Todt Reveals Changes to Grand Prix Schedule

Ferrari's general director Jean Todt has revealed that the 2003 season will see changes to its schedule during Grand Prix weekends, including a new warm-up session prior to Saturday's qualifying.

Formula One's ruling body, the FIA, have introduced changes to this year's qualifying and practice format. Qualifying will take place over Friday and Saturday, with drivers completing a single flying lap that will determine their starting positions.

There will also be a new two-hour testing session on Fridays for those teams who opted to test for ten or less days during the season. According to reports, Saturday's qualifying will take place from 14:00 to 15:00 local time - an hour later than usual - with a 15-minute warm-up session from 13:30 to 13:45.

Todt has confirmed the introduction of the new Saturday warm-up, but added that they were still expecting an official confirmation of the new Grand Prix schedule.

"There will be a warm-up on Saturday before qualifying, and it is not yet decided yet if the Sunday morning session will be cancelled or not," Todt told France's TF1 network. "We should know in the next few days."