Three-race trial for qualifying races in 2020

Christian Horner says the current qualifying format "works fine".

Last week, Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto was quoted as saying that "all the teams" have already agreed that from 2020, reverse-grid qualifying sprint races will instead take place on Saturdays.

But it then emerged that Binotto had jumped the gun, because the teams, Liberty Media and the FIA are still discussing whether and how to change qualifying.

"The (current) qualifying format has raised a lot of questions, but in my opinion everything works fine," Red Bull’s Horner said at Singapore.

But that doesn’t mean the qualifying format won’t change at all.

Indeed, the big rumour in Singapore is that F1 will conduct a trial of the qualifying race idea next year at three grands prix.

Apparently, all the teams have agreed to that.

What they are less keen on is a proposal by Liberty Media to replace grid penalties with ballast penalties for unscheduled component changes in 2020.

"I think we’ve seen in other categories that it doesn’t work. It screws your whole weekend, not just qualifying." said Horner.

"But I do think that if we can find a more balanced penalty than just straight to the back of the grid then we should consider it."