By Andrew Benson Motorsport editor

Ferrari's domination of the first race exacerbated criticisms

Formula One's controversial new qualifying format will not be changed for at least the next two races.

The new system, in which drivers have one lap in each of two back-to-back sessions, has been heavily criticised.

A spokesman for F1's governing body, the FIA, said it was "too early" to make changes, and that it would be looked at after the first three races.

"Many people didn't warm to the changes in 2003 at first but the season turned out to be one of the best," he said.

The spokesman added that the change had been prompted by the F1 team owners.

"Just to be clear, this was something that the team principals discussed at length in their own meetings and came to us and said: 'This is what we think,'" he said.

Renault team boss Flavio Briatore is one of several influential F1 insiders who have criticised the new format.

It would be inappropriate to act until we have seen how it works over a few races FIA spokesman F1 boss slates new format

"It's rubbish. It's too long for TV and makes no sense. It needs to be changed. It's stupid for us, stupid for the spectators," Briatore said.

The criticism has been heightened by the fact that Ferrari dominated the first race of the season in Australia on Sunday.

The one-lap format was introduced last year, when one session on Friday determined the order in which cars ran in the decisive Saturday session.

For this year, the Friday session has been moved so the two sessions run back-to-back.

Cars go out in the first session in the order in which they finished the previous race.

The order from the first session is then reversed to determine the slots for the final run.

The FIA spokesman said: "It would be inappropriate to act until we have seen how it works over a few races.

"Once we've looked at it and there is a consensus among the stakeholders in F1 and the fans, then we will consider the issue."