Motor Racing: Ecclestone Wants Return to One-hit Qualifying

Bernie Ecclestone is hoping to boost formula one television audiences by proposing a major change to the qualifying format when the teams gather at Imola this weekend for the San Marino grand prix.

Ecclestone, the commercial rights holder, wants to change the current format whereby the starting order is determined by aggregating the times of the sessions on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. He wants to revert to a single Saturday-afternoon session so that fans and viewers know the grid order before the start of the race-day programme.

"I think a lot of people agree that the format is rather meaningless at present as it falls short of reaching a conclusion on Saturday afternoon," said Christian Horner, the Red Bull sporting director.

Ecclestone is keen to make the change as soon as possible because the television companies have told him the Sunday-morning qualifying sessions attract far fewer viewers than the previous Saturday-afternoon broadcasts.

The issue of qualifying was raised at an FIA meeting in Paris last Friday, called by the governing body's president Max Mosley, but seven of the 10 teams declined to attend and only Ferrari, Red Bull and Jordan were present.

Meanwhile, speculation is rife that Jacques Villeneuve, who won the 1997 world championship in a Williams, will be dropped by the Sauber team within the next few races even though he is only three races into a two-year contract.

However, Peter Sauber has admitted that the new C23 car needs more development and the problem may not be entirely down to the driver. "The more we can improve the car, the more Jacques will feel confident," he said. "It goes without saying that the team is fully committed to its drivers."