Newz Forum: AUTO: F1 change qualifying procedure

Formula One's two Saturday qualifying sessions will now take place an hour apart from next week's Grand Prix.A new system introduced this season saw drivers race a single lap in two back-to-back sessions with the final session determining grid positions.

The International Automobile Federation has altered that so pre-qualifying in Bahrain will start at 1300 local time with final qualifying an hour later.It is now likely that only the second part of the session will be televised.The FIA agreed the changes at a meeting in Paris also announcing that Saturday's two practice sessions would also start an hour earlier.

The new format, which replaced last season's two one-hour sessions spread over Friday and Saturday, has been criticised for being too lengthy and dull.Television broadcasters had complained that it was turning away viewers while drivers said there was no incentive to push hard in the first part of the session.F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone asked the teams to vote earlier in the month whether they wanted to scrap the new format but the teams could not reach a unanimous decision.



[Edited on 25/3/04 by TRD]