Massa says new rules make Q3 boring

Felipe Massa believes this year`s regulations have made the final qualifying segment boring in comparison to previous seasons.

The final session has been shortened to 10 minutes for this year, eliminating the wasteful fuel burning seen last season at the start of the final round.

Refuelling is not allowed now between the end of qualifying and the start of the grand prix, which means drivers have to run in Q3 with the fuel they will start the race with.

Ferrari driver Massa says the change have made the final session boring.

The Brazilian also believes the governing body should look at introducing a new rule to avoid cars going too slowly at the end of qualifying, a problem that cost McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen a penalty in Malaysia.

“There has been plenty of talk about the new qualifying format and whether or not we need to introduce a means to stop cars slowing too much to save fuel in Q3 on the lap after their quick one and certainly I think we need to discuss the situation,” said Massa.

“Personally, I don`t find the new sporting regulations concerning qualifying in Q3 do much to make it more interesting. At least in the old one you got to do a low fuel run but now it`s a bit boring running with the fuel you will use to start the race.

Q1 and Q2 are so long and then you have to wait in the garage and having a very heavy car to drive in Q3 is not really much fun, even if I put in a fantastic qualifying lap in Q3 in Malaysia to take pole position.

“In the past, it was a bit more fun from the driving point of view. Maybe we need a rule change because of this problem of cars going slowly on their in lap, but let`s wait and see what suggestions people come up with.”

27.3.2008   ▪ Formula One    ▪ Massa    ▪ www.autosport.com