Lewis Hamilton has recently joined Max Verstappen in criticizing the new Qualifying format F1 has introduced in Hungary. The star drivers of the sport felt it was a shame that they could not give away much to the fans. This is because they had to save tires, which in return caused boring practice sessions.
F1 has lately introduced a new format in the qualification. In this rule, every team will be given 11 sets of tires [4+3+3 each], and they have to use each compound at least once during the race weekend. Even though it was set for Imola earlier, it is finally slated for Hungaroring following the cancellation of Emilia Romagna GP.
Friday’s FP1 and FP2 clearly showed how drivers have been affected by the new rule. There were no significant outlaps or hard pushes, and this was done mainly to save the tire compounds. Since the practice sessions were a bit boring, Hamilton and Verstappen understood that it has been a frustrating day out at Hungaroring for fans.
Hamilton and Verstappen slammed the new F1 rule
For ages, F1 and FIA have worked together to make the sport better and simultaneously exciting. But at times, it didn’t go down well with the drivers and the fans. And this time, it simply didn’t impress Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, respectively.
Speaking about this in the post-practice interview, the seven-time world champion said, as per Mercedes AMG News, “It wasn’t a very good format this weekend. They reduced our running on the track, which attracts the attention of the fans. They throw a lot of wet tires after race weekends, maybe they should look into this.”
🏁 FP2 CLASSIFICATION 🏁
Charles Leclerc takes the top spot to cap off our Friday running 💫#HungarianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/45VkS6TGTA
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 21, 2023
On the other hand, the two-time world champion said as per FormulaPassion, “We had some limitations due to the new qualifying format, so we didn’t want to waste too many sets of tires to get ready for tomorrow. That’s a shame because so many people were in the grandstands, and we didn’t give them much away.”
Why did F1 introduce the new Qualifying rule?
According to multiple reports, Pirelli and F1 introduced this in order to reduce the number of tire sets brought into the race. Before this, the logistics team had to bring many tire compounds for the race.
But with this, the carrying, as well as managing costs, can be reduced. The teams will be given four sets of softs and four sets of mediums. And with these, three sets of hards for the entire weekend.
Furthermore, the teams are also expected to face difficulties due to this. Since the compounds are a must in the qualifying, there will be a lot depending on the strategy. Notably, it will no longer be a one-lap push in softs to have the best time throughout. It will all depend on optimum tire preparation and, most importantly best out-lap tire profile now.
