F1 2016: Confusion reigns over qualifying format

If you have been following Formula 1 for a while and were expecting a season that didn't have you scratching your head over the decisions taken by those that govern it, you are indeed a hopeful soul. As is the case, however, there is confusion over F1's qualifying format that has been going back and forth in terms of when it will be introduced.

It is not just the format itself that has F1 figures themselves confused over how it works and why the current knockout system needs to be replaced at all, but whether it will ever actually be implemented.

Initial reports stated that the new system in which the slowest drivers are eliminated during the three segments of qualifying and not just the end would be introduced only at the Spanish Grand Prix in May instead of the F1 season opener in Melbourne on March 20.

The cause given for the delay was that the software required to implement the system so that drivers and teams know which cars are eliminated would not be ready in time for the season opener.

Soon afterwards it was reported that the new qualifying format would be in place by the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, itself.

Now motorsport.com is reporting that it is possible for the new 'elimination' format to be axed altogether as the current F1 regulations have the existing system as the method to decide the starting grid for a race.

For fans, media and even paddock figures like Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, the move to change the qualifying system is a baffling one as far too much energy seems to be wasted into changing something that works fine as it is.

For fans in particular, especially those that do not follow F1 fastidiously away from race weekends, trying to figure out a format that takes away from the frenetic rush of seeing drivers making last ditch efforts seems counterproductive.

F1's rule-makers are better off trying to figure out the impending change to the 2017 technical regulations and how best to balance speeding up the current generation of cars and making them physically challenging to drive with how easy it is to overtake.