Qualifications: What Will Change in 2016

After much dithering and criticism from drivers, Bernie Ecclestone, and part of the public, the qualifying system is going to be modified for the upcoming season and will come into effect starting from the Australian Grand Prix on March 20, as the FIA has just made official.

Each session, Q1, Q2, and Q3 will therefore see eliminations of the slowest drivers until the last minute of qualifying sees only two drivers fighting for pole position. Implemented to avoid having an empty track during part of the session, this new system is therefore not unanimously accepted.

To try to understand it a little better, here is how the qualifications should take place this year:

Q1 – duration 16 minutes, 7 drivers eliminated:

After 7 minutes of the session, the driver with the slowest time will be eliminated and will not be allowed back on the track. From that point, the slowest driver will be eliminated every 90 seconds until the end of Q1.

Q2 – 15 minutes duration, 7 drivers eliminated:

The system remains the same as for Q1. 15 drivers will participate. After 6 minutes, the slowest driver will be eliminated, and then every 90 seconds, the driver with the slowest time will no longer be allowed to take to the track.

Q3 – duration 14 minutes:

Only 8 drivers will compete for pole position. After 5 minutes in this session, the slowest driver is eliminated, and then every 90 seconds from that point onward, the driver with the slowest time will be eliminated in turn. During the last 90 seconds, only two drivers will compete for pole.