Ecclestone suggests lottery qualifying

Bernie Ecclestone has suggested a qualifying lottery, where the fastest ten drivers get points for qualifying but the actual grid positions to be drawn at random. Ecclestone has never hidden his dislike of this year's one flying lap system and has often voiced that it should be changed.

"I'd like to see the fastest 10 in qualifying drawn by lottery for the grid," he explained. "You would have a different grid for sure and all the guys who are in the top 10 would have a good chance of being on pole."

"We'd have qualifying with low fuel, 20 runners, the top 10 of those 20 run again to establish who is quickest of the 10. They'd get points for that and then a lottery for the grid."

FIA president Max Mosley is not so easily convinced: "There's no way it's going to change this season," he stated. "Next season...you can never say never but at the moment there doesn't seem to be enough evidence that we need a change, nor is there a clear proposal which is obviously better than what we've got now."

Ecclestone's proposal is not dissimilar to the system the German Touring Car (DTM) championship has adopted this year. Although the lottery element is absent, in the DTM all drivers go out for a session which sets positions from 11 upwards. Then the top ten go out again for one lap each to set the grid from one to ten.

Mercedes motorsport director Norbert Haug is a fan of the DTM way: "The new qualifying format has proved to be good and the competitiveness is remarkable," he said. "This version could be a good suggestion for Formula One."