Qualifying still up in air

With the current system widely criticised as too dull, the intention had been to switch back to a one-hour session, split into two 25-minute periods with a 10-minute break, in which drivers had to set a time in each, with a maximum of six laps available and all cars running together. The best time from each session would then be aggregated to arrive at an overall grid time.

The change required unanimous agreement among the teams and this was forthcoming before last week's F1 Commission and subsequent FIA World Council meetings.

The new qualifying format was actually driven by Bernie Ecclestone himself but, according to team principals, went into reverse when Max Mosley made it plain that he did not want to see it used and said that he intended to re-introduce the 107 percent qualifying rule if it was, which frightened off some of the tail-end teams. The end result was that it did not get the required 18 of 26 votes in the F1 Commission - a body comprising the teams, promoters, circuits, sponsors, tyre suppliers, plus Max and Bernie.

It seems that there was also some confusion about the wishes of the TV companies and the situation is that the 'new' system could still happen, by means of a fax vote next week.

Asked what format he thought Silverstone qualifying would follow, McLaren boss Ron Dennis said: "I have no idea. There was a document coming out of FOM [Ecclestone's Formula One Management] on Friday that attempted to re-establish qualifying in the format discussed by the teams.

"The letter was distributed because of the attachments to it - a series of letters from the TV companies who clarified their position. They support the new qualifying - and this wasn't what was presented to us at the F1 Commission. What was said there was that the TV companies were against it. Bernie sought to get confirmation from the TV companies and when he did, he re-issued the document. Our position, as always, is to support the change."