Sub-1 minute qualifying in Bahrain - Symonds

Top FIA official Pat Symonds thinks the second race in Bahrain in December will be a "great spectacle".

He was speaking at Spa, after Formula 1 announced that the second leg of the newly announced Bahrain double header will be held on the ’almost oval’ short version of the circuit.

The layout is expected to beat F1’s record for a sub-1 minute qualifying lap. The existing record is Niki Lauda at Dijon in 1974, when he lapped the circuit in 58 seconds.

"We did various simulations," Symonds is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

"If we do two DRS zones, we get a laptime of 54.3. With three DRS zones it’s only 53.9 seconds.

"We expect the traffic on the short circuit to be problematic, but we already know that from other circuits like Sao Paulo.

"The teams have sophisticated tools to deal with that and we see it as part of the challenge. I think it will be a great spectacle," Symonds added.