Why the reverse-grids proposal won't go away

It appears as though Formula 1's proposal to introduce reversed-grid qualifying races will fall by the wayside for the time being. But, despite Mercedes' resistance, F1 owner Liberty Media is still keen to experiment with new formats.

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While there was a sense of disappointment this week from some teams that a proposal for reversed-grid qualifying race experiments had fallen away because of resistance from Mercedes, don't think for a second that the idea is dead.

The unique circumstance prompted by the coronavirus-impacted calendar, where F1 will hold back-to-back races at select venues, was certainly the perfect opportunity to try new things.

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Author Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.

Jonathan has won multiple awards for journalism - in 1991 he was the winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Sir William Lyons’ Award for young journalists, in 2010 he was awarded the Outstanding Individual accolade for consumer journalism in the Haymarket wards, in 2011 he won Haymarket’s Scoop of the Year, and in 2018 he was awarded a prestigious Medaglia d’Oro at the Lorenzo Bandini Awards for his contribution to F1 journalism.