GP weekend revamp edges closer

As was exclusively revealed by this week's Autosport, teams have been considering the possibility of making Fridays more 'fan-friendly' and turning Grands Prix into two-day meetings.

Although part of this plan revolved around making drivers more accessible to fans, it was also believed that it could only go ahead if the Fridays of Grands Prix were made official test days.

Such a move would be traded off with a dramatic reduction of in-season testing, which would be supported by the FIA as part of its cost-cutting drive.

The first step towards turning the Fridays of Grands Prix into test days would be in dropping the third driver rule, which allows teams who finished outside the top four position in the previous year's constructors' championship to run third cars.

That move duly happened at this week's meeting of the Formula One Commission in Paris. The change, aimed to be introduced at the start of 2007, is now to be put to the FIA World Council for approval.

Sources have confirmed that the move to abandon third cars is part of a bigger plan to change the format of Grand Prix weekends - with Friday a test day, Saturday official practice and qualifying and Sunday the race.

Further discussions on the matter are likely to take place over the next few weeks.

Renault boss Flavio Briatore told Autosport this week that the idea of a more 'fan-friendly' Friday was good for spectators and good for the teams.

"We hardly ever think about the spectators," he said. "We can help them by being more efficient at the same time about the way we race and test. So where's the problem?"

The FIA World Council have also being asked to approve a minor change to the qualifying format from next weekend's French Grand Prix, with the final Q3 session being cut by five minutes.

The final part of knockout qualifying has been criticised this year because the fuel burn-off laps at the beginning of the 20-minute session were viewed as not exciting enough and a waste of time for the teams.

The tactic adopted by all drivers was to lap off the pace for the first 10 minutes of the session on old tyres to burn up fuel. Such an activity was not viewed as presenting an environmentally sound image for the sport.

Calls for a change to the format were made early in the season, when teams realised that the early stages of Q3 did not match the excitement delivered by the earlier sessions.
 
Renault director of engineer Pat Symonds said after watching a qualifying session at home: "The first ten minutes of the third section have very limited interest: the cars are just going round in circles to burn fuel."

After a vote was taken at the Formula One Commission on Thursday to recommend a reduction of the Q3 length to 15 minutes, a subsequent fax vote of the FIA World Council now needs to be completed by early next week to ensure it comes into force at Magny-Cours.

The F1 Commission also approved a change in next year's tyre regulations to ensure that all teams are treated equally.

A change in the rules means that Bridgestone, who will be F1's only tyre supplier, can only supply two different types of tyres at each race, rather than two different types to each team.

This should ensure that no team gains an advantage by being able to run the latest developmental rubber.