Formula 1 ditches Q4 qualifying plans for 2020

In all likelihood, Formula 1 will not introduce next season a fourth segment to its Saturday afternoon qualifying format.

It emerged last month that a revamp for next season of F1's qualifying format had been put on the table at a Strategy Group meeting.

The proposed four-part scheme was intended to make it more difficult for drivers - including front-runners - to perform flawlessly and reach the final eight-car shootout.

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However, the stratagem - the benefits of which many team bosses doubted - would have required an extra allocation of tyres, something Pirelli was not prepared to assume free of charge.

A meeting between the teams in China failed to generate a consensus and a majority support on the matter, which led the FIA to publish F1's 2020 sporting regulations with an unchanged qualifying system.

"Qualifying is probably one of the least broken parts," said Racing Point technical director Andy Green, quoted by Motorsport.com.

"For the moment the qualifying spectacle works, and it does what we set out for it to do all those years ago. We've tried tweaking it a few times, and it hasn't really made it any better."

A change to next year's qualifying format would now require a unanimous consent from all of F1's teams.

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