Alternative Tyre Allocation and F1 expansion prompt qualifying reconsideration

Qualifying sessions are among the most adrenaline-pumping and iconic moments of any F1 weekend. Everything and everyone is pushed to the limit. Power units are set to deliver maximum power, drivers push to their full potential, and tire management takes a back seat during the preparation lap to bring the tires into the right operating window to exploit their performance without too much concern for consequences.

Despite the numerous format changes the category has undergone over the years, the refrain remains more or less the same. And no one wants things to be completely overturned, especially when, on Sundays, over the long distance, the drivers turn into accountants who must manage the materials that need to last a long time due to budget caps, various constraints, and regulatory constraints that have partially transformed the essence of the challenge.

Should you change a winning system? Liberty Media’s policy is essentially this, although we have seen some minor changes recently. This clearly refers to the Alternative Tyre Allocation system tested in Budapest and Monza, which we may see more frequently in the coming years, as it is intended to become the standard in the category according to Stefano Domenicali and his associates.

Beyond the different tire usage, the mechanism is the same, and it’s a winner. So much so that with the introduction of the Sprint Race, instead of using the short race to set the starting grid for the regular race, Liberty Media decided to introduce two separate qualifying sessions. This clearly shows how rewarding that hour of activity is when drivers challenge the clock before challenging their rivals.

F1: Spectacular but Imperfect Qualifying
Is everything perfect, then? No, there is something amiss, and according to Fernando Alonso, the most experienced active driver, F1 should take action and show the courage to introduce improvements and perhaps slightly uncomfortable changes for product appeal. The Spaniard criticizes the traffic that often occurs on the track, caused by cars moving slowly to launch or re-enter the track and cannot disappear from the racing line to help other drivers with their push laps.

This condition has placed a heavy burden on the stewards as investigations for impeding and other less clear maneuvers have increased. Often, the results of the sessions have remained in dispute for a long time, causing frustration and controversy among fans. All of this should lead the lawmakers to rethink the regulations, especially regarding blocking. In an interview with Autosport, the Aston Martin driver expressed his views on this matter: “I think that whatever we do, we will always find a way to bypass this rule.”

Fernando Alonso believes that the current format is old and ineffective and calls for a dry lap qualifying session in which everyone has a free track and can demonstrate a true single-shot performance that rewards the true masters of the push lap. This system was used (and then abandoned) from 2003 to 2005 because, in terms of spectacle, it was not considered rewarding.

For this reason, it seems unlikely that Liberty Media, which often prioritizes the show in its technical and sporting evaluations, would want to make a U-turn that would be quite astonishing. “The stewards have a very difficult job in terms of managing traffic on road circuits. As I have said many times, there is only one way to find a solution, and that is a single-round qualification. All the other solutions we can try will never work because we will always find a way to bypass them.”

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“The current qualifying format is outdated; it’s the same formula from 20 years ago, but the cars are no longer the same as back then. We have hybrid engines, we need to charge and discharge batteries, and cool the tires. So the only way forward is to return to the single lap,” concluded the former Ferrari driver.

In fact, Fernando Alonso has a point. In the past, the cars were ready right away, but now they have different requirements. Our onboard analysis confirms this. Each fast lap is preceded by a phase in which hybrid systems are calibrated, and tire warm-up is managed, which are not easy to bring into the right operating window.

After the quick lap, these operations are repeated if there is an opportunity to make another attempt with the same set of tires. These peculiarities create more challenging track conditions that sometimes force drivers to bypass slower rivals during their flying laps, especially in Q1, which is the busiest session.

For now, Liberty Media and the FIA do not have plans to revise the current model, but with the entry of an eleventh team (following the FIA Andretti Global’s victory in the tender and its ongoing commercial negotiations with the FOM), on some tracks, the situation could become unsustainable. Can you imagine Monaco with a Q1 featuring 22 cars and, perhaps, with the ATR imposing hard tires that can last for more timed laps? Chaos would become unmanageable.