Imola to be used as first practice for new qualifying format
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in May has been chosen as the first venue to trial the new qualifying format for 2023.
The new format is to help reduce the number of tyres used throughout a Grand Prix weekend and will be implemented at two different Grand Prix this season as an experiment.
The number of tyre sets that are available to each driver will be reduced from 13 to 11, and the new approach is to hopefully help with the reduction.
Currently, drivers are free to choose which tyres are used in the three sections of qualifying, but at the two selected events, the choice of tyre will be mandatory.
Drivers will be forced to use the hard compound of the tyre in Q1, mediums in Q2 and then softs in Q3. If any session is wet then the tyre choice will become free.
Under the experiment, drivers will have access to three sets of hards, four sets of mediums and four sets of softs for the entire weekend.
As a result of the new format, teams that do not make it through to the final qualifying round would therefore, in theory, have two more sets of soft tyres for the race- something which would be beneficial at some tracks.
Early analysis from engineers suggests that teams would most likely use one set of soft tyres in FP2, and one in FP3- to guarantee they have access to two sets for Q3.
Although there has been no confirmation of the final selected venue for the trial, it has been confirmed that the Emilia Romagna GP weekend from 18 May – 21 May will be the first event.
The second event will most likely take place around the time of the summer break, which will also allow time for Pirelli and the teams to analyse if the experiment has worked and if it can become the official format from as early as 2024.