JULY 6, 2004

Changing qualifying

No-one in Formula 1 is happy with the current qualifying procedures but moves are afoot for a change to be made. Bernie Ecclestone has been circulating a new document, trying to get teams to agree to the same change that was rejected at the recent F1 Commission meeting. It is not clear how Ecclestone intends to get the rule voted through when the last attempt was torpedoed when FIA President Max Mosley insisted that the be a 107% rule and Paul Stoddart withdrew his agreement because he had only signed the document on the proviso, clearly marked on the document, that the new rules would not have a 107% rule. It is not clear how Ecclestone thinks this will go through the F1 Commission but he may believe it is possible to get it adopted if the FIA World Council backs the change. Obviously there is some plan otherwise Ecclestone would not be trying.

With Mosley leaving the FIA in October there may be attempts made by others in the organization to overrule decisions that have been made although this will not now be easy as the holidays are about to begin and so the decision-making processes will slow down.