Mercedes seems to spoil introduction of new qualifying format
General
- GPblog.com
Now that the 2020 Formula 1 season is already going completely different than usual, Liberty Media wants to experiment with a new qualifying format at the Austrian and British Grands Prix. Both the FIA and most of the teams seem to like it, but there is one team that is opposing it for the time being.
Liberty's idea means that for one of the two races in Austria and Great Britain the normal qualification will be replaced by a 30 minute sprint race. The starting position is determined by the reverse order of the position in the championship. The result of this sprint race then determines the starting position of the actual Grand Prix on Sunday. No points can be earned in the sprint race.
The plan has been received positively by almost all parties, but in order to get approval for this idea from the World Motor Sport Council, Liberty needs the unanimous support of the teams. The FIA introduced a measure during the corona crisis that a majority of 60% is enough to make urgent changes to the regulations, but a new qualification format is not included.
So one team can frustrate this plan and that is exactly what seems to be happening now. Motorsport.com has heard that it is Mercedes who is not in favour of an inverted grid. This is not surprising. Considering their current form, the team would almost certainly be at the back of the grid and they have already let it be known more than once that they are not in favour of 'gimmicks'.