The third and final Sprint Race of 2022, which will take place this weekend in Brazil, has reignited the debate on the attractiveness of this format. World champion Max Verstappen, in particular, was particularly critical of the concept, never having been in favor of the shorter races on Saturday.
On Thursday in Brazil he reiterated his position, stating that one of the main downsides of Sprint Races is that riders are reluctant to risk too much for fear of retreating to the starting grid for Sunday’s main race.
“Honestly, I’m not a big fan of the Sprint Race because it feels like it doesn’t really race,” he said. “There are some points up for grabs, but you also know that you can’t risk it because the main race is the one where you really get the points. You don’t make a pit stop, so you just mount the tire that will last longer, right ? “.
“With these cars, the race is probably a bit better. But in general you don’t see a lot of overtaking, unless there’s a car out of its position. So yeah, it’s not that fun for me.”
F1 only recently got the green light for six Sprint Races for 2023, and has now begun the planning process for these races with the teams and the FIA. In addition to defining the location of the Sprint Races in the coming weeks, it appears that F1 intends to discuss the idea of making the Saturday event completely autonomous.
This means it will be for points only, with the grid for Sunday’s main Grand Prix likely to be decided by the traditional qualifying session on Friday.
Kevin Magnussen, a Haas driver, said this idea would be good as it would allow the drivers to push a little more.
“Max is right that the risks you want to take in the Sprint Race are less because you decide the position for Sunday,” he said. “So I think a good change could be to separate the two, so that we can make the most of them.”
Max Verstappen leads the rest of the field at the start of the Austrian GP sprint.
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
F1 managing director Ross Brawn said after the first Sprint Race at Silverstone last year that the drivers had already pushed for an autonomous race and that there could be an opening towards this possibility in the future.
“I think this is likely to be the key point if we take another step and make it autonomous,” Brawn said in an interview back then. “I think we will have to examine the number of points awarded and how to determine the starting grid. Should only Friday’s qualifying be worth it?”
“As you know, Sergio Perez retired at Silverstone in the Sprint Race and then obviously his Sunday race was heavily compromised. So we should determine the starting order on Friday for both Saturday and Sunday?”.
Verstappen has made it clear that he is open to discussing how to improve Sprint Races.
“I know of course we will have six next year,” he said. “But, I mean, we can find solutions to discuss if we want it to be in a different way to make it a little more exciting, at least for me. But we’ll see.”
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