Formula 1 governing body the FIA, following its Geneva meeting on Wednesday, has confirmed the rumour that the 107 percent qualifying regulation will be returning from next season onwards - meaning any driver whose best qualifying lap time is slower than a certain margin will not start the race in question (on safety grounds).
The 107 percent rule was last seen in 2002, the final year in which qualifying consisted of an hour-long session for all cars before the sport adopted a one-lap system between 2003 and 2005. For 2006, the current top ten shootout – which has been tweaked several times since – made its first appearance.
From 2011 onwards, all Q1 lap times must be within 107 percent of the fastest in that phase of qualifying (ie. no slower than the P1 time plus a further 7 percent of it, meaning a 1:30.000 time for P1, for example, would bring in a cut-off of 1:36.300).
Only in extreme circumstances – such as a heavy rain shower during Q1 or a failure to post a quick enough lap – will drivers be granted special dispensation to start by race organisers, who will judge the competitor in question by fastest lap times from practices sessions across the weekend.
Wednesday’s decision could be met with mixed opinions, especially for the new team which will be selected next month.
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