Formula One has agreed to ditch its new live-elimination qualifying system in time for the next round in Bahrain after a farcical debut of the new format in Australia.
The new system saw confusion in Q1 as several drivers miss-timed their fast laps before an anti-climactic pole position shootout between the Mercedes drivers that was decided with over three minutes left on the clock. A switch back to last year's system is expected to be approved by the F1 Commission after a meeting of team bosses in Melbourne ahead of Sunday's Australian Grand Prix reached unanimous agreement.
The short-lived live-elimination format is unlikely to be missed after widespread criticism from fans, drivers and team personnel. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff admitted on Saturday night that the qualifying show had been embarrassing for F1.
"Yes, it's pretty embarrassing," he said. "We have a global sport with millions of spectators and we have changed the rules in an erratic way, which we shouldn't have done. I think stability is important at that very moment and keeping it simple."
Asked how F1 managed to end up with a system after warnings from drivers and team members that it would not work, Wolff said: "I would say that mistakes happen and they happen in many companies or sports. The principle thinking behind it was good and about how we can make it more exciting.
"When the Strategy Group and F1 Commission decided to follow that idea in order not to shut the door, some of the race track promoters, who came up with the idea of spicing up the Saturday, we felt we should follow them.
"Once the sporting directors and technical guys showed it was much more complicated than the simple thought, we were probably too far in the process already. We couldn't convince the relevant bodies to change their mind."