'If you want a Q4, the teams need more tyres'

Red Bull supremo Christian Horner appears to have poured cold water on the idea of extending qualifying to include a fourth session, saying that teams would require additional sets of tyres in order to ensure that there are still cars driving by the time the final session arrives.

Current proposals being considered involve a Q4 being added; four cars would be eliminated after Q1, four more after Q2, and a final four after Q3 to leave eight cars racing in Q4 for the highest grid positions.

It is an idea that is thought to be the brainchild of the late Charlie Whiting and Ross Brawn suggested that it was being considered.

New F1 qualifying format for 2020 revealed?Read more

But Horner claimed that Red Bull had performed some simulations and reckons that the current allocation of 13 sets of tyres for qualifying would have to be increased to ensure the additional session is viable.

He said: "What you don’t want to end up with is cars not running in Q4 because there are no tyres left. So are there enough tyres to support the initiative?

“We’re open to any ideas but you have to really do your homework to make sure we don’t just change for the sake of change. It feels like we’re a little bit short of tyres at the first look at that first four sectors of qualifying. We’re running the simulations, so it is something we are working on."

Horner added that he is confident the team's calculations are correct and that he will wait and see if the idea gains more traction before revealing the data.

He said:"We are positive about the times and that the simulation is being done properly to make sure we are not introducing any issues.

"We are expecting the latest wording for the proposal and then we’ll go through it.”

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