Andrew MacPherson wrote:
> Are Bernie & the gang on drugs? I'd repeat the new rules here, but they
> went right over my head when the BBC just ran through them. I really
> must learn to pay more attention now that watching F1 requires revision
> notes.
>
BBC? ITV, surely?
What it boils down to in the end is pandering to commercial TV.

1. Qualifying is split into several "sessions" to allow TV companies to
have long-ish commercial breaks without viewers complaining about their
coverage being interrupted. (You think this is bad in qualifying? Wait
until they bring out the pace car every 20 laps in the GPs so we can
have more commercials!)

2. The "best" teams are the only ones allowed on track in the final
session, and that's where the top times are set. That allows TV
companies from attention-deficiency-syndrome countries to show just the
final session if they want.

The ITV commentators themselves admitted that the "breaks" between the
qualifying sessions weren't long enough to allow the teams to do any
meaningful work or adjustments on the cars - obviously the format is
just for the benefit of commercial TV.