Baku is far away, but not so far that it is not in the minds of all the protagonists and insiders of Formula 1. The first weekend with a sprint race of the season will attract further attention.
The weekend format that contains the sprint race will see the abolition of the second free practice session in favor of another dedicated to qualifying for the race.
A solution adopted to make the weekend much more interesting and exciting, especially for the public, so as to attract a greater number of new enthusiasts.
The goal of Liberty Media and of F1 itself is precisely this and Stefano Domenicali, managing director of the world champion Circus, has never made a secret of aiming to improve the weekend – at least from his point of view – to make them more attractive to the general public .
Toto Wolff, team principal and managing director of Mercedes AMG F1, however, has a different view of things regarding the weekend format. According to the Austrian manager, F1 should intervene on the weekend format not using a baseball bat – therefore in an invasive, ferocious way – but using precision instruments such as a Stanley knife. In short, the interventions are good, but more targeted. Surgical.
“I think we all share the same goal: we want this sport to continue to develop well and grow its audience.”
Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Formula 1
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
“We just need to find a common denominator on which principle is best. I’m more conservative, I like qualifying, I like the Grand Prix. But we also need to be open-minded about where this sport is going to go and some sprint races have been great.” .
“So whatever Stefano [Domenicali] decides to do is good, I think you will have all the data on the table, what is good for the public, what is good for the brand and then we just want to try to change things not using a baseball bat, but a Stanley knife … a more precise way to cut”.
In short, the two free practice sessions on the weekends in which the sprint race is held would still be a good and right thing, according to Wolff. The development of the single-seaters remains vital, because in a sport like F1 you can’t improvise.
In recent years, simulations have greatly helped the engineers in fine-tuning the set up, but the track always remains the most sincere answer to any questions that arise, because the conditions in which the single-seaters race are real.
“I think two qualifying sessions aren’t in itself a bad thing. If we stayed with the current format, I think we wouldn’t be able to stay within the mileage meant for the engines and I think Pirelli doesn’t have enough tyres. It’s a problem that needs to be solved”.
“In qualifying you have fewer opportunities to put the car into the wall. But with two races, as we’ve always known, the risk is greater and at the next race in Miami it can be a problem to replace the damaged parts,” concluded Wolff.
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