'Ban on qualifying mode not in Belgium, but on Monza for the first time'

20 August 2020 at 08:34

Last update 20 August 2020 at 08:37

GPblog.com

The FIA was planning to ban the qualifying mode from the Belgian Grand Prix, but the international motorsport federation now seems to be opting for the same engine mode only from the Italian Grand Prix onwards.

That's what Racefans.net says. Because the new rule has been postponed for a week, the teams have extra time to prepare for this major change. The new restriction will be enforced because a new technical directive will be issued.

The qualifiying mode, also called the party mode, will be used by the race team to get extra power and to achieve a faster lap time. This qualifying mode can only be used very minimally, as the power unit is actually asked to perform above it.

Due to the ban on qualifying mode, teams in Formula 1 now have to decide which engine mode they want to drive with for the rest of the Grand Prix weekend. The FIA hopes that this will narrow the gap between Mercedes and the other teams. It remains to be seen whether this will work, however, as it is possible that Lewis Hamiton and Valtteri Bottas will get more power on the Sunday where they are less dominant than during qualifying.