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F1 qualifying summit to discuss extra tyres, shoot-out solution
Formula 1 teams will be given the option of having extra tyres for Q3, or changing the final session to a single-lap shoot out, during Sunday's summit to sort out qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Apr 2, 2016, 2:21 PM
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Motorsport.com revealed on Thursday that F1 teams and key players – including Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Jean Todt – will meet ahead of the race in Bahrain to discuss what to do about qualifying.
And although teams stated in Australia that they wanted to revert to the 2015 format, Todt has revealed that other potential tweaks will be discussed before any decision is made about potentially reverting to the old system.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, Todt said he believed the issue of an early end to running in Q3 could be addressed by handing teams an extra free set of tyres, something Pirelli is able to do in time for the Chinese Grand Prix.
When asked by Motorsport.com what format he would like to see, Todt said: "About Q3, clearly it was the biggest problem. There are a lot of opportunities.
"One opportunity could be to have one more set of tyres. It would definitely increase the show.
"Another possibility is that you take the first eight of the classification, the eighth is leaving first at the green light during the lap, while he is doing the lap, the seventh of the classification goes to do his lap. And you will have one car on the track [all the time] with an unpredictable final result.
"There are a lot of solutions that can be highlighted. I felt it was necessary to give one more chance to this frame of qualifying before reverting simply to 2015."
Todt said that Pirelli had been asked about providing an extra tyre for Q3 immediately after the Australian GP qualifying problems had been highlighted, but it was too late to do anything for the Bahrain weekend.
F1 race director Charlie Whiting said: "They said they couldn't do it for here, it was logistically impossible to get another set of Q3 tyres: notwithstanding the fact that the rules would need changing.
"But before we proposed a rule change, we wanted to see if it was possible to get the tyres for this race and sadly it was not."
Finding a solution
Todt said he was optimistic that unanimity could be found on Sunday so that F1 can settle on a format that it is happy with for the remainder of 2016.
"Hopefully we will get a unanimous agreement in the interest of the sport," he said.
"I hope the decision that will be taken tomorrow in light of the second qualifying will respect the fans, will respect the media, will respect the promoters and respect everybody and will be a good step forward."
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