Why F1 has to go big or go home with future sprint race tweaks

"If we want to keep this format, [we should] give it a go on something quite different, because I think for the last two years this sort of event hasn't brought a lot of good racing." This was Sergio Perez's view of the sprint weekend format used through 2023, as the Brazilian Grand Prix offered the final installation of six sprint events through this season.

Indications of change for 2024 have been afoot, as a scheduling shuffle looks to be on the cards to ease the restrictive parc ferme regulations that effectively lock the cars into a set-up once Friday qualifying starts. In short, the idea is to move sprint qualifying to Friday and the sprint race to Saturday morning, creating a window between it and Saturday afternoon qualifying to make any final changes.

Being locked into any set-up errors has been one of the key criticisms of the sprint format among the teams, although the consequence of a shaken-up order means that many of the fans may not share their view. That said, tweaking this rule makes sense to offer the teams a second chance - that way, mistakes are genuine rather than a byproduct of an unfair challenge.

But the drivers, now veterans of 12 sprint events over the past three years, have begun to identify other problem areas. Beyond Max Verstappen's evident distaste for the sprint experiments as a whole - an opinion that no doubt some other drivers share - many have started to feel that they offer little beyond what already exists with a standard grand prix weekend.

"Saturday is too revealing of what's going to happen on Sunday, which is basically the first stint of the race of Sunday, what you're watching on TV," Carlos Sainz explained. "And this doesn't help. I think the show is the main race, is the grand prix. So if you've arrived at that point, you'd better try something else on Saturday."

Sainz and Perez both took aim at qualifying, noting that the common system with qualifying for the grand prix (albeit with mandated tyre types and shorter time limits) promotes a race that will closely forecast events in the full Sunday event. And to no surprise, keeping many of the inputs the same reveals a very similar output...

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

F1's sprint race format still creates mixed opinions between fans, drivers and teams

In a discussion with other media personnel, it was concluded that it was like ordering a ravioli starter in an Italian restaurant and then choosing ravioli as a main course. The serving size is smaller, and the sauce might be marginally different, but it's ultimately the same. That might not be such a bad thing if it's a particularly moreish dish but, if the starter was bland, the main course will be a prosaic eating experience.

Sprint races look like they're here to stay, as F1 seems particularly keen on using it as a way to boost viewing figures and to spark bidding wars between events looking to host them. And, following recent driver feedback, Stefano Domenicali's boardroom of blue-sky thinkers need to start collecting ideas to make the shortened races far less derivative.

Let's start with the suggestions that have already been made by a handful of the drivers: reversed grids. In reality, the only way to do this effectively would be to reverse the order from the grand prix qualifying; drivers would simply not run if it required its own session.

This leaves a hole in the schedule for another session, so perhaps a practice session is reintroduced to plug the void. Whichever way you cut it, sprint races with a reversed grid would easily produce more spectacular races compared to the current sprints in F1, as the drivers in slower cars aim to cling onto victory and the faster cars make their way through the order.

If sprint races are still in the experimental phase, then there's surely some latitude to get really left-field with sprint qualifying. Why not trial something completely different?

It's something that many have been clamouring for since the sprints were introduced and offers the smaller teams a chance to achieve results that they might not necessarily have been able to manage under the normal system. Even if the points on offer remain as a small percentage of those available in the grand prix, a sprint race win might be vital to a team looking to make progress in the constructors' championship.

But it's distinctly contrived as a format. While the attraction of a reversed grid lies in its sheer entertainment value, as it's probably the most direct way of producing a race that is guaranteed overtakes, it would do nothing to placate the portion of F1's fanbase that already believes that the championship is already too keen to prioritise "the show".

If reversed grids aren't popular, how about a return to one-shot qualifying? Used between 2003 and 2005, it was a format in which each driver got the run of the circuit alone and had one chance to set a qualifying lap that determined the grid. The use of a single set of soft tyres in the final part of sprint qualifying already makes it a one-chance format, so why not formalise it and allow the lesser-spotted cars completely undivided attention over the course of a session?

One-shot qualifying: In defence of F1's flawed TV gamble

Photo by: Lyndon McNeil

F1 could revisit old or try new qualifying formats to make sure the sprint race starting order isn't a copy of the grand prix

Rather than have a session to decide the order of the qualifying session, which seemed like an over-complication and open to manipulation (Michael Schumacher once deliberately tanked his initial qualifying lap to get a more favourable place in the order as rain was due to arrive in the second part of qualifying), the free practice order could be used instead. With the sole practice session already valuable given it becomes the sole opportunity to make changes based on gathered data, it adds an extra element of needing to actually perform a solid lap.

Of course, the key flaw of one-shot qualifying is that the field does not get equal conditions to do their lap. The driver who starts first, likely to be the driver who finished last in practice will encounter the circuit at its least grippy; conversely, the top driver in practice will generally get the best conditions. Inclement weather can derail that and offer some degree of variation, but the fact that all drivers cannot run on track at the same time develops inequality.

But if sprint races are still in the experimental phase, then there's surely some latitude to get really left-field with sprint qualifying. Why not trial something completely different? Formula E has shown that qualifying experimentation can offer a genuinely enthralling solution that hasn't been done before, and its duel format has made qualifying as much of an event as the race. This isn't a call for F1 to simply lift the format from its electric-powered counterpart, but rather to channel a similar level of creativity.

This writer's preference would be to leave sprint races in the same place as aggregate qualifying and racing at Sochi: the bin. The races at Interlagos have almost always been good, but many of the experiments at different venues this year haven't been particularly stunning - Qatar being the exception to that, as the nature of the circuit seemed to suit the sprint event.

That's not to say that the alternative of three practice sessions is any better; a two-day weekend with one practice session, qualifying, and the race would be a perfect antidote to the calendars becoming increasingly massive. But F1 is inclined towards more track time, not less; selling out a Friday is a lucrative revenue stream, and the importance of holding a session on that day with some degree of jeopardy and meaning is certainly important.

If the sprint experiment is to continue, then F1 needs to go big - or go home.

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

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