2y ago

F1 to implement new qualifying rules at the Hungarian Grand Prix

www.sbnation.com F1 to implement new qualifying rules at the Hungarian Grand Prix

At next week’s Hungarian Grand Prix, qualifying will look a little different

During qualifying, teams are limited in what compounds they can use in dry conditions. Teams are required to use the hard compound during Q1, the medium compound during Q2, and finally they can use the softs during Q3.

39 comments

Stupid rule. The on bit of a GP weekend that was basically perfect was qualifying.
This will punish slower cars and remove excitement and spectacle.
For a sport supposedly full of clever people F1 makes the worst decisions all the time.

Can they please stop messing with qualifying?
- Honestly though, what's wrong with this? Since the qualifying tire no longer matters in the race, why not do this and save a few tires? They're not really inexpensive (I don't really buy the environmental part as their reason but it's a nice bonus). It was one thing when going out on mediums in Q2 actually gave you an advantage in the race, but now there's no reason not to do it really, except for maybe that the smaller teams get less runtime on the softer compound But even then, running Q1 on hards would give the teams more knowledge of that compound, something they often cite as a reason for not using them, and maybe some teams will pick a strategy involving it, or if an early saftey car happens they'll be more confident to go the distance on hards, if possible. This also forces all teams to be good on all compounds (which is something (I think it was) Haas struggled with a few years ago. Idk I don't see any real downsides with this (even if the upsides aren't that great, might aswell do it.

Having freedom in tyre choice is how lower tier teams have a go at making into Q2 and Q3. This decision would have a significant impact in their qualifying strategy. Teams with more powerful engines and faster cars aren't going to be as affected.

I don't get it. What's the point?
Maybe excess hard compound tires littering the Pirelli factory. Lol
- "This means a reduction - from 13 to 11 - of the sets of dry tyres that each driver has available for the entire event, therefore decreasing the environmental impact generated by the production and transport of the tyres"
  
  Ty for the context
- Yeah seems completely arbitrary.
- Also gives teams more soft options during the race

"This means a reduction - from 13 to 11 - of the sets of dry tyres that each driver has available for the entire event, therefore decreasing the environmental impact generated by the production and transport of the tyres." Seems like a good reason to me.
- This is just distracting from the fact that logistics has the most environmental impact by far.
  Honestly if they really want to reduce tire waste they should not force Pirelli to make them degrade more on purpose.
  
  Yes, it would be great if the tires could also be used longer and more often.
  But I don't get your point regarding logistics: this leads to 2 tire sets / driver that don't need to be transported and produced, right? So it should be a good first step into reducing the impact of production and transportation.
  
  not distracting from it, transporting tires is literally part of the logistics footprint of F1 which they are reducing.
- It would be a lot better if they just reduced the number of tyres and left it up to the teams to manage. This feels completely arbitrary and removes the spectacle of seeing all the cars at their fastest.

I wish they'd also have a rethink about the Sprint Quali format. It seems sprints are here to stay, but I really wish there were more differences between the actual race/quali and the sprint versions. They need to stand out more.
Maybe shorter sessions so you only have time for one lap and just do 10 eliminations after Q1 and then Q2 to set the top ten? I don't know, but the sprint format needs something different.

The change will reduce the amount of tire sets needed during a weekend by 2 per car. It's a (small) move towards sustainability that has very little impact in the sport itself...
- If they cared about the impact of their tires on sustainability, then why require Pirelli to make tires that degrade so quickly? Just require tires that last a whole race/qualifying distance?
  
  But in that scenario without refueling there's no pit stops, and thus no strategy options for the team beyond 'drive quickly'?
  
  They already tried this. It became dangerous as drivers that clearly had tire issues would not pit as the penalty for pitting for tires was quite severe.
  I want to say it is either Kimi or Mika who had a bad set of flat spotted front tires they literally shook the car apart.
  
  It's a balance. They need a marketable product, but can also try to be restrained a bit.

This is what was planned for the Emilia-Romagna GP before it got called off, yes?
It sounds like a relatively sensible change from the perspective of limiting tyres used.

Another “win” for the fucking incompetent manifestation that is dominicali. Finding things that aren’t broke and break them. That must be his mission statement that gets him out of bed every morning.
As a general rule, when in doubt, ask what that fucktard would do and the do the exact opposite for a guaranteed win. Absolutely clown shoes. When will this idiot finally pound sand?
- Not really sure I understand why this change is bad...i mean current setup is not much better, everyone just runs softs, unless it's wet. Before these changes at least tire choice impacted the race as teams in Q3 had to use same tire in race as they used in qualiy. This change is gonna screw with teams that don't do well on hards (cough merc cough).. Not sure it will hurt slower team's but probably. Anyone has data on time deltas by tire type for some teams? Is the delta larger with certain tires?
  
  This change is gonna screw with teams that don’t do well on hards (cough merc cough)…
  So Perez, Hamilton and Russel out in Q1 now :D

Wtf!?

@bhmnscmm I literally do not see the point of this. Seems completely arbitrary

As long as allow drives has the same rule it will be entertaining.

I don’t really like it.

Gotta reduce that OpEx to keep those margins high!

I’d like to see the opposite happen, each quali run a full blown race to make it tot the next session. If they need to, handicap the top 10 from the previous race this way, not the entire field.

It's because Toto had a tantrum that he got out strategized by Zach and had only used softs for Hamilton.

39 comments