Qualifying traffic in Canada has become a topic of discussion among the drivers in the last two weeks, with Carlos Sainz one of the drivers directly involved, as the Ferrari man received a three-place grid penalty for blocking Pierre Gasly. During the press conference for the Austrian Grand Prix, a question was raised on this subject, specifically asking the drivers if returning to single-lap qualifying in Formula 1 could be a solution. Here are their responses.
One of the “promoters” of this idea was former Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso during Thursday’s press conference. “I think going back to single-lap qualifying would be ideal for these situations. There would be only one car on track, ensuring complete television coverage, which would also benefit the sponsors. It could also create more suspense in case of variable weather conditions. We could see different cars and names than usual in pole position. It would be my preferred option.”
Carlos Sainz also seems to agree with Fernando Alonso: “The single-lap qualifying may be something to experiment with, as Fernando said, also maybe in sprint weekends to try, if it would work. I personally am a big fan of it, because I do like that feeling of suddenly having the whole track for you and having the pressure to perform in only one lap. That would be really good fun for us, I think for our sponsors and for everyone, but maybe for the TV it would be a bit boring for you. But… I don’t know. Depends on the technology, you also have to animate that single lap, if you can put a ghost car of the fastest lap [as an overlay]. I think with the technology that we have nowadays something like that could be achievable. With the mini-sectors, with the ghost cars, with that kind of stuff that I think we should look into.” – the Ferrari driver explained.
World champion Max Verstappen has a different opinion. “The idea is not bad, but we have to consider the evolution of the track. That’s why I don’t think it’s ideal. There is always traffic in Formula 1; it’s just that in some tracks, the situation is more easily manageable.”
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Nico Hülkenberg also agrees with Max Verstappen: “As Max said, it depends on the track. Some teams and drivers are better at handling this situation. I like how qualifying is now, and I wouldn’t change it.” Esteban Ocon, on the other hand, completely disagrees with Fernando Alonso’s thought: “There would be too much track evolution between one lap and the next, so we wouldn’t all be on equal footing. For me, it’s not the way to go.” – he pointed out.
Even at Mercedes, they have discussed this topic. George Russell, in particular, proposed an interesting idea to help the drivers: “It could be nice to have GPS on our dash. This way, we wouldn’t have to rely on the engineers for traffic, but it would all be in our hands.” Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, preferred to abstain from commenting on the hypothesis of Formula 1 returning to single-lap qualifying. “One lap per car? I’m not quite sure if it’s a good option, but I should think about it. I think it would also change tire management, so we should think it over. Perhaps Q1, Q2, Q3 is the best option. We’ll have a brainstorming session.” – he concluded.
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