Bernie proposes his own qualifying lottery.

Dissatisfied with the current single-lap qualifying format, introduced just three races ago at the Australian Grand Prix, Formula One czar Bernie Ecclestone is already understood to be contemplating his own system.

Ecclestone last week slated the new format, claiming that it does not give the drivers any opportunity to better themselves or their rivals - or, indeed, show what they are capable of in a car pared to the minimum.

"First, the drivers are not driving on the limit in qualifying, and then they complete only one fast lap and they return to the pits and do nothing - they can only watch," Ecclestone told Brazilian news agency Agencia Estado, "There's no fighting - the excitement of qualifying has gone. The new system is not working. We are going to wait a bit longer and then we are going to change it."

If Bernie has his way, the session will return to its more familiar four-run format, with cars on qualifying fuel rather than race fuel, but would have both risk and reward thrown in for a bit of extra spice.

"The fastest ten drivers would be rewarded with points, so they would really have something to aim for," Ecclestone told Britain's News of the World, "It would return the thrill which qualifying should hold, and which has been lost under the current system. However, it wouldn't mean the fastest man was on pole....

"What I would like to see ids the names of the ten quickest drivers put into a hat the morning before the race, and then drawn out to see who would be at the front of the grid. No-one would know who was on pole until shortly before the race, and that would give added unpredictability to the whole event.

"It may not be sport as we know it - but it sure beats going out of business!"