Daniel Ricciardo not convinced by F1 ‘solution’

DANIEL Ricciardo and other drivers have questioned F1’s new proposed qualifying system, with Sebastian Vettel calling it a “s*** idea”.

SAKHIR, BAHRAIN - APRIL 01: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and Red Bull Racing gets ready in the garage during practice for the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit on April 1, 2016 in Sakhir, Bahrain. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

DANIEL Ricciardo has questioned F1’s new proposed aggregate qualifying system, admitting he is “not keen” on the idea.

F1 team bosses met with Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt on Sunday in Bahrain to discuss what to do about the qualifying format after a fresh wave of criticism for the little-loved elimination rules, which were used for the second time on Saturday.

Although no agreement on what to do for the next race China was reached, a new idea was put forward for aggregate qualifying whereby a driver’s two best times in each of the three knockout sessions are combined to set the order.

“Qualifying is about that one perfect lap,” cautioned Red Bull’s Ricciardo. “To have an aggregate, it starts to sound more like some form of endurance racing. I wouldn’t be too keen on that.”

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel also gave the idea the short shrift, saying it was “shit”.

“It’s time to go to the circus,” Vettel told Sky Sports.

“It’s a good idea if you want random things to happen, but Formula 1 should be about racing. It’s a s*** idea.”

The controversial 90-second eliminations of the current regulations would be dropped, but a system of aggregate times would mean that drivers with the outright fastest laps in each session might not be at the head of the timesheet.

Ricciardo in action at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg rather than Lewis Hamilton would have claimed pole position had the proposal been in place for Bahrain.

The German’s two fastest laps in Q3 were quicker when combined than his teammate’s, who was only fourth fastest after the first runs after an error at the final corner. Vettel would also have qualified ahead of Hamilton in second.

Teams had agreed unanimously in Australia to go back in full to the 2015 knockout format, but such a plan wasn’t made available to vote on by the FIA, with Red Bull and McLaren then not agreeing to a hybrid version whereby only Q3 reverted to last year’s rules.

Although Rosberg insists “the best way is to go back to how it was because that was always pretty exciting”, it seems such a prospect is completely off the table.

Some drivers were prepared to give the aggregate rules a try.

“We’ll give it a go — that’s all we can say really,” Jenson Button said. “It’s better than this one — I think everything’s better than this one.

“Drivers driving round with one eye open is better than this one. I look forward to change and that’s what’s hopefully coming.”

Hamilton, who has claimed both poles under the elimination system, said: “They come up with all sorts of ideas. When you come up with ideas most of them will not be good and one of them might be good at some stage, so whether or not that’s the one we shall see.”

The furore over qualifying has overshadowed the start to the season and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admitted “we have a political mess going on out there” with Ecclestone and Todt resisting teams’ moves to revert to the 2015 format.

Asked why unanimity cannot be achieved, Wolff said: “Simple explanation? Madness.”

F1’S LAST AGGREGATE EXPERIMENT

It was 11 years ago that F1 last aggregated two qualifying times to set the grid.

After Michael Schumacher and Ferrari’s domination of the 2002 season, when the German won his third consecutive world title by July with a record six races to spare, F1’s rulemakers introduced new measures to increase unpredictability in the sport — with changes to qualifying at the heart of them.

Between 2003 and 2005 various versions of single-lap qualifying were devised, with the latter year seeing an aggregate system adopted. Across two sessions — one on a Saturday afternoon followed by a second on Sunday morning — drivers would complete single flying laps, with their two times combined to determine their position on the grid.

However, the new idea proved unpopular with fans and, with TV companies not carrying the Sunday session live, aggregate qualifying was binned after five races to be replaced by one single-lap session on Saturday.

The three-part Q1, Q2 and Q3 knockout system was then introduced to more successful effect in 2006.