Formula One will retain the live elimination qualifying format, in full, for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The derided change to qualifying had a farcical debut in Australia, with team bosses agreeing to scrap the new system for the second race in Bahrain. However, Thursday's meeting of the Strategy Group failed to reach the unanimous agreement required for a rule change.
It had been suggested F1 adopted a hybrid format for the next race, keeping Q1 and Q2 in the live elimination format but changing Q3 to the rules that existed between 2010 and 2015. F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, who was advocating the revised format, confirmed the system will be reviewed after its second running in Bahrain.
"The outcome I think is that we are going to stay as we are," Ecclestone told Reuters. "After Bahrain, we're going to have a look at it."
The inability of F1's decision-makers to implement change comes just a day after drivers wrote an open letter to complain about the "ill-structured and obsolete" system of governance, which it said "reflects negatively on our sport". On Thursday Ecclestone wrote back saying he agreed with the criticisms and asked for drivers to propose solutions.
The new format was widely criticised in the aftermath of qualifying in Australia -- Red Bull boss Christian Horner apologised to fans while Ecclestone himself called it "pretty crap".