Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton has said critics of the new qualifying format should not judge the new format until it has been used at the Australian Grand Prix for the first time.
The new qualifying format was confirmed on Friday by the World Motor Sport Council along with confirmation it would be used in Australia not delayed until the Spanish Grand Prix as was previously suggested. Starting at the Australian Grand Prix in just over a week qualifying will take on an elimination style look and feel, the slowest driver will be knocked out at 90-second intervals in the closing minutes of each of the 3 qualifying rounds until the final drivers are left.
Since the qualifying changes were announced Formula One has come in for major criticism both internally and externally, most notably was Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne who claimed he was not sure Ferrari could accept the idea. Along with Marchionne, many fans were of the opinion qualifying was the last thing that needed to be changed.
Not one to keep his feelings quite Hamilton told reporters
“What’s most important is how the fans feel about it,”
“There have been some good formats and some OK formats.
“I’ve generally enjoyed the format of the last few years.
“That’s why it doesn’t make sense to me right now, the changes that have been made, but don’t knock it until you try it.
“I’m looking forward to getting to Melbourne and trying it out, and maybe we’ll be surprised.
“It may be really exciting, or maybe it won’t. We’ll see.
“We’ll get there, see how it goes, and then immediately you’ll get comments from the fans as to whether it’s good or not.”
