Formula One news

Mosley supports Purnell's qualifying

Max Mosley is lending his support to Jaguar boss Tony Purnell's idea that qualifying be 'mini races' at grands prix. The FIA president said if the sport wants to revise qualifying yet again, it should only be for 'something radical' like that.

He told F1 Racing magazine: "I think it's a good idea. There's no doubt the first ten laps of a grand prix are always thrilling, so, yes I do, I think it could be very good indeed."

Purnell's proposal is that a ballot dictates the grid for Friday's ten-lap race, with Saturday run in the ballot's reverse-order. The aggregate result would resolve grand prix grid positions.

But Renault's engineering director Pat Symonds does not agree with Mosley that a race's opening laps are 'always thrilling.' He said: "I don't think that's always been the case. Remember back to (Thierry) Boutsen in Hungary years ago, or (David) Coulthard and (Enrique) Bernoldi at Monaco in 2001."

Symonds added: "There is no guarantee these guys will be able to overtake just because a race is ten laps rather than seventy."

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