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Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix didn’t repeat the farce of 2019, but the risk remained and the problems of drivers backing up to find a tow and prepare their tyres is a spectre that will continue to haunt Monza.
So to avoid another absurd slow-bicycle race such as the one that occurred at the end of Q3 last year, when Carlos Sainz was the only driver of the nine to head out for a final run to start their lap before the chequered flag, why not implement a simple solution that would be ideal for trial on the Bahrain Outer circuit being used for the late-season Sakhir Grand Prix?
Whenever changes in qualifying format are discussed, the assumption is this must be a change to all qualifying, but while F1 demands a certain homogeneity of broadcast slot, there’s no reason tweaks can’t be made within that. So F1 should bring in a single-shot qualifying as a one-off to guarantee what they’d call at Indianapolis ‘no-tow’ laps.
This can also be used to solve the problem created by the short, sharp Bahrain track configuration, where the fastest laps are expected to be around the 53s mark. Given this circuit is also unlikely to reappear, it would effectively be the trial of a one-off, single-shot format ahead of its use at Monza next season.
It’s important not to underestimate how problematic traffic could be in Bahrain this year, as with all 20 cars on the track there would be one approximately every 2.7s. Teams and drivers have already raised concerns about this, but this would solve all of those problems just like that. Even those who dislike single-lap qualifying would surely enjoy seeing this challenge crop up once per year for variety?
While there is an art to getting a tow, luck plays such a big part because you can never be absolutely sure how the car in front will approach their preparation lap. So any loss there is more than made up for by the appeal of a unique qualifying format.
It would be easy to market too. Once a year, you get to see every driver complete their qualifying lap in a celebration of F1’s fastest circuit, which could become a regular part of the Monza weekend. Even single-lap qualifying sceptics would enjoy that, doubly so given low-downforce Monza is a track where you can really see the cars moving around. After all, single-lap qualifying meaning everyone could enjoy a lap like the brilliant one Carlos Sainz produced at Monza live, including his slide at the exit of Lesmo 1 and moment at Ascari.
The format can be tweaked to maximise the spectacle. To ensure the big guns are seen on track enough, the qualifying could be split into Q1 and then a Q2. Assuming you time the running properly, there’s plenty of time to squeeze in a run for all 20 cars, with the top 10 then advancing to a superpole shootout. There are multiple ways to slice and dice this and it would even be possible to formulate it so that there are more runs for the attention-grabbing big names if required.
It will also create extra challenges. Drivers will have to nail their laps under pressure and this will put new demands on them. Does the driver go all-out to deliver that perfect lap at the risk of making a mistake, or be a little more conservative and make sure of a good one? And the teams would have another factor to consider when selecting their final set-up in terms of downforce levels.
There’s no fundamental reason why every F1 qualifying session has to run to an identical format week-in, week-out. Fans enjoy variety and as long as the aim of qualifying – to lap as quickly as possible – remains, why not throw the teams and drivers a slightly different version of the same challenge that will take them out of their comfort zones?
Teams do everything they can to make things as predictable as possible by being on top of everything that’s thrown at them. So let’s throw a few modified formats in to stretch them, solving a Monza problem in the process.
