Finally, the sprint racing weekend is just around the corner as the Formula 1 Quixotic quest will make history at the 2021 British Grand Prix with a new weekend format that has not been widely accepted.
In fact, FIA President Jean Todt – a thoroughbred racing driver – does not trust the boss of global motorsport, while the bosses of the sport approach the upcoming weekend with some anxiety and a first “see if it works” attitude.
However, Todt made it clear at the beginning of the month that he was not a fan of the concept: “Number one, we don’t call that a race. I had part of the responsibility for not calling this a race.
“For me, the ‘race’ is on Sunday. If you ask me if I’m a huge fan of this, the answer is no. I don’t think F1 needs that. But on the other hand, if people want to try something, it won’t hurt Sunday’s race. It looks different with a starting grid on Sunday. So it doesn’t cost anything to try it out.
“I’m curious what will come of it. But I’m sure it won’t hurt Sunday’s race. You might say it was more interesting on Saturday than on Sunday, but that’s not too much of a risk for the image and the credibility of the championship, ”warned Todt.
The teams play along, but there are reservations, Helmut Marko from Red Bull expressed his concerns from the team’s point of view to SpeedWeek. “If something goes wrong on Friday, it can ruin the whole weekend –
“The first free practice is the only time to check and set up the car. Then the Parc Fermé comes into force. That means that you can only adjust something in the second free practice on Saturday. “
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto gave the Ferrari perspective: “We only have the Friday morning before qualifying, so we’re going straight to a new specification, a new format, very little experience, it will be really exciting.
“But there can be a mess because the set-up may not be optimized, so with a lack of experience with the tires we can have a great race weekend in this regard,” predicted Binotto.
McLaren F1 boss Andreas Seidl expressed concern: “The team is of course trying very hard to be prepared for this first weekend with the sprint race.
“I think the biggest challenge for all of us will be the operational side of things because it’s quite a change to have the car in Parc Fermé from Friday afternoon when we go into qualifying.
“Of course, it is also a big challenge to do just one hour of free practice before the car is pretty much frozen in the Parc Fermé -minute session in which you try not to be too chic because you simply don’t have time have to do big tests and so on, ”Seidl told reporters.
F1 Motorsport Director Ross Brawn supports the plan, of course, but admits to Channel 4: “I’m nervous, but that’s normal. We put a lot of work into organizing the sprint qualifying, so I think the chances of success are good.
“We have to involve the fans and make sure we have a race that they really enjoy. I think this will work, but we won’t know until we get there. “
Experimentation and changes to race weekends have been abundant since the sport began in the 1950s. But a “race” with championship points (as in this case for the first three) has never been part of the landscape. This is revolutionary and, if successful, would become the norm on certain Grand Slam Grand Prix weekends starting next year.
Brawn continues: “The best thing that can happen is that the sprint qualifying becomes part of a Grand Prix weekend. Maybe not every race, but we want to emphasize that we want to extend the weekend.
“Now Friday also has a big event: qualifying. With the sprint qualifying on Saturday and the regular race on Sunday, we’re really trying to add to that so as not to take anything away from the Grand Prix, ”explained Brawn.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali added: “When we went public with the news that we wanted to try a sprint qualification like this, the review organizers immediately received a lot more ticket requests. And the TV stations were thrilled. This format has many advantages.
“The less time for free training units, the more action on the track. Nobody is waiting for better conditions in the garage. This has already been shown in Bahrain.
“With free practice and qualifying, the organizer can sell the fans a better Friday. With the second free practice as preparation for the race and the sprint qualifying in the afternoon, a better Saturday. This is an additional platform for stories and for the sponsors.
“The more unpredictable everything becomes, the more interesting the race becomes. If we don’t try, we’ll never know if it’s an advantage or not. How many times have we changed the qualifying format in the past? Always with the intention of doing better and getting to where we are today, ”dared Domenicali.
Over the years, Formula 1 points have evolved from the top six to the top 5, with the winner getting 8, to the current system where the winner gets 25 and the top ten points. The new concept will devastate statistics like never before.
Domenicali doesn’t believe that: “It’s quite simple: For the statistics, the driver who wins the qualifying race on Saturday takes pole position. And there is only one winner, and he will be crowned on Sunday.
“We don’t want to do this format at every Grand Prix in the future. This will be a Grand Slam for selected events that we need to discuss in the next step. But not too many. Let’s see if it works first. “
Since the teams complain that running sprint races would cost them more money to take part in the standard qualifying, a financing package has now been agreed for running sprint races.
Domenicali continues: “The difference between qualifying alone on the track and in a race is not that big. The distance is roughly the same. If we ask for compensation for everything we want to try again, we will never make it.
“We shouldn’t lose sight of the big picture. We are currently discussing the cost implications. But to be honest, the complaints came mostly from the big teams. I hope we can come to a solution now. The other details of the format are more or less fixed. “
In an ideal world the format has great appeal, for sure it will add storylines on Friday and Saturday and so the general consensus of fans in the stands is: let’s try.
But at the same time, a large part of it will ask: If it isn’t broken, why fix it?
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