ESPN Formula One

SEPANG, Malaysia -- Somehow they have managed to take one of the fastest sports in the world and made it look slow.

That's the feeling among many observers when they watch Formula One's new qualifying format.

The problem is not one-lap, one-chance qualifying. Nor is the problem that cars must qualify in race trim because they are impounded after qualifying. Both of these facets do what they are supposed to do: mix up the grid and add some intrigue and unpredictability to the race.

Here in Malaysia, for example, both Fernando Alonso (last year's pole winner) and Takuma Sato spun on their qualifying runs and had to start the race from the back of the pack. And the fact that Mark Webber, Rubens Barrichello, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jenson Button, Ralf Schumacher, Jarno Trulli and David Coulthard were scattered all over in the top 10 grid spots made it obvious that there were plenty of different fuel load/pit stop strategies in place.

Where the problem with qualifying lies is in the time the new format takes; the whole process drags on for more than two hours.

In part one, which essentially is meaningless, drivers go out one at a time in the order they finished in the previous race, with the winner going out first, second place going out second, etc. The times from this first session set up the second and crucial session where the actual starting lineup is determined. In part two, the slowest driver from part one goes out first and the fastest driver goes out last.

The trouble is that nobody really pushes hard in part one because they can't risk damaging the car. Part two follows two minutes after part one, so there is no time to repair anything.

"Both qualifying sessions are very close," Alonso said, "so you can't make any mistakes in the first one because you would probably miss the second one or you would have to take the (spare) car and you lose 10 places (on the grid). So there's no reason to push too much in the first session."

The first session lasts nearly an hour. And who did what in session one is quickly overshadowed by session two.

"There was no point in pushing in the first qualifying session and it's going to be that way for the whole year," Rubens Barrichello said. "There's no value for whoever finished first, second or third in the first qualifying."

Last year's system was much better because part one was held on Friday. Drivers pushed to the limit because the cars could be repaired overnight. The cars could be set up in the quicker qualifying trim because there was lots of time to switch over to race trim prior to the Saturday afternoon qualifying session.

Furthermore, the fastest driver and team in the Friday session got coverage in the media for a day.

"It's a different day, and you have time to get it in the press," Barrichello said. "At least it gives you (the driver) a chance to push. I won my first Grand Prix last year when on the Friday I spun so I was dead last on Friday, and then I came on Saturday and I was on pole. So at least you have different situations. If it was last year like this year, I would have ruined my chances of being on pole."

On March 24 the teams are going to vote on a proposal to make a slight change to the new qualifying format. Instead of the whole thing starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday, part one will begin at 1 p.m. and part two will begin at 2 p.m. The TV broadcasters wanted an exact time for the start of the important session two, and this will give them that. But it won't make any other difference. Here in Malaysia part one took 59 minutes and 28 seconds, so even if the revised timetable had been used, the second session would have followed immediately.

Change is needed. And that's where the problems really begin. In situations like this, the rules say that a change can only be made if all the teams, the FIA and F1's commercial rights holder (Bernie Ecclestone) all agree. The F1 team bosses usually can't even agree on what day of the week it is.

Ferrari team boss Jean Todt says F1 shouldn't overreact.

"I don't think we should try to modify everything from one day to another after only one race," he said.

McLaren's Ron Dennis says that something needs to be done.

"Perhaps there is some argument that says let's wait two or three races until we know exactly what the reaction is," he said, "but there appeared to be quite significant (reaction) coming after Australia so maybe it is a case of better sooner rather than later."

"We are not intimidated by the fact we have a commitment to make F1 as good as it can be," Dennis added. "We do not resist change."

Some parties favor going back to the old qualifying format used up until 2001 in which it was a free-for-all for an hour. Each driver had a maximum of 12 laps and could go out anytime he wanted. If he made a mistake on one run he had a chance to go out again. Because the cars were not impounded, they could be set-up in qualifying trim with light fuel loads.

The good thing about the old way was that you really knew who was fastest over a single lap. But by always having the fastest guys in front, the races were often predictable. The good thing about one-lap, one-chance qualifying is that it does create that much needed unpredictably. One lap qualifying also gives TV exposure to the smaller teams who used to never get any coverage.

"The smaller teams (were) receiving zero share of voice and almost zero share of exposure," team owner Frank Williams said. "They needed something and they were given something that they could sell to their sponsors. At least both cars on the Friday and both cars on the Saturday will have a total of, I think, 12 laps of exposure -- an important concession for them, very important."

Jaguar boss Tony Purnell wants to revert to last year's two-day qualifying format.

"I liked the qualifying last year," he said. "I didn't see a chorus of disapproval in the press or the media. The way it worked out I thought it had a nice focus on the Friday and some intrigue with the fuel on the Saturday."

"The reason for the change from the purist days is that F1 has become something that was predictable," Purnell added. "And all the stakeholders saw a need to jumble it up in some way, perhaps artificially, for a purist, and that is how it all came about and that is the way it is."

Dennis says that F1 is willing to listen to suggestions on how to improve qualifying.

"We want it to be the best possible show," he said. "If anyone wants to sit and write down what they think is a good idea for practice, pass it to me, I'll put it into the system. We are not close minded to making F1 better."

It seems that everybody agrees that changes need to be made. But getting everybody to agree on a single solution, now that's a problem.

Dan Knutson covers Formula One for National Speed Sport News and ESPN.com.