Williams deputy principal Claire Williams says this year's debacle over qualifying proves F1 must stop experimenting with new ideas in public.
Qualifying has gone back to the 2015 rules after two races with the controversial live elimination format adopted ahead of the current season. Despite a farcical debut at the Australian Grand Prix and the overwhelming desire to immediately scrap the new rules, F1's decision-makers were unable to make a change for Bahrain.
That meant another weekend under the unpopular format, which inevitably delivered another disappointing qualifying session. On Monday the switch back to the old system was officially ratified by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council, meaning it will be in place for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix.
Williams thinks the whole saga proves F1 should not be impulsive when making decisions.
"We have learned that we need to take more time to consider proposals that come to us, absolutely," Williams is quoted as saying by Autosport."You don't want to play out scenarios in the public arena. They should be done behind the scenes."
The switch back to the old system came when the FIA president Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone agreed to back down on new proposals after the teams united in favour of the 2015 format. The teams have said they are willing to revisit changes to qualifying when the championships have been decided later in the season but Williams says planning for 2017 seems the most sensible solution.
"It will give us a period of stability during which time we can sit down to properly analyse what a potentially new 2017 qualifying system could look like. We have to look at a race weekend with a declining audience coming to watch live and turning on their televisions. We have to look at what we are putting on, at the track and away from the track, to make sure we are retaining the audience and attracting a new generation of fans."