Best Qualifying I have ever seen!!

It was very interesting. Hopefully they dont change it. Its fairly good now, keeps you on the edge of your seat until the last time is up.

 

KR crash sure put a wrench in everyone's plans.

Perhaps they should change the rules that a red flag stops the clock?

I found the qualifying to be much better then the single car snooze. Literally that is what I did last year except for the last few cars.

 

The red flag did stop the clock (it stopped w/ about 4 minutes remaining). Are you saying that it should be changed so that it shouldn't stop the clock? There was a lot of debris on the track. Not safe to go racing on that stuff.

 

Yep, Really good to watch for a change, maybe i'll pay more attention this year, I have slipped a bit on F1 in the last couple

 

this has been one of the best qualifying i have seen in i long time. i like it.
its a pitty about kimi, but all the same it was good for ferrari. the new rules are pretty cool too.

 

IMO a red flag with less than 5 min to go should restart the clock with 5 min. that way have time for a warm-up lap and at least 2 fast laps.

 

I think the first 2 sessions should be upped to 20 minutes liked the 3rd. 15 minutes is very little time for 20 cars and then 16 to put in good times without much traffic. I like the 5 minute idea you said, though. Makes a lot more sense (kinda like the Nascar add an extra 2 laps if last lap is under caution, but I don't agree with that one).

 

I was cynical about this new qualifying format. I thought it would be very confusing and would cause a lot of problems. But it turned out to be pretty exciting.

I too woke up at 6:00 a.m. to watch it. I’ve never woken up at 6:00 a.m. for anything.

 

I disagree, the top teams can just go out earlier. Nothing prevents them from putting a time down the first 5 minutes of a session.

 

Strangly they showed the Q on TV(tho of a delayed telecast). I didnt mind the 1st 2 sessions, but the last session was stupid. Why are they disadvantaging the fastest 10? Also it sorta gives an idea to other teams what strategy of what fuel loads everyone is on...

Qualifying has always been fastest car on Pole but the last 5years it hasnt been the case.

I guess its great as a spectator in the stands to see 19cars having a mini race to qualify but the last session was like James said a waste of fuel.

If they mixed the old old system with this new 3 sessions system they could make qualifying fair.

 

it makes sense to disadvantage the top 10, this makes for mor competitive racing, gives lesser teams a chance to do better...and I agree the new qualy is fantastic

 

make that 5:00am in the midwest! my impression of the "first" qualifying stint was kinda lame. but what i liked most is the third round was down to the ten fastest. no more minardi backmarkers to screw things up.

it was nice to see michael smiling with enthusiasm again. massa looked pretty damn quick too! (lite fuel load?) should make for a fun season opener.

forza ferrari!

joe

 

That's thinking!

I hope the FIA are listening.

 

FWIW, I will be missing the first 15 minutes of qualifying. I really dont care about the 5 crappy cars that get knocked out.

They need to go back how it was a few years ago, everyone out and you have 1 full hour, best lap take pole. You can change tires, fix downforce, add gas....whatever. You got 1 hour, end of story. I dont like this qualifying for 2006.

 

The one hour free for all ended being mostly sitting in the pits.

I like the new format- not perfect but a big improvement.

 

One part that seems pretty interesting is that the final group of cars can start the race with no more fuel than what they had when they started the final qualifying session. They can start with less, but not more. Now the interesting part is that they can start the session and run more laps to burn down the fuel load, lightening the car. Its conceivable that their fast qualifying lap could be run when the tank is almost dry, and yet they can still start the race with as much fuel as they started with.

The idea is that it gets the cars on the track longer, which is a huge improvement over the one hour free for all where no one even went out on the track for the first 20 minutes.

This year's qualifying may be a bit gimmicky and complicated, but I think that I actually like it. The only people who might complain would be the sponsors of the slower cars. Under the one car one lap format, the TV cameras would be on each car for an entire lap and give even the backmarkers pretty good exposure. With this new system, I didn't even see several of the cars on the track, much less for an entire lap.

John

 

I think the new format is the best thing that MAX and the crew have come up with since the original free-for -all that qualifying used to be(several years ago). It is interesting that you can have a faster time and still be in 11th or worse--perhaps that problem will be dealt with in the future. And how about that "Ralfie" the 18 million a year back marker. I thought Ralf's comment at the end of last year was that he would be glad to see the new qualifying format because he did not like 1 lap qualifying. Well IMHO he can't cut the new format either. Might be time for Toyota to say syanara (sp) to Ralf. Point of interest--I am not any better at spelling Japanese than Ralf is at qualifying.

 

Agree with all the comments posted above - superb qualifying session with possibility of seeing drivers go out and try to beat the other's times like in 2002.

Good to see Ferrari do so well though I think they are a little lighter than the Hondas and the Renaults

 

I have to agree with what's been said about this new format making it a bunch more exciting than last year! It's really improved alot on "the show." As other's have said, it's not perfect, but since when did the FIA ever get anything 'perfect'?

 

Justin, it might not be perfect, but it is pretty damn close! I really have never enjoyed qualifying so much. It could still undergo a tweak or two though....

 

I will always stand by the 1-lap qualifs, but this was fun to watch too. It was a bit mish-mash and I am certain that FIA will tweak it throughout the season.