Qualifying was terrible Mr Todt

After the Australian Grand Prix debacle, the powers that be ignored all and sundry by insisting that the musical chairs qualifying would continue in Bahrain, when it was very clear that the format was a disaster with no room from improvement.

The warnings came from the fans, the drivers and the teams whose engineers had simulated trillions of scenarios on their computers and concluded that no way the new system would deliver anything but a bore. But the collective majority, aggrieved and in protest, were ignored.

Roll on Bahrain and we were dished out another huge anti-climax to what was once upon a time one of the greatest spectacles in sport – Formula 1 qualifying.

There is a very serious problem when Toto Wolff, boss of the Mercedes team whose drivers annexed the front row at the desert venue, comes out after the session and declares: "It was terrible..."

"Did you like it more? It's unbelievable," said Mercedes motorsport director Toto Wolff, despite his drivers taking first and second place on the starting grid with Lewis Hamilton on pole ahead of Nico Rosberg.

"I think after today's Q1 (first qualifying session) and Q2 I don't see what you can like there," added the Austrian. "It's very difficult to follow who is in and who is out. I think we have a duty to simplify the sport rather than add complexity.

"It doesn't mix up the field in a way that would make the race more entertaining. So I hope we can have some reasonable discussions tomorrow."

After Melbourne's edition Wolff summed it up as: "Rubbish."

McLaren's Racing Director Eric Boullier said he thought Bahrain's qualifying had been worse than Melbourne, particularly in the second phase. As far as we are concerned, having only one set of tyres on Q2 means you just do your lap and then you sit in the garage which is a bit ridiculous."

"We took a position in Australia, we had a meeting and unanimously agreed to revert back to last year's (format). I think we will stick with this position," he said.

Granted this time out Q3, the shoot-out for pole, may have provided more entertainment than in Melbourne, however the grid was already determined with three minutes of the session remaining making the new countdown clock irrelevant.

Q1 and Q2, which were 'acceptable' at the season opener, were farcical on the night with several drivers only doing one lap and getting out of their cars to get weighed with the clock still ticking down for them.

Also notable were the large portions of time in which track action was non-existent, which may not have impacted the meagre live audience in Bahrain but would be hugely disappointing at races with big attendance on Saturdays.

Media are also not holding back on criticism with BBC reporting: "[Qualifying] will come in for more criticism as a result of lack of track action at the end of each session."

"There were three minutes at the end of the first session with no cars on the circuit, and the end of the second session was a similar damp squib."

Meanwhile it is emerging that FIA president Jean Todt refused to ditch the farce after its debut Down Under and instead suggested a revised version which was rejected by teams.

"The organisers asked us to make qualifying more attractive. We had one attempt (in Melbourne) and I think it's better that we give the new system a second chance," Todt explained to the assembled media in an ultra-rare paddock appearance on Saturday.

Nevertheless the FIA chief revealed that a meeting is already scheduled for Sunday, to decide on what to do about qualifying.

"Before returning to the old system," he said, "I believe it would be better to improve the new format. My favourite is a slightly modified Q1 and Q2 with Q3 under the old system."

Reportedly Todt's interim solution is exactly what was rejected by the team bosses after Australia, but as for Sunday's meeting he admitted, "We are open to everything, including a return to the old format."

Asked if he had read the almost universally-negative reactions about the Melbourne qualifying on social media, Todt warned against "overreacting".

"I have read everything - it was 250 pages," said the FIA president. "But we must be careful about making decisions based on the opinions of social media users."

Bernie Ecclestone appears to be using the whole saga to strengthen his own agenda. At first, before it all backfired miserably, he was all for the concept and in fact he may have had a hand in devising the new format. But after Melbourne he was quick to declare, "It wasn’t my idea in the first place. So we will wait and see."

And added, "I didn’t like it either. But we will have to see. When you change these things they are all prototypes – until you have actually done it, you don’t know."

Australian Grand Prix winner Nico Rosberg, who qualified second in Bahrain, said,"We should listen to the people watching on TV. If they are still unhappy, which I am sure they will be, we should change it."

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