Formula 1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone said that the sport faces a "brighter future after teams agreed a new qualifying format from this season, even if he had sought a more radical approach to liven up racing," according to Alan Baldwin of REUTERS. Two days after he said that "current F1 was the worst it had ever been," Ecclestone sounded a "much more positive note." He said, "I think now I’d be a bit more confident that we are going to see some good racing. Then I’ll be happy." Ecclestone said that teams, which agreed to the new qualifying format on Tuesday, "had finally woken up and taken a step in the right direction with more change to come." He said, "I think there’s lots of things we can do and will be doing. What people needed was a bit of a shakeup. I seem to be the only person that has thought we should do something in Formula 1, to wake everybody up a little bit. And maybe that’s what’s happened." F1's core strategy group, which includes Ecclestone and the top six teams as well as governing body, "approved a range of measures -- yet to be formally ratified" by the FIA -- in Geneva on Tuesday. The changes are aimed at "making cars faster, louder, harder to handle and more aggressive" for the '17 season. The new qualifying format was passed unanimously, meaning it "can be introduced at this season's opening race in Australia on March 20 instead of waiting a year." Under the new procedure, the "slowest drivers will be eliminated as the session progresses rather than at the end of each phase." The "final shootout for pole will be between two drivers rather than 10." Looking further ahead, Ecclestone said that the sport "needed to do more to reduce the dominance of champions Mercedes and rivals Ferrari, who between them provide eight of the 11 teams with engines, both on and off the track." He said, "It’s no good just seeing Mercedes in the front, without any competition. That’s what I complained about" (REUTERS, 2/24). The BBC's Andrew Benson reported F1 bosses have been "working for a year on making cars faster and more dramatic-looking" for '17. It is all "in response to a perceived waning interest in the sport, although agreeing the detail has proved problematic." Nevertheless, bodywork dimensions "have been defined after months of discussions:"
- Cars will be made 2,000mm wide, up from the current 1,800mm.
- The bodywork will be increased to 1,600mm with from 1,400mm.
- More aerodynamic downforce will be produced by a redesigned floor.
- Tires will be wider: up from 245mm to 305mm at the front; and from 325mm to 405mm at the rear (BBC, 2/24).
CONSTANT ELIMINATIONS: SKY SPORTS' James Galloway reported while the current qualifying format "has been deemed a success over the past decade," it appears team chiefs believe "more constant eliminations during the hour will increase the chances of creating more unpredictable grids" with driver or team mistakes more heavily penalized. Sky F1 commentator David Croft tweeted, "Can't say whether the new qualy format will be a change for the better until we get the full details but I do wonder why it needed a change?" With the rules "necessitating that cars are on track more often during the hour," the prospect of cars running into traffic while "navigating past eliminated cars on their way back to the pits would increase." Sky F1 analyst Mark Hughes said, "So, musical chairs qualifying it's to be? Stewards are going to need eyes in backs of heads to see every single blocking move, esp Q1" (
SKY SPORTS, 2/24).
DRIVERS REACT: The HERALD SUN reported Haas driver Romain Grosjean "is completely against the idea," saying he feared it would be a "disaster" for the sport when asked about its viability at pre-season testing in Barcelona. Grosjean said when asked about the idea, "Disaster. I’ve been doing it in GP2 and it’s probably why you win the title but it’s not why you win races." He instead preferred making cars "more physically demanding to drive, so fans could see how drivers performed under fatigue." He added, "Formula 1 people want to see qualifying, they want to see a race, they want to see gladiators fighting with the best cars in the world, being the best drivers, finishing tired and exhausted and having given 100 percent." Meanwhile, it sounds like F1 "has failed in its attempt to bring back loud engine roars." Some drivers, teams and fans said that they "did not notice a significant increase in sound when cars made it to the track for the first time this week in pre-season testing in Barcelona." Force India driver Nico Hülkenberg said the car "sounds similar" to what it did last year. Sauber driver Felipe Nasr noticed only "a little" increase in the engine sound. Red Bull Chief Engineer Officer Rob Marshall said that F1 "would have been better off without the exhaust changes." He said, "The new exhausts are a waste of time." McLaren Racing Dir Eric Boullier said, before pausing to rethink his answer, "I think it's a little bit better. Isn't it?" (
HERALD SUN, 2/23).
IMPROVING THE SHOW: AUTOSPORT's Ian Parkes reported Boullier believes F1's new qualifying format will produce "unpredictability." The teams reportedly "decided to make the changes in the wake of a request from the promoters to help improve the show." Boullier: "Everybody has an opinion, pros and cons, which is fine, and in the end we have to sometimes listen to the commercial rights holder [Ecclestone] and keep the DNA of F1, but also to make it better" (AUTOSPORT, 2/24). REUTERS reported the FIA said on Wednesday that F1 will introduce a "Driver of the Day" award chosen by fans voting online during the race (REUTERS, 2/24).
