Single lap qualifying back on the cards says Paddy Lowe

Paddy Lowe has revealed Formula 1 are talking about bringing back single lap qualifying as they attempt to find more and more ways to add excitement to the sport. 

Yesterday it was announced F1 will switch to 18-inch wheels in 2021 and will remove tyre blankets to bring a bigger variety of tyre strategies. 

“If [that] drives us towards tyres that have a much wider window to operate in, that could be a good thing,” Paddy Lowe told planetF1. 

“I know at the same time they are talking about moving qualifying perhaps to formats where there are [fewer] laps, more criticality around doing single laps. And again, if that’s around tyres THAT aren’t prepared with blankets that would drive us towards tyres with a wider window which I think would be good for the sport.” 

Formula 1 has used this method before in 2003, but it didn’t go down too well. Fans criticised how the weather conditions can change within one hour making it unfair. And we all remember how the last qualifying shake-up turned out…