FIA announces qualifying changes 23 May 2005
Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, has confirmed that Sunday morning qualifying is to be dropped as of this weekend’s European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in Germany.
Grid positions will now be determined by the Saturday session alone, which will continue in the same single-lap format, but with cars required to qualify in race trim. They will then be kept under parc ferme conditions until the race.
The running order for the session will be reverse of the finishing order of the previous race. This means that at the Nurburgring, Takuma Sato is likely to be first man out for the returning BAR team, while Monaco winner Kimi Raikkonen will have the benefit of running last.
The change to the qualifying format was agreed by the ten Formula One teams over the Monte Carlo weekend and was confirmed after the proposal won the approval of the FIA’s World Motorsport Council on Monday.
All official timetables will be updated ahead of this weekend's Grand Prix.
