Tung: ''Understood that Mercedes wins four to five tenths with the Party Mode''

From the Italian Grand Prix onwards, qualifying mode will be a thing of the past. It remains to be seen what effect this will have on the competitivess of Formula 1, but racing driver Ho-Pin Tung is enthusiastic about the new rule.

Formula 1 wanted to start from the Belgian Grand Prix with the new rule, but Honda and Mercedes needed a little more time. From the Italian Grand Prix onwards, the engines can only be put in one mode for the whole weekend. 

Mercedes' lead becomes smaller

''In qualifying, teams will now be closer together, because Mercedes has always been able to make some gains if it could unscrew the engine full. It will vary from circuit to circuit, but I understand that without 'Party Mode' Mercedes will lose around four to five tenths. The loss will be smaller for other teams," said Tung to NU.nl.

''Where the gap in qualifying might get bigger, it could just be that Mercedes can make a bigger gap in the race. Mercedes has already said that they now expect to be faster in the race, because the power you normally use for that one lap can now be used for an entire race. However, over a whole race distance that difference will be minimal."