With under a week before the opening race at Bahrain it is now time to look at the new qualifying format. This race will see the teams run qualifying under the new format with there being three sessions making up qualifying. The first two sessions are essentially knockout sessions in which the lower grid positions are allocated. The final session will see the ten fastest cars fighting it out for pole position.

In discussing qualifying we should look at the practice sessions leading up to qualifying and how they have also changed. Rather than the previous two Saturday practice sessions leading into qualifying there will be only one, running from 11:00am to 12:00pm. This session will not go past the 12pm even if there is a red flag period during the session. Qualifying will start at 2pm. This will place even more stress on the teams to get everything done in this one hour session rather than the previous two forty five minute one's with a half hour break.

With the teams now only having to select their race tyres prior to qualifying this Saturday morning session will take on even more importance for the teams. Whether the teams will use the Friday practice sessions to make these decisions is yet to be seen but those teams who have the benefit of running a third car on Friday, such as WilliamsF1, may find it the best time to make them rather than leaving them to Saturday.

Teams will also have to keep it in mind that the single hour Saturday practice session could be reduced in time due to any red flag incidents and if they did not complete any serious running on Friday they could struggle when it comes to qualifying.

As for the exact nature of the three sessions in qualifying the first one will see all twenty two cars take to the track in what should be a lively fifteen minute session. It will be crucial that each driver set a time in order to see if they qualify for the next session. Even the top teams could hit trouble if they strike problems in this session. The drivers will also be subject to random weight checks on return to the pits. This will place even more demands on their time. Given the fact that drivers will also have to factor in time for their out lap and returning to their pit this fifteen minutes will be very hectic.

At the end of the session the drivers will not get the luxury of starting a final lap as they could in the past when the session came to a halt. Even if the driver has crossed the start/finish line the clock will stop regardless of whether a driver is on a quick lap or not. The same applies for the second fifteen minute sessions. The second session will be run exactly the same way as the first. This will leave ten cars running in the third twenty minute session. But if there are any delays late in these two sessions it most likely will not be worth the while of the teams to return to the track as they will not be able to complete a lap within the allocated time.

After each of these two sessions the slowest of the cars will drop out until we are left with just ten cars for the final twenty minute session. If a driver fails to set a time in the opening two sessions they will not move onto the next, so potentially we could see more than six drivers drop out after the first two sessions. The fact that there will only be ten cars running should make the final session less demanding in terms of traffic. The smaller teams may be critical of this fact. It should also be noted that for a driver to take part in the next session his car must physically be in the pits. This may place pressures on track officials to recover cars quickly and return them to their pit.

The final session will see the drivers been able to complete their lap even after the session has come to an end. If there are any delays to the session the time will be added back onto the session. There is a guide as to which driver lines up in front of another if those drivers had failed to set a time. A driver who started a flying lap will be in front of a driver who left the pits but didn't start a flying lap.

There will be a five-minute break between sessions. This break can be extended to allow for unforseen circumstances. This could include investigations by race stewards if there was an incident involving a driver. If a team is to possibly benefit from a driver having his time disallowed they will be notified. If a penalty is imposed on a driver they will take up a position on the grid which is behind those who have lost places on the grid due to say an engine change.

Those cars not in the final session will go into parc ferme where the teams will be able to add fuel based on their race strategy. The top ten cars can add fuel for their race strategy but it must be done prior to the start of their final session in qualifying.

What strategies the teams adopt for their qualifying is something that will have to be seen but in any strategies the teams are going to have to ensure that they at least set a time. This will be especially true in the first two sessions of qualifying. It may be far too risky to wait in the session and then go for a time only to have the session red flagged and your opportunity to run in the final session of qualifying come to an end.

How this format will work out is hard to judge but it could see some unusual grids as we move through the season. The challenge for the top teams will be to ensure that they make it into the final session of qualifying. But conditions such as failures on the cars and changeable weather may make this task difficult at times.

Another aspect of the weekend that all teams will have to factor in as they make decisions regarding the amount of running they do on the Friday and Saturday is the allocation of tyres. Every driver now has seven sets of dry tyres for the course of the weekend. How they will balance the need to conduct setup work during the practice sessions against the need for new tyres in qualifying and the race is yet to be seen. But the permutations are endless. Does a team use a new set of tyres on both Friday sessions, a new set for each of the three sessions that will make up qualifying. Or do drivers use older tyres at times in order to save new sets for the race?

Another challenge for the teams and the rule makers is the fact that one lap of fuel can be returned to the cars for each lap completed in the third session. There will be a 110% rule to stop drivers running slowly and then trying to have these laps credited to them in returned fuel. The FIA has come up with a formula which will allow them to judge whether a driver was running at a speed that will allow them to have this lap credited to them. Will this cause issues between the teams, the answer at sometime during the season will be yes.

If a driver does not want to run in the final twenty minute session he may choose not to do so if it is in his interests to make sure that his car is fuelled with race strategy fuel levels. It will be interesting to see what strategy the teams adopt in respect of fuel when it comes to how they run their cars in qualifying. But will teams want to run their cars with a heavy fuel load when you take into account the fact that they can change tyres in the race so running with a lighter fuel load may be advantageous.

How this new qualifying format will unfold will be of great interest to the teams and the public. On the face of it the new format seems simple enough but when one looks behind things it could end up been a very complex affair which will be even harder to follow for the public. The first race in Bahrain will only give us a bit of an insight into how it will all work but it will not be until we have put the first series of races behind us that we can judge how the teams are going to run in the three sessions that now make up the new qualifying format.