Drivers ideas on modifying the Qualifying session

Source: www.formula1.com

David Coulthard: “No fuel - and then go out and find who has the best combination of car/driver/tyres. I am not happy with the single lap situation. I just was in Portugal for the Moto GP and it was great to see them all on the track for one hour fighting like hell against each other. I think that Formula One should return to that qualifying system. It would be a win-win situation for the drivers and the viewers.”

Michael Schumacher: “As one of the speakers of the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers’ Association) I naturally communicate my visions of a qualifying mode to all involved in this matter. But as I am aware of the fact that every statement I make weighs very heavily I will contribute my ideas to the right auditorium and help find a solution we can all live with.”

Jarno Trulli: “There is a big discussion going on with many differing opinions. The only thing we all agree on was to run on low fuel. My personal opinion is that the old qualifying with everybody on the track was better than this single flying lap situation.”

Fernando Alonso: “Low fuel. It would be more exciting for the drivers because we could push harder to the limit. I am comfortable with the single lap system because it is only one big risk and pressure for the drivers.”

Jenson Button: “I like it as it is now with the single lap although it had caught me out a couple of times. I don’t follow the preferences of many other drivers to run on low fuel. To leave it up to the teams how much fuel they will have on board for qualifying makes the race more unpredictable and hence more exciting for the viewers.”

Juan-Pablo Montoya: “The old format - one hour - everybody on the track - many laps - low fuel. That’s racing.”

Ricardo Zonta: “Low fuel is essential. And two flying laps. Because if they change the tyre regulations for the next year, one lap will not be enough to warm up and have the fastest times possible.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “I want to go back to the old qualifying mode with many laps and all cars on the track. This was already racing, even during qualifying, with strategies that had to be developed on when to get out of the pits to do the perfect flying lap with the minimum traffic on the track.”

Giancarlo Fisichella: “Whatever change there will be it will be better than it is now. This single lap does not support a race feeling.”

Olivier Panis: “My preference is two flying laps. Everybody should get a second chance. And it would be great for the viewers to see the cars two times. Viewers have got used to the one car on track mode, so it would not make sense to return to the old system of having all cars running at the same time.”

Mark Webber: “Qualifying always has been about one fast lap. I don’t think that adding the times together would be a very good idea. My ideal would be to run on low fuel and have two flying laps.”

 

I posted it to show how different sets of people are reacting to the same issue...

There are several groups involved
- The fans on the circuits
- The fans watching the race on TV
- Sponsors
- Teams
- FIA
- Bernie Ecclestone
- Media

Everyone has a different opinion. Within each group there is no real consensus as can be seen by the drivers comments.

So your comment about "They should do what the sponsors and fans want, not what the drivers and/or teams want" makes no sense to me because the fans or teams havent agreed on anything. There is no homogeneity.

I mean there fans who want F1 to be pure and untouched and do not want any changes (they resent the single lap qualifying in the first place) and others who want overtaking a lap and therefore call for more radical changes such as starting with a reversed grid. So I ask you again what do fans want..

And why would I care about drivers think - its because they are the ones working their butt off while we sit in front of the TV watching with a beer in hand. And drivers (at least some of them) are fans as well. What may be exciting to them would be exciting to us too ... The drivers are not your regular truck drivers in your company. So a mere employee of the company doesnt hold too much water to me. So a little respect is called for. So there!

Most of the verbiage in this area is from media personnel expressing their opinions or Max Mosley or Team bosses. This is to give another perspective.

 

I dont remember the specifics but the gist was that:

- F1 seems to exist for the entertainment of the teams and not fans
- Qualifying sucks
- Radical moves such as performance weight penalties or reverse grid are deemed by many to be unfair.

About the percent of people who don't attend races ... that could be due to several reasons and not just the quality of racing
- astronomical ticket prices (except perhaps US)
- inconvenience to get the stadium, nearby hotels, etc - particularly in Europe
- You cant really get all the telemetry or other data that you see on the TV
- the fact that the championship was becoming predictable way to early in the season