a good idea from the man at ferrari
Ross Brawn reckons a non-championship race would make sense
Ferrari's technical director Ross Brawn is advocating a return for a one-off non-championship Formula 1 race, much like the Race of Champions events of the 1970's and early '80s, to try out new ideas and regulations before they are committed to the rulebook.
The suggestion comes after the latest meeting between F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and the sport's team bosses at the Hungaroring failed to agree on revisions to the much-derided qualifying format currently in place. The team chiefs are said to have rejected Ecclestone's idea of awarding points during a standard qualifying session than deciding grid positions by a ballot.
“What is lacking in our sport is a mechanism to assess ideas on a proper basis to decide what is viable,” said Brawn. “The best approach would be to set-up a working group – a couple of people from the media, a couple of engineers, a couple of team principles – and everybody accept their conclusions as to what we are going to have for qualifying.
“Then maybe have one race a year where we can try all the new systems to see whether they work, because the problem is, if we commit, we have to design the cars and we get frustrated when the car we designed doesn't suit the qualifying system.”
Jaguar Racing team principal and Autosport's sister magazine F1 Racing, have formulated a proposed change to qualifying, and the publication is reporting a considerable positive response. They are suggesting holding two 10-lap ‘heats' – one on Friday, one on Saturday – to form the grid for the race proper. The starting order for the heats would be done by ballot (therefore promoting overtaking) and the final grid positions would be based on driver's mean finishing position.