Drivers have voiced their unease at a change to the qualifying format which is to be trialled at two races this year.

For those outside the UK that might not have seen it, we present the official Sky Sports promo for the 2023 F1 season.

Naturally, it is the broadcaster's - and Liberty's - dream of what the sport should be.

Fans of all ages watch open mouthed as the drivers battle it out on what can only be described as a Hot Wheels track in the middle of some anonymous city... at night, natch.

A loop-de-loop allows the combatants to prove the old adage about the aero efficiency of the cars correct, they really can race on the ceiling.

And despite what we witnessed in Bahrain last weekend, in this race a Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari race three abreast, much to the delight of the roaring crowd... though for once Christian Horner and Toto Wolff are silent.

The soundtrack to this exciting spectacle is Elvis Presley's A Little Less Conversation, somewhat ironic considering the amount of waffle fans are subjected to most weekends.

This is clearly the dream and though the Hot Wheels layout may be a few years down the line, the sport's powers that be continue to tinker with the rules in the hope of getting... A Little More Action.

As first reported a year ago, a new qualifying format is to be trialled this year. Though it has not been confirmed at which tracks, it is widely thought that Imola, which hosts the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will be one of them.

The format is quite simple. In Q1 drivers will only be allowed to use the C1 compound. In Q2 they can only use the C2, while in Q3, well... you get the picture.

The drivers are not in favour.

"I hope it's not going to be cold in Imola," warned Max Verstappen, "otherwise it's going to be quite tricky.

"It’s the same for everyone," he added, "but I don't think we need to actually do these kinds of things in qualifying. I don't really see the benefit of it.

"It's better if we make sure that all the cars are close to each other and more competitive instead of spicing things up in that way, which I think is probably for the show."

"Yeah, it's for the show," added teammate Sergio Perez. "I think we don't need that when you see the qualifying we had, how close everything was.

"We do not really need to change anything," he added. "But we'll see, we'll see once we try it but I don't think there's a need to change something that is working well.

"I don't feel there was a need for change," agreed Charles Leclerc, "but let's try and see."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Chester, 14/03/2023 12:51

"I think Make F1 Great Again hats in Aston Martin green are a wonderful idea. Thanks for the chuckles, guys"

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2. Posted by kenji, 10/03/2023 10:39

"@Max Noble....I think that we all share similar sentiments as your goodself but we express them in a different manner....sometimes.. I recall watching some of society's past intellectual giants battling it out at the Oxford Union debates, an absoloute feast and great entertainment sadly missing in these woke times. Great debating skills are seeminly a lost art.Regarding Max, well I have changed my mind from one of loathing his early 'persona' which I deemed as arrogant and entitled, to one now where he seems refreshingly candid and not in any way seeking personal aggrandisment. I would very much like to see Ferrari and now AM sharing some of the spoils but if they cannot then so be it. Maybe an odd challenge from Mercedes could be tolerated but if they don't feature then I'll be quite happy. I certainly don't miss the 'Peachy' statements along the lines of 'I lovs youse all', they are definitely 'de trop'...IMO, and not becoming in the realms of F1 race drivers so keep the pressure on them Max."

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3. Posted by Max Noble, 10/03/2023 6:48

"@Defiant, @Kenji - If PitPass cannot offer insight, plus some humour and light-relief we are not doing our job! The Sport/Entertainment/Goose laying Golden Eggs that is current F1 is still a delightful human drama… which it is best not to take too seriously… If anyone starts selling “Make F1 Great Again” baseball caps… then I’ll start to worry…!

Polite banter, and disagreement (as opposed to the more extreme sledging in Cricket a few years back…) in the spirit of all enjoying our observations on F1 is what it’s all about.

Now we just need to find a way to enjoy watching V. Max win 20 out of 23 races…
"

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4. Posted by kenji, 09/03/2023 13:58

"@ Defiant...with the current state of global affairs anything that brings a degree of levity is more than welcome Depressing times....."

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5. Posted by Defiant, 08/03/2023 15:55

"Max Noble and kenji, your comments made me chuckle. I do love irony and sarcasm."

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6. Posted by kenji, 08/03/2023 13:55

"In the true green spirit of reducing emissions then why not dispense altogether with Quali. Simply provide a bucket with 20 numbered coloured balls and have a lottery draw. Just think of the tension when it gets to the very low numbers. At least it would be fair as everyone starts off as a potential pole sitter, unhindered by the quality of the car that they have been provided with. The FIA could then start to bang the drum of inclusion and non discriminatory practices with renewed gusto.....
"

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7. Posted by givememychoice, 08/03/2023 13:02

"The whole forced tyre thing is a pain. Ill be honest and say its also the computers at fault.
Hear me out.
All the teams run huge amounts of calculations to work out what the best strategy is based on millions of simulation run throughs. Add in the required use of multiple compounds and you get basically identical strategies. Without the required changes and the computers to work it all out, you would end up with a lot more thinking...do we do 3 stops on all soft, 2 on medium and 1 or 0 on hard.
With the cost cap, there is still too much regulation from before the cost cap. It should now be a lot more up to you how you tackle something with x amount of money. If you want a hyper exotic material front wing, so be it, you might gain pace with it, and lost pace due to lack of money to spend elsewhere."

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8. Posted by @R1Racing71, 08/03/2023 10:22

"Moot point. You can start the Red Bulls in the Car Park and they’ll still win.
And by a margin too."

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9. Posted by ian_w, 08/03/2023 7:32

"Overlooked in all this is F1's announcement, "Pirelli now have six options – ranging from the softest C5 tyre to the hardest C0.". Sure, they only bring 3 compounds to each race, "chosen" well in advance of the weekend and based of faith in a given weather condition (climate change rolling the dice), plus the inters and wets, but this is just silly.

Notwithstanding the recent issues with backing up the pack to catch the seconds to the lights, the existing qualifying format is probably the most exciting part of many weekends. That's possibly why it's lasted as long as it has, unchanged. How many other rules have lasted as much: must have only 4 wheels ?

And remember, these are tires with a designed life of 50-100 kms.

They could just as easily introduce a a practice compound that lasts for the 3 practice sessions and give them two sets of that, plus a hard and a soft for the race and be done with it, or just a long-life practice and a few sets of single type 100km life quali/race sets."

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10. Posted by Max Noble, 08/03/2023 7:14

"What spices-up a race is all the differing strategies employed by the teams. Force everyone on the same strategy and tyres… will simply prove whomever has the car that works those tyres the best will win… time after time.
Time for a “Hunger Games” solution… Place sets of tyres on a heavily fortified island and make the drivers scramble through swamps, past close-in weapon systems, and over life threatening obstacles to grab the ideal tyre for that race.

Bit of an “American Ninja - Survivor - Hunger Games - It’s a Knockout - UFC - Battle-for-Taiwan” sort of approach to life. Now THAT would be a qualifying round…

Good grief… "

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11. Posted by TokyoAussie, 08/03/2023 3:44

"Yet another bird-brained idea to jazz up the action, without actually addressing any of the many issues F1 has."

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12. Posted by Superbird70, 07/03/2023 21:53

"@Greg- 3 wets, Inter, Full, Super Typhoon
"

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13. Posted by KKK, 07/03/2023 21:23

"Racing is about who is the fastest and therefore us at the front. Reverse grids are just for the spectacle, and sadly, the chance ic some accidents. Its madness, its wrong."

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14. Posted by alvarezh3, 07/03/2023 20:00

"@Tardis40

As you can see by the ratings people are giving you, that's a big no, no, most everyone (if not, all) here (me included) hates inverted grids.

We consider that inverted grids are for the boys and girls over at the WTCC. :-)

I respect your opinion, but we would probably welcome another idea. :-)"

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15. Posted by Tardis40, 07/03/2023 17:14

"Ditch qualy. Make the starting grid the reverse of the previous race classification."

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Drivers against qualifying revamp

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