I dunno what's blowing my mind more about this.

The fact that we're trying so hard to spice up a part of the race weekend that didn't need spicing up to begin with.

Or that, of all the potentially interesting options, they've gone with the most milquetoast choice possible. https://twitter.com/F1/status/1386704595473285120

Like, qualifying is not only a way of setting the grid for the main event, but a nice warm-up to get the juices flowing for that main event on Sunday.

It's a time trial. That's it.

And the current format of Q1/2/3 is arguably just fine as it is.

With the current qualifying format, you get a really nice flow and build-up of tension.

Q1 is all about the backmarker teams trying to sneak into Q2 against the odds.

Q2 trims the midfield down to just the top ten.

Q3 is all about going balls-to-the-wall for pole position.

So qualifying is there to serve a purpose, and the current format fulfils that purpose about as well as you could want.

And I'll be honest, if you're tinkering with qualifying to 'spice up' the weekend, you've probably got bigger problems with the on-track product.

But, sure, let's tinker with qualifying to make things a bit more exciting.

What options do we have?

A few, as it goes - that I'm gonna break down in this thread.

First, there's Superpole/one-lap shootout style qualifying.

The common misconception is 'only one car on track at a time = BORING'. But that's not the case.

All the focus on one drive at a time, & one chance to nail a perfect lap. Mess up, and it's game over. No second chances.