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Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo Racing C38, leads Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso STR14, in the pit lane
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Commentary

F1 must go extreme with qualifying changes or leave it

It has been mooted that Formula 1 could introduce an extra segment in qualifying to add extra jeopardy for the bigger teams. But is this going dangerously close to trying to fix something that isn't broken as F1 did with the 2016 elimination debacle?

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Qualifying is rarely cited as an aspect of modern Formula 1 that needs fixing by fans, yet for the second time in recent years a major revision is being mooted, with the plan to increase the session from three to four segments. This raises questions about whether F1 is willing to go far enough to achieve its objectives.

Given what happened in 2016, when the disastrous and ill-thought-through elimination qualifying format was hastily introduced, met with derision and then axed after two races, the phrase 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' springs to mind. But just because the current system at least works well is no reason to consider improvements, so there's nothing fundamentally wrong with F1 trying to tackle what it understands to be the current weaknesses.

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