F1 News
Helmut Marko: 2020 qualifying plans "are absurd"
- Bevan Youl
Aston Martin Red Bull Racing adviser Dr Helmut Marko has called the proposed plans for qualifying at some Grand Prix weekends in 2020 to be a mini sprint race “absurd”, saying that at some circuits there wouldn’t be any point.
Liberty Media has made the call that at two or three races’ qualifying will be changed to a different format to see how it works.
Rather than the current format of setting the fastest lap possible over three qualifying sessions drivers will instead take part in a short race with the grid starting in reverse order of the World Championship to determine position for Sunday.
"These plans are absurd," Red Bull's Marko said (quoted by AutoWeek).
"If you did that on circuits like Monaco, Singapore or Barcelona, it would be pointless because overtaking is difficult or even impossible.
“You wouldn't have to watch because nothing would change anyway."
Marko feels that the fundamentals of Formula 1 need to stay the same and that the sport should find a way to make the field level through different ways.
"Our sport is supposed to be like (soccer) or tennis, where the basic conditions have not changed fundamentally over the past 30, 40, 50 years,” Added Marko.
"The spectators must understand the rules of a Grand Prix. And in the end, the best man should win. There should be no artificial interventions."
"What we should do is come up with regulations to equalize opportunities.
"Above all, the importance of aerodynamics must be reduced. Today, certain races are boring because of how difficult it is to overtake."