F1 Commission proposed tweak to Q3 but vote did not receive unanimity required; System will be reviewed after Bahrain
Monday 4 April 2016 14:41, UK
Qualifying will remain unaltered from its heavily-criticised elimination-style system for the Bahrain GP, Sky sources understand.
Team bosses voted to revert to 2015's rules during a meeting in Melbourne on race-day morning after a disastrous introduction at the season-opener.
Ecclestone had said the sport could still "salvage the good" from the system and though the F1 Commission, which includes all the teams, race promoters and sponsors, proposed a change to just Q3 - but there was not the unanimity required at 4pm GMT on Thursday for the rule change to go to the FIA's World Motor Sport Council.
There will now be a review after the second race of the season to see what direction the sport goes in regarding qualifying.
"The outcome I think is that we are going to stay as we are," Ecclestone told Reuters earlier on Thursday. "After Bahrain, we're going to have a look at it."
F1's new-for-2016 qualifying format was panned by drivers, leading team bosses and fans following its introduction in Australia with pole position settled with four minutes of the final session still to run.
The F1 Commission's proposal, which was backed by many parties, was a halfway house solution whereby Q1 and Q2 remain under the new elimination rules while Q3 reverts to the more established format.
The idea of stopping the 90-second eliminations after Q2 and running Q3 under the old rules was first floated by team managers during a meeting with FIA race director Charlie Whiting during the second Barcelona test, only for the original idea to be voted through.
