of the FIA on that one.

 

[ECGadget]

Like I said, I think the FIA had a grand vision of drivers racing one another in a mad scramble to the line to knock one another out, but nothing came of it.

The new qualifying format is like cricket: has the potential to be fascinating, but is horrible to watch. I like the idea of putting pressure on drivers to deliver a perfect lap on a moment's notice, and I like the idea of forcing teams to balance risk against reward; do they fuel light to hammer out a perfect lap, but risk an error and the inability to turn the car around in pit, or do they fuel heavy to get more laps in, but risk chasing the pack?


Yes, and it's a stupid, unnecessary rule. It was introduced in the hopes that drivers would chew through their tyres, forcing them onto a strategy that gave the other drivers a fighting chance. But the teams were already well ahead of the FIA on that one.

Ideally, I think if they wanted these elimination style rounds they should have allowed the drivers to finish thier lap provided they were in the final sector or something. That way we would have seen the likes of Sainz and Ricciardo going for it today. Still would not have fixed the mess that was Q3, but would have been a little better and, in my humble opinion, fairer.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Ideally, I think if they wanted these elimination style rounds they should have allowed the drivers to finish thier lap provided they were in the final sector or something. That way we would have seen the likes of Sainz and Ricciardo going for it today. Still would not have fixed the mess that was Q3, but would have been a little better and, in my humble opinion, fairer.

I think that would have just made things messier.

The only way that I could see it working is by introducing a rule that states that once you pit, you can't return to the circuit.

 

[TRGTspecialist]

What would you guys think about this kind of setting?

http://tinyurl.com/jyzooj4

The final session single-lap shootout I've always been a fan of, but the rest adds too much complexity, which personally I find is rarely a good thing. In particular this bit:

• after Q2, the times are added together and top 12 will proceed to Q3, bottom 12 gets a free tire choice for the race. Fastest time either in Q1 or Q2 will be your qualifying time for bottom 12.

So in Q2 there would actually be two separate ranking measure running simultaneously - both of which require knowledge of the times from a different session. So I would need at least two separate leaderboards on screen to have any idea of what positions the cars are in - and probably some pen and paper too to work out how they're ending up there. At this point it doesn't matter what sort of exciting results you generate - I'm not around to see it because I can't be bothered to put that amount of effort in to follow it.

For dummies like me, the more contrived a system is made the worse it usually becomes, no matter what the changes are - at a minimum any system needs to be simple and clear to follow.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Fixed buttons on a wheel is definitely a lot easier than wiping your visor off with a cloth at 200mph.

Not everything needs to be done at 200mph though, considering having to look down at the brake and torque bias settings among other things while driving around on the track and they don't crash. Also Hamilton was wiping his eyes at the 2014 Monaco GP because of something supposedly in his eye...and yet maintained position and didn't crash.

The 200mph number you give is not even close to a realistic constant seen in F1.

 

[GTPorsche]

Completely honest... a cloth wouldn't be allowed in an F1 car today because it adds too much weight.

 

[Dotini]

Completely honest... a cloth wouldn't be allowed in an F1 car today because it adds too much weight.

Today's F1 cars are the heaviest they've been in...65 years?

 

[ECGadget]

I think that would have just made things messier.

The only way that I could see it working is by introducing a rule that states that once you pit, you can't return to the circuit.

That would be an interesting one, but I am pretty certain the drivers would then just do a lap and then cruise for a while unless they needed to do another one. But it also makes it unfair in a sense that you cannot do installation laps to get a feel for what may have changed between FP3 and Q1, giving us drivers not going as fast as they would want to.

 

[GTPorsche]

Today's F1 cars are the heaviest they've been in...65 years?

And yet the drivers have to be as light as they physically can or it's a detriment to the car.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Completely honest... a cloth wouldn't be allowed in an F1 car today because it adds too much weight.

And the material would cause too much aero drag

Today's F1 cars are the heaviest they've been in...65 years?

Jokes...jokes every where Woody Dotini

 

[TenEightyOne]

Ideally, I think if they wanted these elimination style rounds they should have allowed the drivers to finish thier lap provided they were in the final sector or something. That way we would have seen the likes of Sainz and Ricciardo going for it today. Still would not have fixed the mess that was Q3, but would have been a little better and, in my humble opinion, fairer.

I didn't have any problem looking at the next three drivers and working out if they needed to start their runs or not... it seems that the teams did struggle, but that's their problem. My main concern was the foot traffic in the fast lane - something needs to be done about that.

As I said in the Quali Format thread I'd be happy to keep Q1 and Q2 as they are and have the "old" format back for Q3.

 

[Swagger897]

I didn't watch qualifying live (as it came on around 2:00 AM...) but got to it earlier today, and now I shall express my feelings towards it...

🤬

I haven't been able to do a lot of reading on F1, but I knew that the rules had changed for qualy but wasn't sure exactly what they were. Watching this was honestly a let down, and I could only imagine what it was like to actually be there, with a rain soaked practice session, (didn't see the results of the other one.. been a busy man), this, I can only hope that something like last year happens again.

As far as the format, I don't like, and I don't understand why anyone would like it. When the entire focus of F1 in previous years has been forced racing, strategy, competition, it doesn't come as a surprise. What does though, is just how terrible it did turn out. They seem to have no idea as where they want to take F1, having the drivers now memorize more than ever what it takes to drive these cars, which in no way shape/form are similar to any type of road/production car. The competition forced to the drivers to do well is understandable, and is where it should be headed, and anything overly assisting to the driver/car itself seems understandable as well to limit/restrict.

What does not seem understandable, at all, is limiting how long a driver can qualify for. They know that not all cars are equal on track, and all this does is give those with the best reserves even more of a chance to get spaced out. I did not once find this interesting at all to watch. I had high hopes for Team Haas to at least make it to Q2 (or at least for Esteban) and muck it out there, but sadly it didn't go that way for him or Gene... Renault, never had a chance to prove anything, and poor Manor... I'd rather see Lotus strike a deal with them in some form, as watching them be the back markers is nothing new. Watching the crew on NBCSN totally miffed about what had happened today was great, what wasn't great was the lack of any driver interviews other than Vettel, Hamilton, or Rosberg. But, I guess that's not so surprising when it's FIA controlled anyways...

This might have seemed jumbled reading this, but when you are called the pinnacle of motorsport, it is hard to grasp how such an error has totally ruined a big, no... huge, no MONUMENTAL, part of the sport. Saturday's to me on an F1 weekend are three part races to the sequel on Sunday. Now they seem like one hit wonders on Sundays...

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Qualifying was terrible, Hamilton's lap was amazing, Good performances from McLaren, Max and Jolyon.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Changing the subject, Hamilton's glasses are stupid.

 

[LumpiestFish]

Changing the subject, Hamilton's glasses are stupid.

His gold normal glasses are better than his stupid looking sunglasses. They actually look good.

 

[aarror]

Changing the subject, Hamilton's glasses are stupid.

He reminds me of Jaques Villeneuve when he's wearing them. That's never a good thing.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

His gold normal glasses are better than his stupid looking sunglasses. They actually look good.

His eyeglasses look like something he had to borrow from his great uncle because Nico Rosberg "accidentally" sat on his normal pair.

 

[LumpiestFish]

His eyeglasses look like something he had to borrow from his great uncle because Nico Rosberg "accidentally" sat on his normal pair.

It's fashion. You don't understand.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Question: you're Martin Brundle, doing your first gridwalk in a season you have described as the most exciting in years for the intensity of the midfield. Who do you interview first?

Spoiler

Answer: ... Jolyon Palmer.