Pirelli's Paul Hembery says lack of running in qualifying 'robbing' the fans

With the softer tyres dropping off dramatically around Suzuka, several teams decided to limit their running in qualifying on Saturday in order to save sets that could be vital for the race.

Only six drivers posted a time in the final qualifying segment, while many others did just one run during the session.

Hembery believes something needs to be done to stop teams from not running during qualifying.

"I think it's up to us to work with the teams to come up with a solution," said Hembery. "We are robbing the fans of a show. They paid good money to come here today.

"I'm not criticising the teams because I know why they've done it, because they are using the rules to obtain the best result, so it's not a case of that. But I think we have to look at the wider picture and all of us work together to find a solution.

"It's something we discussed with a few of the teams over the last few days and I hope that we can set up something in Korea and start working on some solutions. We are open to any suggestions from the teams. I think we all recognise that something needs to be done."

He also reckons there are plenty of possible solutions to the problem, and it's up to the them to find one that suits all the teams.

"I think we need to get more tyres, find another solution, get qualifying tyres, force teams to use the Q2 tyres in Q3.... There's a multitude of ideas that we can discuss.

"They all have positives and negatives, of course. There's never the perfect solution, but I think sitting on a table and being sensible there has to be a way of finding something that suits everyone."

Hembery reckons, however, that any change to the rules is unlikely to happen before next season.

"I think it needs to be done for next year, being realistic. It's a complex area, because it falls in two categories: sporting and technical. It's not particularly clear."

Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn also reckons the situation needs to be looked at for the good of the sport.

"I suspect we have probably got to have a look at it. Having the back four cars in qualifying not running properly to conserve tyres for the race is not really where we want to be in Formula 1.

"Over the winter we will have a look at how we improve the situation to remove the incentive for cars to save tyres in the final part of qualifying.

"I don't think any of us really want it, so that's how it has evolved. We will work hard to find a solution with the FIA and Pirelli over the winter to avoid it happening because I don't generally think it's a good thing. We should all be out there trying to set a time."

When asked how to solve the issue, Brawn said: "I don't know. We don't want to start introducing more sets of tyres and having a situation where you have to start the race on the tyres you qualify on is not a bad situation, but perhaps that's something we need to look at.

"The simple way to resolve it is more sets of tyres, but there might be a more efficient way of solving the problem."