Formula 1 Considering Switch To Four-Session Qualifying In 2020

The FIA’s Strategy Group and Sporting Working Group have discussed implementing a four-session qualifying format in Formula 1, beginning the 2020 season.

While this latest debate didn’t end with a vote or a firm conclusion, sources suggest that the idea is gathering momentum and is likely to be implemented, as the goal is to create more exciting qualifying, forcing top teams to be more consistent.

This new format would function by having four cars eliminated after each of the three first sessions, leaving eight cars to battle it out in Q4. The end result should be a little extra uncertainty, with top drivers needing to complete three perfect sessions in order to make it into Q4.

What about tire wear?

The two groups also discussed how many tires drivers would have to use in order to make it through four qualifying sessions. One possibility is to have the top eight cars start on the tires that they used in the final pole session, rather than in the penultimate session like they do now.

In turn, this could force the top eight drivers to qualify and start on the softest compound tires, leaving everyone else to choose freely. The way it’s done now, top teams like Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Raacing can often afford to use the harder and more advantageous race tire to get through Q2, so by making quicker drivers start on a more fragile compound tire, the rest of the grid wouldn’t be at such a disadvantage anymore.

One team principal told Autosport that having a good tire strategy during qualifying is so crucial now, that teams who battle for pole may end up going out on the harder tire just so they don’t compromise their race the following day.

In the end, we’re all for making qualifying sessions more exciting, especially since they can be so remarkably important at specific tracks where it is very difficult to overtake during the race, like Monaco, Singapore, Australia and Hungary.