Story highlights
Formula One organizers announce plans to spice up qualifying for 2016
Slowest drivers eliminated to leave two drivers to fight for pole position
"F1 is the worst it has ever been," complained chief Ecclestone
Driver of the Day vote introduced for new season beginning on 20 March
When the man behind the sport said even he wouldn’t bother buying a ticket then you know drastic action is needed.
Formula One bosses have responded to claims the sport is turning off fans by announcing a series of changes to make the sport roar, rather than bore, in 2016.
“Formula One is the worst it has ever been,” F1’s chief executive Bernie Ecclestone told The Daily Mail newspaper. “I wouldn’t spend my money to take my family to watch a race. No way.”
The sport’s governing body, the FIA, has reacted by revealing plans to spice up qualifying and introduce a ‘Driver of the Day’ award.
The qualifying session, which decides the starting order for each grand prix, will still be split into three phases but the slowest driver will now be eliminated every 90 seconds.
In total, seven drivers will be eliminated in the first two sessions while in the final phase of qualifying the remaining drivers will be ousted until just two are left to duke it out for pole position.
The idea is to stop the top teams, such as Mercedes and Ferrari, coasting through qualifying and to increase the risk of a star name, like world champion Lewis Hamilton, being knocked out.
“The new system is being evaluated for introduction, potentially as soon as the beginning of the 2016 season,” said the FIA in a statement.
The FIA, Ecclestone and the top six teams form F1’s Strategy Group, which came up with the new-look qualifying procedure at a meeting in Geneva just 24 days before qualifying for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on 20 March.
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The sport’s leading players also agreed to introduce a ‘Driver of the Day’ award to “drive greater fan engagement.”
The public will vote online for their leading man during the race with the new gong handed out at the end of the race live on TV, along with the podium prizes.
Looking ahead, there are also plans to increase car speeds and noise and lower lap times in 2017 with tweaks to the rules on car design and engines.
The F1 Commission also confirmed plans to introduce cockpit protection for drivers from 2017 onwards. French racer Jules Bianchi died last year following serious head injuries sustained in a head-on crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.
All the proposed changes have to be rubberstamped by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council next month.
Ecclestone, who continues to be a major influence in the sport at the age of 85, gave the Reuters news agency an immediate response to the proposals, saying: “Now, I’d be a bit more confident that we are going to see some good racing.”