Categories: Look backRace and classic pictures

How it used to be

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OK, so Spa-Francorchamps with a 2005 car on track looks great, but this is the perfect picture of a qualifying session that year. Prior to the three-stage knockout system being introduced in 2006, F1 qualifying consisted of one car at a time on track for one lap. Simple and filled with pressure, but it did not excite TV audiences who waited a long time watching cars they were not always interested in, waiting for a potential fight for pole.

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.