Qualifying Made Simple

At the start of the 2005 season Formula 1 qualifying consisted of two single timed lap sessions, one on Saturday and the other on Sunday morning. The times from these two sessions were added together to set the grid for the race. This “aggregate” system was deemed to “confusing for the fans” and dropped midseason for the Saturday single timed lap, fair enough.
As the 2006 season starts Formula 1 qualifying has changed again, the fifth time in four years. To make it less confusing the FIA have decided to have three timed sessions to be run on Saturday. The first timed session is to run from 14.00 to 14.15 with all the cars permitted on the track and at the end of this period the slowest six cars will be prohibited from taking part in the following sessions. The lap times achieved by the sixteen remaining cars will be deleted. Session two runs from 14.20 to 14.35 with the sixteen remaining cars permitted on the track until the end of this period when the six slowest cars will be prohibited from taking part in the following session. Then the lap times from the ten remaining cars will be deleted. Session three will be from 14.40 to 15.00 with the ten remaining cars in race fuel racing for the pole.
What!?
Exactly. Easier is not always better. The only things I liked about last years qualifying regulations is that you didn’t miss any of the action, because the cameras weren’t there, and that you could watch how each individual car lapped the entire track. It did however make for some slow viewing, especially for the unseasoned fan.
2006 qualifying has plenty of room for confusion but should make for some good viewing.