By Kelsey Doogan
2026 will see a big change on the F1 grid with it now due to host 22 drivers instead of the usual 20- but what will this mean for the qualifying session?
Cadillac’s addition to the grid has forced the sport to adapt to more cars and drivers on the grid across a Formula One weekend, which is already chaotic enough at the best of times.
For those new to the sport, qualifying is a timed session used to determine starting grid spots for each of the drivers ahead of race day, each spot depending on who got the fastest time.
Long term fans of the sport would have been used to seeing 5 cars knocked out in both Q1 and Q2 leaving the usual top 10 for Q3.
Now in order to still allow for the top 10 cars to still fight it out for pole position, there must be 6 cars eliminated in both Q1 and Q2.
And even though the number of cars on track has increased, the timings for each session remain the same as before with 18 minutes for Q1, 15 minutes for Q2 and finally the usual 12 minutes for Q1.
These changes to qualifying will also be seen in the 6 Sprint weekends across the calendar, meaning the Sprint Qualifying and the race will be very unforgiving for those who make a mistake in what is a jam packed weekend.
And it’s safe to say the most unforgiving session is likely to be Q1 as all 22 drivers will be scrambling across a busy track to put in good times to keep themselves out of the elimination zone.
The main aim of the change in qualifying is to adapt to the growing numbers on the grid while also keeping things familiar for the fans, teams and drivers themselves.
All eyes will be on the first qualifying of the year, while will take place in Australia on Saturday the 7th of March at 4pm, track time, to see just how much chaos can unfold with the addition of two new drivers.
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