Jul.23 - The tweaked qualifying format trialled this weekend, and set to be repeated again later this season, may not survive the post-Hungary debut.
"It's been horrible," said Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.
Plenty of others in the F1 paddock agree that taking away two sets of tyres per driver, and compelling certain compounds choices in the three phases of qualifying, may be a failed experiment.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says it has been "strange".
"I generally think that experimenting with a new qualifying format in the middle of the season is not a good idea," he added.
Wolff said saving tyres for environmental reasons is a good idea, although two sets per driver "doesn't change much".
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz commented: "Practice was very boring because there are no tyres and we can't drive.
"We got here on Wednesday and on Friday and Saturday we couldn't drive. So it doesn't work for me."
His boss Frederic Vasseur, however, was reluctant to use the format change as a reason for Ferrari to complain.
"The new format has nothing to do with it," he said after Charles Leclerc qualified sixth. "It's the same for everyone.
"Alfa Romeo hasn't brought any updates yet they took a big step forward. It's a lesson for everyone to optimise the package as best as possible."
As for Aston Martin's Alonso, he agrees with Wolff that mid-season rule changes should be avoided.
"When you change the height of the net, or the size of the basketball ring or the soccer ball in the middle of the championship, it's always something that's not pretty," he told Spanish reporters in Hungary.
Alonso thinks Pirelli's recent tyre construction change has also helped some teams but hurt others.
"Have some teams gained half a second? Or have half a second been taken from some teams?" he wondered.
"Alfa Romeo haven't overtaken anyone. When we get to Spa and Alfa Romeo is still in front, then we'll talk. This is one qualifying.
"I don't want to make an excuse with the tyres but I think Red Bull can't be very happy either," Alonso added. "They were first and second in every session and practice until Silverstone.
"I think they haven't been first in any practice here," he said. "Now they don't even take pole position and Checo (Perez) is fighting to be in Q3.
"So there are certain teams that have clearly lost performance with the new tyres," Alonso added.
"Now, not having tyres for practice has been very bad for the show," he continued. "If you pay 400 or 500 euros and the cars don't run, I suppose it's very good for pollution but for the public it's definitely not so good."
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
I believe that having to use mandatory tyre compounds for qualifying is counter productive. Let the teams and drivers decide which compounds they want to use in each session.
I don't disagree with reducing the number of sets of tyres by two for the weekend, but allow the teams to decide which compounds they want to run and how they will be used.
So whilst it was Lewis , who as you all know i hang onto her every word, when the wets aren't used at a race weekend, are they then destroyed/recycled, or do they get taken to the next race weekend?
My guess is they are recycled but are they ?
I don't think so.
You say failed experiment, I say dumbass idea. Solution. 10 sets of tires for the weekend. Pirelli says here are the available compounds. The team says gimme' 6 of those and 4 of those.
Better yet if a team wants to use 50 sets of tires over the weekend who cares. China creates more pollution in a sec than all 20 teams total output combined over the whole weekend. Does anyone believe 2 sets of tires less a weekend in F1 is going to make a diff. Come on! Until China does something to cut back on their output everything else is worthless. Its like taking an eyedropper and putting 1 drop of oil in the Pacific Ocean and claiming all sea life is going to be dead tomorrow. Nothing wrong with being responsible and doing the right thing for the environment but lets use some common sense and quit cutting our own throats and making life miserable in the name of environmental morality.
Tommy, the guy down the street robs quick marts and makes a good living. I should do that, too. C'mon, my friend, really flawed logic. If we want to indulge in our fun we need to make an effort to at least appear responsible.
Being responsible is one thing, coming up with ideas like this don’t make any sense. So little impact on the environment. Tommy is right, until major polluting countries like China and India, make greater steps to decrease emissions, a couple of tires isn’t going to make any difference at all. China, btw, told John Kerry to go pound sand, when Kerry suggested that maybe China could cut back a little on polluting the entire world’s atmosphere. On the big scheme of things, limiting tires compared to what China is doing is not even worth mentioning.