F1 has set an all-important sustainability target of going Net Zero on emissions by 2030. To achieve this, the stakeholders are discussing multiple solutions such as sustainable fuels, the new engine regulations, etc. However, Valtteri Bottas has teased an old-school solution to work towards this sustainability vision by bringing back an old format to the race weekends.
According to Formula Passion, Bottas proposed to bring back the single-lap qualifying format. The Finn said, “I still say that single-lap qualifying would be exciting, so that people can follow each car – he explained – can you imagine the amount of tires we would save?
“We use a lot of tires at the weekend, and if we want to be more sustainable as a sport, I think that this too is a topic.”, explained Bottas.
The Sauber driver has hit the nail on the head from a tire-saving perspective. Earlier this season, F1 experimented with saving tire sets across a weekend with the Alternative Tire allocation (ATA) format. This mainly saw the qualifying sessions having to use Hard tires in Q1, Medium tires in Q2, and Soft tires in Q3.
Overall, the purpose was to reduce the total number of allocated tire sets to all teams. For these weekends in Hungary and Italy, each driver got only 11 sets instead of the usual 13. However, this format had its critics among the drivers and teams.
Additionally, even the sprint races were increased to six in 2023. According to Sky Sports, the ATA format was aiming to save 40 tire sets across a race weekend. Although, when 20 cars run extra miles on sprint weekends and the F1 calendar is not optimal for logistics, sustainability goals take a back seat.
Can Valtteri Bottas’ qualifying format suggestion be implemented in modern-day F1?
The single-lap qualifying format used to happen in the early 2000s. Drivers can set their times over a single hot lap turn by turn in championship order to decide the Grand Prix grid. This format had its altered versions such as aggregate qualifying that used to happen across two sessions.
Fernando Alonso is the only driver on the current grid to have experienced this format. The Spaniard debuted in 2001 and raced in all seasons except 2002. It was during Alonso’s second championship season when F1 adopted its current elimination qualifying format.
While there were a few tweaks in this format too during 2008-09 and 2016, the three-session knockout format has remained consistent and entertaining for most fans. However, the old-school single-lap format has its merits too.
As per Bottas’ suggestion, F1 can easily reduce tire sets, given teams use five soft tire sets per driver for one qualifying every weekend. The single-lap format can save up to 60 to 80 tire sets every weekend.
This will help in reducing the carbon footprint significantly if the format is implemented across all 24 races. However, the number of races is the most important factor that can have a real impact on sustainability goals. Reducing the number of races and organizing the schedule in a logistically efficient manner will help F1’s Net Zero vision the most.
