Fernando Alonso has a suggestion on how Formula 1 could stop the traffic problem in qualifying: he would reintroduce an individual time trial so that there are no more problems with drivers loitering in the last sector and getting in the way of drivers on fast laps.
The individual time trial was used by Formula 1 in different forms between 2003 and 2005. Sometimes two individual rounds on Friday and Saturday were added together, sometimes just one round on Saturday in reverse World Championship order decided the starting line-up. But the variants had one thing in common: there was always only one car on the track.
“In my opinion, that would be ideal,” says Alonso, “because then there would only be one car on the track and the sponsors would have full TV attention during the lap.”
Compatriot Carlos Sainz also expresses himself as a fan of this idea and could imagine experimenting with it on sprint weekends, where you drive two qualifying sessions anyway – then you could also differentiate between the two.
Sainz: A ghost car as a comparison would be cool
“I’m a fan of it because I like the feeling of having the whole track to yourself and the pressure that you have to perform in this one lap. That would be good for us and the sponsors,” says the Ferrari driver.
However, he fears that it could get a bit boring for television. “But it depends on the technology, whether you can animate the laps and maybe put in a ghost car of the fastest,” he says. He would find that exciting: If you could compare the virtual lap of the leader at the same time.
With current technology, something like this could even be possible, he believes: “Something like this could be achieved today,” says Sainz.
dramas in the past
Alonso doesn’t necessarily see that the individual time trial is boring. He points to earlier days where there was “some drama”. Above all, changing weather conditions often caused chaos: In Magny-Cours in 2003, for example, a Minardi was in the lead after the first of two time trials because the track had dried out for the backbenchers.
And at Silverstone 2004, many top drivers wanted to have the worst possible time in Q1 because they wanted to have as early a starting position as possible for the crucial Q2 session that took place a little later, in order to avoid the impending rain.
Giancarlo Fisichella’s pole position at the 2005 season opener in Melbourne was also curious, when after two timed laps he was 2.969 seconds ahead of his closest pursuer. “You could see other cars and names on pole,” says Alonso, seeing the proposal as a preferred option.
It is precisely for this reason that World Championship leader Max Verstappen is against it: “It’s pretty cool, but the track is also improving,” he sees no equal conditions. “I’m not sure it’s the best idea.”
The Dutchman takes a pragmatic view of the traffic problem anyway: “There’s always traffic, but that’s how it was in Formula 1. You just have to manage it, and that’s easier on some routes than on others.”
Second suggestion: split the field in two
As a second suggestion, Alonso could also imagine dividing the field, as is done in the junior series Formula 2 and Formula 3 in Monaco. There, the vehicles are divided into two halves according to even and odd numbers, each driving a shortened session.
Sainz also sees this as a “short-term solution”, which could at least be done in Q1: Each team would then have a driver in each of the two sections, which means that there would only ever be ten cars on the track.
“Traffic improves quite a bit in Q2. And that’s no longer a problem in Q3,” says Sainz. “So it would only be on short circuits and in Q1 where you split the session in half and each group could do eight minutes.”
However, other drivers wouldn’t tamper with qualifying at all: “I like our qualifying. It’s easy to look at and it’s fun in the car too,” Nico Hülkenberg sees no reason for change, and according to George Russell, the current qualifying is from 2006 the individual time trial replaced, “good as it is”.
He accepts the traffic problem, but suggests putting the issue in the hands of the driver – for example with a GPS delta on the dashboard. Then they would no longer be dependent on the announcements of the engineers. “One should put it in our hands, not in others.”