“It has been disappointing. The cars have rolled much less. And there is no action, reserving tires.” This was the lament of two fans who attended the Italian F1 GP, a complaint that Fernando Alonso’s apology to fans who came to Monza on Friday to watch the free practice sessions of the Italian event was understandable. The Asturian apologized on behalf of F1, because the category did not do it after trying the weekend format for the second time in Italy which had already failed in Hungary, and he did it again from the beginning. The reason is clear: it indirectly forces the teams and drivers to save more tires than a normal weekend in order to have new tires for qualifying and the race. Because? We say it below.
This is the ‘qualy’ format of the Italian GP
F1 is constantly testing and testing new competition formats to increase the excitement on the asphalt. Like sprint races, F1 is now testing new ideas for qualifying. Some drivers think that the current ‘qualy’ is already exciting and does not need changes, but F1 continues to experiment in search of a more attractive product. Although not always correct. This is the case of this Italian GP. As already happened in Hungary, Monza was tested in a weekend with 11 tires for each driver for the whole weekend instead of the usual 13. Therefore, the riders have, for reasons of economy and ecology, two less sets of tires to deal with, on the contrary, a more intense weekend for tires compared to a normal one. Why more intense? due to qualification you are forced to use all compounds, one marked for each session.
This is the classification:
- Q1: 18 minute session. Drivers can only use hard tires in Q1. The first 15 will go to Q2.
- Q2: 15 minute session. Drivers qualified for Q2 can only use the medium tire in this session. The top 10 will go to Q3.
- Q3: 12 minute session. Only soft tires can be used.
- Fewer tires: Riders no longer have 13 sets of tires to use for the entire weekend. He now has only 11: 3 sets of hard tires, 4 medium and another 4 soft to be distributed over all the weekend sessions and the race.
cars have lower tires
This format, with fewer wheels and a different classification, implies some conceptual changes.
In normal qualifying, drivers would never use the hard tire, as it costs more to warm up, has poorer single-turn performance and lower initial grip. However, in experimental qualifying this weekend at the Hungarian GP, all drivers will be required to use the hard tire in Q1. This may cause grid changes, but what it really does is reduce the number of laps for all cars on Friday. Everyone tried to only use one game per session so they wouldn’t get wasted. So, the fans who went to Monza on Friday did not see a different qualifying simulation per driver, or a driver giving his all at the end, finding the limits of his car and the track, using a new rubber. Nothing like that. They used a compound, they pushed from the start, and then managed the rubber in search of rhythm for a long time. It’s not very fun. And on top of that, fans saw fewer twists.
In addition, in a normal classification, only the drivers with a lot left to make a cut drive in Q2 with medium tires. Others are generally looking to pass Q3 with a soft. In this case, everyone has to drive with a medium tire in Q2.
For its part, in Q3 the tire that is usually used is the one that will also be used in this experimental qualifying format, soft rubber, the best to find a good time for the turn. Therefore, this format should not affect the final and decisive part of ‘eligibility’. Nothing changes the outcome, so many wonder why this change if the most important and decisive part remains unchanged.
The complaints of Alonso and other pilots
“We haven’t done many laps yet. With this current format with so few tires for free practice it makes us reserve (tire) the whole weekend. So, we have to apologize to the fans. We already did it in Hungary for this format Alonso said after the second free practice session on Friday.
Fernando was not the only one to criticize this format. Also pilots like Norris or Russell were not satisfied.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
