Dennis wants to fine tune the new F1 changes

McLaren boss Ron Dennis said that the new qualifying system could be improved by allowing teams to set their cars up for ultimate speed.

Dennis said: "While qualifying has brought something to the spectacle it needs a bit of fine-tuning.

"I'd personally like to see Saturday qualifying as just that. Running with qualifying fuel would give it a bit more meaning - I think most of the teams feel that.

"It's important not to resist change. We're more than happy to embrace everything, but hopefully we can improve the spectacle further by considering these sorts of changes."

Under this year's new one-lap-only system, cars are not allowed to refuel between qualifying and the race.

We probably need to go half a season to see how things go Patrick Head Williams technical director

The idea was to try to mix up the grids in the expectation that lower-rank teams would use less fuel in qualifying to try to gain some extra publicity.

But with one or two exceptions this did not seem to happen at the Australian Grand Prix, although Max Mosley - president of motorsport's governing body, the FIA - did not agree with that view.

"It's difficult to say exactly how much [the rule changes affected the race result]. But undoubtedly the grid was completely different in terms of the order and the fuel loads the cars were using and that must have made a contribution," Mosley said.

The rule changes met with a mixed response over the weekend in Australia.

Williams technical director Patrick Head said he thought the new qualifying system was "a bit of a bore" but that he had been told that it was "good news" for television coverage.

He added: "We shouldn't be too hasty in our judgement and probably need to go half a season to see how things go."

Race winner David Coulthard did not approve of the changes to qualifying.

But Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya said: "It actually takes more out of the driver having a heavier car without a perfect balance. It's actually a bigger challenge. I think it was good."