That Didn’t Take Long
Story via Fox Sports Australia.
CONTROVERSIAL Formula One qualifying rules used for the first time at last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix could already be in line for changes.
The rules, involving grid positions based on the aggregate of two separate sessions, have drawn a barrage of criticim from teams and drivers. Ferrari says the sport seems to be stumbling from “poor solution to poor solution” while Red Bull racer David Coulthard called them “farcical”.
And McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya has complained that Formula One fans are being short-changed.
Ferrari qualified poorly because of a downpour shortly before the cars ran but technical director Ross Brawn says the rules will need modifying if they continue to prove dull. Brawn said another two races should be enough to decide whether the regulations needed to be tweaked. “Clearly Australia wasn’t a good example,” Brawn told F1Racing .net.
“But I’d say that Malaysia, or maybe Bahrain, when we can see it running normally, if we don’t see a reasonable spectacle, then things might be considered again. “We seem to be going from poor solution to poor solution.”
Montoya said now that tyres needed to last through qualifying as well as the race, drivers were loath to press too hard for fear of damaging them. “Yeah, well, you’re trying to save the tyre, so it’s not the most exciting thing,” he said. “You’re just keeping it on the track. “I think it’s disappointing for the fans who pay their money. I think the big problems is that people don’t understand what’s going on.”
Fourth-placed Coulthard, a winner from the qualifying format, was nevertheless scathing about the new system. “It totally benefited us, but it’s not really what we’re here to see. It was kind of farcical,” Coulthard said. “There’s no point watching the first (Saturday) qualifying hour anymore, as it’s all decided in the pre-race qualifying session.
“It should be one hour, four laps and you’ve got to do a lap in every 15 minutes with all the cars out there.”
Meanwhile, Coulthard emphasised that the Red Bull team’s effort in Melbourne
