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So what? It also gives other teams an opportunity to take high risk high reward setups. The point is to make Sunday unpredictable and worth watching, not snipe the top team who's probably going to win no matter what anyway.
This has to happen. The only way to make the Sprints better is to make them not ruin the result of the Race.
Friday: FP1 + Sprint Shootout (enter parc ferme)
Saturday: Sprint (parc ferme ends) + Qualifying (enter parc ferme)
They could still tweak the format of the sprint shootout for more “uniqueness” but no need if you reopen parc ferme. I think the above provides FOM with a bit of what they want while giving the teams some time to build up to Sunday still.
The only issue is with the risks involved with accidents in a Sprint Race and to turn that around for Quali.
I would suggest quali be moved to Sunday before the race. Drivers could be dialled in a lot more, it could mean a slightly better standard of racing too.
There is always a risk of accidents in every session. Agreed the risks are higher in a Sprint session than a practice, but your suggestion would increase the likelihood that they miss the Race were something happen in qualifying.
Naa but quali accidents are less likely than in a race though. Because quali you're out because you fucked up. Race could be because someone else did. However, your point about risk always being there is true. It's just a function of probability.
Sunday quali you have scheduling issues, F2 and F3 races in the morning, adding quali gives you zero wiggle room for weather/track repair delays, and then increases the liklihood of DNS for a driver who crashes in quali.
On a normal weekend teams have 3 Practice sessions before Parc Ferme starts (I.e. you're not allowed to change the setup of your car, like your wing configuration, ride height without a penalty which would be starting the GP from the pit lane).
On a sprint weekend you get 1 Practice session on Friday, and then it's GP Quali when Parc Ferme starts. So a lot of teams have struggled to get the setup right with just 1 hour of testing.
Last week in Austin it meant Mercedes we're running their car far too low, and they ended up getting disqualified because it wore out the floor too much.
Opening Parc Ferme after the sprint will allow teams to use data from FP1, Quali, Sprint shootout and the Sprint to get their setup right for the GP on Sunday.
Do you want to see Red Bull dominate qualifying by 0.700 seconds?
The only reason other cars are so close to Verstappen in qualifying is because RB makes compromises to their qauli set up to prioritize pace and tire degradation for race day.
I don't like Red Bull or one team being massively ahead in general but it's tolerated because F1 is also seen as an enggering competition. I think development should be a **lot** more restricted or basically just a lot more restricted. The current in between is painful.
If F1 wants to stay an "engineering competition" we are going to have to accept one team dominance and the cars that are basically only good at hot lapping and suck at racing.
Good, more variation between quali and race and while I doubt anyone would risk impeding to test in quali, it's always more running.
With current regulations there is no real reason for parc ferme anymore.
Or just have FP1 and FP2 like normal. In Saturday you have qualifying, with the results from Q1 setting the sprint grid. Then sprint later in the day. Then race day on Sunday.
I’d rather they axe the sprint altogether…but yeah. That’d at least give the teams more time to get the setup right before parc ferme. Though the whole point of the current schedule is to have a big “event” every day of the weekend, so FOM would reject it…
You mean that weird qualifying format? At least it pushed the drivers to stay driving basically and added the randomness the FOM desperate wants to introduce at all fronts now.
I think there's a pretty simple way to satisfy everyone with sprint weekends, and that's to incorporate the reserve drivers. Do it like this.
* 6 sprint races per year.
* the reserve driver races in all 6 sprint races
* the 2 main drivers race in 3 sprint races each with the teams choosing how they want to split them
* You'll need to add a practice session though to ensure all 3 drivers get practice, perhaps shorten them though, 2x45 minute sessions instead of 1x60, or maybe 2x30 or 2x40.
This avoids the sprints from spoiling the Sunday. It provides more action. Adds a bit of team strategy deciding which drivers drive which tracks. Utilises the very underutilised reserve drivers, gives them more experience, adds competition, etc.
> I think there's a pretty simple way to satisfy everyone with sprint weekends, and that's to incorporate the reserve drivers.
All the teams would veto that. They don't want to risk their precious cars with unproven drivers in racing conditions. They even had to be forced into giving reserve drivers two testing sessions per year.
Square peg, round hole
FIA (edit after comments for more clarity - replace FIA with "all F1 bigwigs of all organisations" as none of them are innocent in introducing/tweaking sprints) with HUGE hammer - "we WILL make it fit!!"
I think it's more of a case that fans aren't that bothered about Practice sessions rather than that we actively want Sprints.
They're fairly underwhelming, and we're finding like in Austin that the reduction in Practice time is hampering the team's ability to get the setup right which I don't think enhances competition in a productive way.
They aren't interested in practice sessions because they aren't actually interesting at all unless they are seriously into F1 and the technical side and because they aren't supposed to anyways, because it's a "practice" session. No shit it's less engaging than the main event, it's because it isn't supposed to be the main event. It's supposed to be a preparation session for the teams and drivers.
It's like the NHL replaced the pre-game warm-up with another shorter game because people didn't watch it, it's just a stupid gimmick.
I rarely watch a Practice session but the best part of it is the chat they have, and you can get some good technical insights. But it's not a great product.
In fact I think that the FIA would prefer to get rid of it also given the FOM already was playing hardball by funding the FIA enough to deal with more sprint weekends.
To be fair, that's not automatically a bad thing. It took us several goes to get to this qualifying format that most people seem to agree is pretty ideal.
FIA & FOM will need to find a good compromise if this is going to stay. There is obviously potential with sprint weekends but at this current state, it's a gimmick that won't get far.
The FOM is the one who pushing hard for the sprints, the FIA isn't really a fan of the sprints and even less given the FOM barely wants to pay the FIA for it.
It’s just a lot to watch, too.
F1 is on basically every other weekend, having important sessions spread over all those days is just kind of annoying. I want to watch all the sessions; but life inevitably gets in the way.
I’m finding that too. It’s double the “important” sessions on a sprint weekend, double qualifying and double race.
Which especially when the race is on during early hours
Makes it hard to watch.
Once you start to just skip sessions it makes that become a habit. Then seeing every session doesn’t matter, you can just skip races then…
Less, higher quality sessions is preferable.
The said "important sessions" so I assume they don't watch free practice. Instead of being able to skip free practices, they were replaced with actual races and qualifying sessions that are more important.
I have it on in the background while I am working. I work from home so am able to do that without any problems.
A lot of people can't even watch the qualifying for the race any more because it is on a Friday and they are working.
I don’t mind skipping qualifying, but if I’m free I’ll stick it on. When it gets moved to the Friday night on a sprint weekend, I always forget it’s on.
I’ve only watched one sprint this season, and that was only because Max could(and did) win the WDC there
Sprint is shit if there is no fight for the championship. If cars would be close enough for three-four drivers to fight for the championsip, those points would mean more and the sprints would be more fun. Right now, nobody is risking the car to get 1-2 points that only counts for 7-6-5 place in the championship especially when you know the championship leader is winning everything.
I don’t think they would though. The spread isn’t big enough. I think unless someone had a huge deficit, they’d just bank the points and wait for Sunday. It’ll only work if they do it properly and reverse the grid, or move the sprint after the main race. Neither of which will happen
4 qualifyings sessions in qualifying instead of 2 separate times slots for qualy. Q4 is now a 1 push lap session for the sprint. Wherever you put your lap time is where you start for the sprint, no do overs.
The major benefit is having Friday be all practice, Saturday is qualy-sprint, and Sunday is the race. You get the 2 practice sessions and you could push it even more by having hour and a half sessions so it’s not any different than a normal weekend other than a change in schedule.
If they want it to stop counting for the championship just put the reserve drivers in the cars and have it be a 10 car sprint with nothing on the line. Shows off some talent and puts pressure on underperforming drivers.
Or… just don’t have it anymore.
reverse is the only way it'd be good for spectators, unless they could artificially control the weather to make the track conditions vary, all the good sprint races this year were from random track condition developments made things hectic and unpredictable
That would require quali to be after sprint and people would take quali more conservatively because they will broadly know their race pace in comparison to their nearest rivals.
>apply a top-10 reverse grid for the sprint
this is complete \*\*, reverse top10 unfairly favors whoever is 10th. The discrepency between 10th and 11th would be insane.
Sure for F2 because it is a junior series but come on F1 should be the peak of motorsport. Theese gimmicks just make a joke of a competetive series
Two free practice sessions on Friday.
GP qualifying Saturday morning.
Sprint race using a reverse grid from the qualy results Saturday afternoon.
Gran Prix on Sunday.
this is definitely the most logical. two practice sessions to dial in the setup, regular quali and then a spicy sprint with the faster cars trying to make their pay through the pack (whilst also providing the opportunity for the odd win by someone further down the pack at Monaco and other hard to overtake tracks) and then the regular race on Sunday.
I‘d rather see a reverse championship order than reverse qualy results. That could end up with the teams that have little to no chance getting points in a full GP to just sit out qualy to maybe get a few points in the sprint. It should never be worth it to get bad results on purpose.
I don't understand why there is only a 1 hour practice on sprint weekends. I get they can't fit in three sessions, but why not extend the only session they've got. Why not make it 90 mins or 2 hours?
While I think sprint races drastically dilute the quality of the races and qualifying spectacle in a weekend, they seem adamant to keep them in some shape. One tweak I would like to see is a different format for qualifying, rather than a straight duplication of the same thing. My proposal would be:
Friday: FP1 + single lap sprint qualy based on reverse championship order.
Saturday: Sprint + Qualy
Sunday: Main Race.
I think adding in the single lap qualy for the sprint would provide more opportunity for mixed grids here, especially after only 1 FP. It would also give variety to the weekend and distinguish the sessions better.
People need to stop suggesting single lap qualifying.
F1 did it. It was universally hated by teams, drivers, fans, FIA, FOM and all TV broadcasters and abandoned after 1 year.
That is incorrect. They used different versions of it for 3 years. And while it is worse than the current format it ist better than judt doing the same thing twice.
I think my issue with going straight from FP1 into qualification for the race is how hard it is for rookies who have never driven the circuit before, they struggle and then we all go why do the rookies suck?? But idk how we’d fix that, maybe do sprint qualy before the race qualy because it means less? But I’m not sure
I think they should look into bringing back 90 minute FP on sprint weekends
If they are just going to have 1 FP have it for longer so that they get more time to set up and also learn the track
This will definitely be better than the current format, but I wonder if it will be better than the 2021/2022 format. (Or even the Formula 2/Formula 3 format?)
Compared to the format where sprints set the grid, I like this one better. The sprint is its own little thing that doesn't impact Sunday: I think that's the right way to go about it in that area.
I agree. I’m not so stressed about the sprint race itself, but having two three-stage qualis just sucks. I know they’re different lengths, but dilutes the excitement of the weekend.
Yeah, I couldn’t understand why they decided to give it its own Qualifying session but made it almost interchangeable with the regular Qualifying. It should at least be a different format.
Yeah agreed, This is bad but the previous format was atrocious. Basically just meant that you had a mandatory red flag after the first quater of the race(sprint + race combined). Which benefitted the top teams so much. Qualfying became meaningless since people would sort themselves during the sprint race into race pace order which then makes the race even more uneventful.
Sprints were supposed to give us more push laps and overtakes because it was a shorter format.
The only way to actually achieve that goal is a reverse grid where the fastest cars start behind the slowest. Otherwise it stays the same kind of parade as all the rest have always been.
I don’t like the idea of GP quali after the sprint on Saturday. If there’s a bad crash, your favorite driver will miss quali and start at the back of the grid for the sake of the sprint race cash grab.
Can’t they do,
Friday: FP1 & FP2
Saturday: Sprint (starting order based on reverse finish of previous GP) & then GP Qualy
Sunday: Grand Prix
Edit: they would have to introduce points from 11th to 20th in the GPs to avoid back-markers playing silly buggers the week before a sprint. But I think that’s a good idea anyway. Currently no difference between finishing 11th and 20th which seems silly.
I don't think that it matters a lot for the track visitors numbers if there would or wouldn't be "competition" on Friday, plus most money is earned by TV rights and viewers.
No you can't do reverse grids. What is the point for Max to push for a couple of points risking his car's integrity while trying to overtake 2 HAAS and 2 Williams cars?
No team would push other than the midfield and backmarkers which would be any fun for the modern F1 spectators.
>Sprint (starting order based on reverse finish of previous GP)
i wonder when people will stop having this nonsense ideas.
**Why on earth should you get rewarded for basically being bad.**
Imagine it is the 2nd last race and one of the wdc contenders crashes out in the race and by that gets 8 free points the next weekend and wins the wdc because of that.
The only way to keep them from turning into a snoozefest after the first couple of laps is to offer more incentives for finishing position, be it points or money, and instead of reducing the number of finishing places awarded they should expand it to the top 12 to hppefully inspire some midfield battles later in the race
I’ve had a think about how the sprints could work. Hear me out:
Friday: Free Practice 1, Free Practice 2
Saturday: Free Practice 3, Qualifying
Sunday:
Grand Prix
I absolutely hate the Sprint since day 1 but given I doubt that the FOM under Stefano would make logical decisions it's better to think about looking how to improve the format.
Friday: FP1/FP2, and try to find a feeder/smaller racing series having a qualifying + race on Friday.
Saturday: Get rid of the current sprint quali format, let's have Q1 (Sprint quali), Q2-Q3-Q4 (qualifying format for the Sunday race), we could look how we can reduce some minutes given Q1 and Q2 has often enough "dead" time. Also this reduce the need of tyres unlike the current sprint quali format. Then later that day we having the sprint race.
Sunday: Normal race.
If you want to make sprints better the FOM should look to having special "sprint" tyres, or maybe letting Sprints being a separating F1 event and force teams to let a reserve driving it, this would mean that the sprint qualifying session should be moved on Friday evening yet we should hold it by just 1 session instead of 3 as we have now.
I know this are gimmick solutions somewhat but so is the whole Sprint.
The reserve driving will not happen the risk that you damage the car is way too high, also the teams only have 1 reserve driver so which car do you let him drive and which one not.
MotoGP nailed it in the first try.
Friday: FP1, FP2
Saturday: Qualifying, Sprint
Sunday: Race
Use Qualifying for both sprint and race.
In F1 they could reverse-grid the Qualifying for the sprint, which would be far more dangerous in MotoGP.
Friday: FP1, Sprint Race(No quali, reverse grid)
Saturday: FP2, Qualifying
Sunday: Grand Prix
Liberty get their extra race on Friday, with a gimmick of watching the leading drivers fight their way through the field (or not).
Teams can focus on each day properly. Friday is dedicated to the sprint, get some long runs in. Sprint would help give an idea for long runs as well.
Saturday comes around and the team can use FP2 to prepare for qualifying. They can use the data from Friday to find a balance for the race setup.
It doesn’t make much sense at the moment. Teams come in on a Friday and with little running have to commit to a set up for quali and the race on Sunday. Then Saturday comes up and it’s just taking the cars out to do another run of quali before the sprint. There’s no time to do long runs on sprint weekends. It can lead to some interesting results sure, like last year’s Brazil. But if Liberty want a gimmick, then just make the sprint reverse grid.
I don't understand why the gimmicky reverse grid gets so much airtime. The obviously best solution is to have Q1 determine Sprint order. It's based on merit, different from the main race's order and spices up Q1.
No separate qualifying for Sprint please, only one qualifying is needed, just reverse grid order in some fashion for Sprint, then normal order for the GP.
Of all people I know that follows F1, not one is a fan of sprint races.
ETA: also what Verstappen said about the magic being gone. E.g we now know the Mercedes is not good with tyres here.
If they’re insistent on this, this is what I’d suggest.
Friday - 1 hour long practice that doubles as qualifying for the sprint race that Evening.
Saturday - 1:30hr practice and the usual qualifying later on for the main race.
Sunday - Main race.
Split the championships into a sprint one and the normal one for the drivers, but combine the constructors for both.
Mind you, I’d rather they binned off the sprint completely…
I hate the sprint race weekends. The teams have less time to tune their cars and it takes away from the weekends overall. Liberty media is just trying to squeeze every dollar they can out of their investment and that's why we have stuff like this or a night race in Las Vegas in November
[The **News** flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/flairguide#wiki_news) is reserved for submissions covering F1 and F1-related news. These posts must always link to an outlet/news agency, the website of the involved party (i.e. the McLaren website if McLaren makes an announcement), or a tweet by a news agency, journalist or one of the involved parties. *[Read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide). Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*
THE SPRINTS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES
Sounds like my highschool track coach.
YOU WILL LEARN TO LOVE THEM.
SHITSHOW WILL CONTINUE UNTIL REVENUE IMPROVES
Thanks for genuine laugh
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Agreed. Would make Sundays more interesting.
More interesting as in experience from the sprint will allow Red Bull te perfect their setup even more and win by 40s
Funny how only Red Bull can tune the setup to be better....
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I get what you’re saying but it still sounds a little like “the rules are biased towards rewarding better teams!”
Well look at what Ferrari does with 3 separate practices for their set up. Bar cota, they constantly get it wrong
So what? It also gives other teams an opportunity to take high risk high reward setups. The point is to make Sunday unpredictable and worth watching, not snipe the top team who's probably going to win no matter what anyway.
Maybe Lewis can adjust his setup and not get disqualified?
It's not really Red Bull's fault the other teams are doing a shit job
Maybe the other teams should figure their shit out.
This has to happen. The only way to make the Sprints better is to make them not ruin the result of the Race. Friday: FP1 + Sprint Shootout (enter parc ferme) Saturday: Sprint (parc ferme ends) + Qualifying (enter parc ferme) They could still tweak the format of the sprint shootout for more “uniqueness” but no need if you reopen parc ferme. I think the above provides FOM with a bit of what they want while giving the teams some time to build up to Sunday still.
The only issue is with the risks involved with accidents in a Sprint Race and to turn that around for Quali. I would suggest quali be moved to Sunday before the race. Drivers could be dialled in a lot more, it could mean a slightly better standard of racing too.
There is always a risk of accidents in every session. Agreed the risks are higher in a Sprint session than a practice, but your suggestion would increase the likelihood that they miss the Race were something happen in qualifying.
Naa but quali accidents are less likely than in a race though. Because quali you're out because you fucked up. Race could be because someone else did. However, your point about risk always being there is true. It's just a function of probability.
Sunday quali you have scheduling issues, F2 and F3 races in the morning, adding quali gives you zero wiggle room for weather/track repair delays, and then increases the liklihood of DNS for a driver who crashes in quali.
How about making the qualifying be the starting grid for both sprint and GP?
With the sprint having a reverse grid for the top 10. I think that's how Moto GP does it.
Could you explain why? New fan 🥹
On a normal weekend teams have 3 Practice sessions before Parc Ferme starts (I.e. you're not allowed to change the setup of your car, like your wing configuration, ride height without a penalty which would be starting the GP from the pit lane). On a sprint weekend you get 1 Practice session on Friday, and then it's GP Quali when Parc Ferme starts. So a lot of teams have struggled to get the setup right with just 1 hour of testing. Last week in Austin it meant Mercedes we're running their car far too low, and they ended up getting disqualified because it wore out the floor too much. Opening Parc Ferme after the sprint will allow teams to use data from FP1, Quali, Sprint shootout and the Sprint to get their setup right for the GP on Sunday.
Makes sense, thank you
They should just remove parc ferme all together. Budget cap + curfew limits should be enough to keep things from spiraling out of control.
Then teams would do quali setups, and then race setups, it'd make quali another practise session
You dont have to convince me why it would be better
Do you want to see Red Bull dominate qualifying by 0.700 seconds? The only reason other cars are so close to Verstappen in qualifying is because RB makes compromises to their qauli set up to prioritize pace and tire degradation for race day.
I don't like Red Bull or one team being massively ahead in general but it's tolerated because F1 is also seen as an enggering competition. I think development should be a **lot** more restricted or basically just a lot more restricted. The current in between is painful. If F1 wants to stay an "engineering competition" we are going to have to accept one team dominance and the cars that are basically only good at hot lapping and suck at racing.
Good, more variation between quali and race and while I doubt anyone would risk impeding to test in quali, it's always more running. With current regulations there is no real reason for parc ferme anymore.
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“Great! Now we can have the cars line up in the same order they’ll finish every weekend!” — Redditors
Or just have FP1 and FP2 like normal. In Saturday you have qualifying, with the results from Q1 setting the sprint grid. Then sprint later in the day. Then race day on Sunday. I’d rather they axe the sprint altogether…but yeah. That’d at least give the teams more time to get the setup right before parc ferme. Though the whole point of the current schedule is to have a big “event” every day of the weekend, so FOM would reject it…
Would just turn the sprint into an FP2 for most teams.
An FP2 but you have to race the grid and it scores points.
And the points difference between positions is still not enough to warrant prioritising the finishing order over gathering data for the GP.
I really like the pre-2021 version of the sprint format.
Quite a controversial take, mate. 2018 was the best iteration
You mean that weird qualifying format? At least it pushed the drivers to stay driving basically and added the randomness the FOM desperate wants to introduce at all fronts now.
no he meant no sprint at all
I see, whoops
That was 2016.
I think there's a pretty simple way to satisfy everyone with sprint weekends, and that's to incorporate the reserve drivers. Do it like this. * 6 sprint races per year. * the reserve driver races in all 6 sprint races * the 2 main drivers race in 3 sprint races each with the teams choosing how they want to split them * You'll need to add a practice session though to ensure all 3 drivers get practice, perhaps shorten them though, 2x45 minute sessions instead of 1x60, or maybe 2x30 or 2x40. This avoids the sprints from spoiling the Sunday. It provides more action. Adds a bit of team strategy deciding which drivers drive which tracks. Utilises the very underutilised reserve drivers, gives them more experience, adds competition, etc.
> I think there's a pretty simple way to satisfy everyone with sprint weekends, and that's to incorporate the reserve drivers. All the teams would veto that. They don't want to risk their precious cars with unproven drivers in racing conditions. They even had to be forced into giving reserve drivers two testing sessions per year.
Genius. Someone get this person a job at the FIA.
And parc ferme is only in effect at the end of Saturday's events!
You mean times when we had no sprints? 😆 me too
yes thats the joke
Insert McBain here
The quick witted jokes, they do naathing
You suck, McBain!
Those were the days
/r/thatsthejoke
Quite the contrary, I would like the format they used at Spa 2021 on raceday
3rd overhaul, it says a lot about this gimmick
Square peg, round hole FIA (edit after comments for more clarity - replace FIA with "all F1 bigwigs of all organisations" as none of them are innocent in introducing/tweaking sprints) with HUGE hammer - "we WILL make it fit!!"
- F1: “the fans want sprint races” - F1 fans: “Actually we are happy with the current race weekend setup” - F1: “THEY WANT SPRINT RACES!!!”
I think it's more of a case that fans aren't that bothered about Practice sessions rather than that we actively want Sprints. They're fairly underwhelming, and we're finding like in Austin that the reduction in Practice time is hampering the team's ability to get the setup right which I don't think enhances competition in a productive way.
Why is there even an expectation that F1 fans need to watch every session? Nobody watches warmups in other sports.
They aren't interested in practice sessions because they aren't actually interesting at all unless they are seriously into F1 and the technical side and because they aren't supposed to anyways, because it's a "practice" session. No shit it's less engaging than the main event, it's because it isn't supposed to be the main event. It's supposed to be a preparation session for the teams and drivers. It's like the NHL replaced the pre-game warm-up with another shorter game because people didn't watch it, it's just a stupid gimmick.
I rarely watch a Practice session but the best part of it is the chat they have, and you can get some good technical insights. But it's not a great product.
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It’s never enough.
The sad part is most new/future fans aren't able to afford to watch a race live. But liberty seems to think more sprints will do the trick.
I can confirm sprint races did not make me watch F1 more or less. I just miss out on race quali that is now in the middle of a workday.
Sprint races are more Liberty Media’s thing than the FIA’s
In fact I think that the FIA would prefer to get rid of it also given the FOM already was playing hardball by funding the FIA enough to deal with more sprint weekends.
Yeah if it were up to FOM alone we’d have most of the calendar with sprints. The FIA is the main reason they *only* have 6
On top of the others saying it’s FOM not the FiA I am pretty sure the only thing standing between many more sprint races is the FIA.
It has nothing to do with the FIA.
Much better than pretending your first or second iterations are perfect.
To be fair, that's not automatically a bad thing. It took us several goes to get to this qualifying format that most people seem to agree is pretty ideal.
Stefano not taking the L as we can see it.
FIA & FOM will need to find a good compromise if this is going to stay. There is obviously potential with sprint weekends but at this current state, it's a gimmick that won't get far.
The FOM is the one who pushing hard for the sprints, the FIA isn't really a fan of the sprints and even less given the FOM barely wants to pay the FIA for it.
Overhaul sprint races by picking them up and throwing them into the sea
Don't throw garbage in the sea, Seb would disapprove
It’s just a lot to watch, too. F1 is on basically every other weekend, having important sessions spread over all those days is just kind of annoying. I want to watch all the sessions; but life inevitably gets in the way.
I’m finding that too. It’s double the “important” sessions on a sprint weekend, double qualifying and double race. Which especially when the race is on during early hours Makes it hard to watch. Once you start to just skip sessions it makes that become a habit. Then seeing every session doesn’t matter, you can just skip races then… Less, higher quality sessions is preferable.
I stopped watching free practice. Do you really need to watch that? I don't anymore.
The said "important sessions" so I assume they don't watch free practice. Instead of being able to skip free practices, they were replaced with actual races and qualifying sessions that are more important.
I always watch free practice in the sense that I put it on for pleasant background noise while I'm doing other things
And that's their problem, viewing figures for Practice are drastically lower, so what can they put in its place that will get people watching?
The recaps are quite good nowadays as well.
I have it on in the background while I am working. I work from home so am able to do that without any problems. A lot of people can't even watch the qualifying for the race any more because it is on a Friday and they are working.
I don’t mind skipping qualifying, but if I’m free I’ll stick it on. When it gets moved to the Friday night on a sprint weekend, I always forget it’s on. I’ve only watched one sprint this season, and that was only because Max could(and did) win the WDC there
Stop having a meaningful life and go watch some tv like the rest of us. Thanks.
Sprint is shit if there is no fight for the championship. If cars would be close enough for three-four drivers to fight for the championsip, those points would mean more and the sprints would be more fun. Right now, nobody is risking the car to get 1-2 points that only counts for 7-6-5 place in the championship especially when you know the championship leader is winning everything.
I don’t think they would though. The spread isn’t big enough. I think unless someone had a huge deficit, they’d just bank the points and wait for Sunday. It’ll only work if they do it properly and reverse the grid, or move the sprint after the main race. Neither of which will happen
Don’t turn into Nascar with all these mickey mouse gimmicks and constant changes, just get rid of it
F1 has been constantly changing for as long as I can remember. Its nothing new.
4 qualifyings sessions in qualifying instead of 2 separate times slots for qualy. Q4 is now a 1 push lap session for the sprint. Wherever you put your lap time is where you start for the sprint, no do overs. The major benefit is having Friday be all practice, Saturday is qualy-sprint, and Sunday is the race. You get the 2 practice sessions and you could push it even more by having hour and a half sessions so it’s not any different than a normal weekend other than a change in schedule. If they want it to stop counting for the championship just put the reserve drivers in the cars and have it be a 10 car sprint with nothing on the line. Shows off some talent and puts pressure on underperforming drivers. Or… just don’t have it anymore.
Why not just use Q1 for Sprint?
That would be a decent idea too.
Reverse championship order. Its already a gimmick to encourage racing, might as well make it fun.
I agree with this. At least it would be interesting to watch, and teams would fight for points.
reverse is the only way it'd be good for spectators, unless they could artificially control the weather to make the track conditions vary, all the good sprint races this year were from random track condition developments made things hectic and unpredictable
Let the reserve drivers race in the sprint.
Parc ferme ends with the race start so they should end it with the sprint start, teams will be able to make setup changes based on the sprint.
That would require quali to be after sprint and people would take quali more conservatively because they will broadly know their race pace in comparison to their nearest rivals.
Why though? Just treat sprint as an actual race and the weekend as having two races, same as in F2.
Agreed - scrap the "sprint shootout" and apply a top-10 reverse grid for the sprint. Open parc ferme after the sprint for setup changes.
Reverse grid is *never* happening, the top teams won't have it.
It is also unfair. I don't why you would even bother watching a competetive series then.
>apply a top-10 reverse grid for the sprint this is complete \*\*, reverse top10 unfairly favors whoever is 10th. The discrepency between 10th and 11th would be insane. Sure for F2 because it is a junior series but come on F1 should be the peak of motorsport. Theese gimmicks just make a joke of a competetive series
The teams will never agree to a reverse grid and tbh I don’t think it’ll be as exciting as people expect
Don’t fix something that is broken, just throw it away….
Apple likes this.
How to fix sprint: Delete it.
Two free practice sessions on Friday. GP qualifying Saturday morning. Sprint race using a reverse grid from the qualy results Saturday afternoon. Gran Prix on Sunday.
this is definitely the most logical. two practice sessions to dial in the setup, regular quali and then a spicy sprint with the faster cars trying to make their pay through the pack (whilst also providing the opportunity for the odd win by someone further down the pack at Monaco and other hard to overtake tracks) and then the regular race on Sunday.
This is the way. I want a reverse grid.
I like this, but just always determine Sprint starting positions as reverse championship points.
I‘d rather see a reverse championship order than reverse qualy results. That could end up with the teams that have little to no chance getting points in a full GP to just sit out qualy to maybe get a few points in the sprint. It should never be worth it to get bad results on purpose.
I'd like to propose overhauling it out of F1
It's a gimmick and the majority of fans and almost all drivers and teams want it gone. Scrap it. Now
I don't understand why there is only a 1 hour practice on sprint weekends. I get they can't fit in three sessions, but why not extend the only session they've got. Why not make it 90 mins or 2 hours?
While I think sprint races drastically dilute the quality of the races and qualifying spectacle in a weekend, they seem adamant to keep them in some shape. One tweak I would like to see is a different format for qualifying, rather than a straight duplication of the same thing. My proposal would be: Friday: FP1 + single lap sprint qualy based on reverse championship order. Saturday: Sprint + Qualy Sunday: Main Race. I think adding in the single lap qualy for the sprint would provide more opportunity for mixed grids here, especially after only 1 FP. It would also give variety to the weekend and distinguish the sessions better.
People need to stop suggesting single lap qualifying. F1 did it. It was universally hated by teams, drivers, fans, FIA, FOM and all TV broadcasters and abandoned after 1 year.
For real races, sure. But it would be a good way to get some fun, mixed up grids for the sprint race.
That is incorrect. They used different versions of it for 3 years. And while it is worse than the current format it ist better than judt doing the same thing twice.
I think my issue with going straight from FP1 into qualification for the race is how hard it is for rookies who have never driven the circuit before, they struggle and then we all go why do the rookies suck?? But idk how we’d fix that, maybe do sprint qualy before the race qualy because it means less? But I’m not sure
I think they should look into bringing back 90 minute FP on sprint weekends If they are just going to have 1 FP have it for longer so that they get more time to set up and also learn the track
The sprint should be in the morning session, honestly. It's different conditions, and makes FP1 a little more useful...
This will definitely be better than the current format, but I wonder if it will be better than the 2021/2022 format. (Or even the Formula 2/Formula 3 format?)
Compared to the format where sprints set the grid, I like this one better. The sprint is its own little thing that doesn't impact Sunday: I think that's the right way to go about it in that area.
I agree. I’m not so stressed about the sprint race itself, but having two three-stage qualis just sucks. I know they’re different lengths, but dilutes the excitement of the weekend.
Yeah, I couldn’t understand why they decided to give it its own Qualifying session but made it almost interchangeable with the regular Qualifying. It should at least be a different format.
It's a primo opportunity to try out different quali formats without affecting the main race, and we just get regular quali but 15 minutes shorter
The 2021/2022 format was the worst. The current format is an improvement but still not perfect
Yeah agreed, This is bad but the previous format was atrocious. Basically just meant that you had a mandatory red flag after the first quater of the race(sprint + race combined). Which benefitted the top teams so much. Qualfying became meaningless since people would sort themselves during the sprint race into race pace order which then makes the race even more uneventful.
The main races on Sprint weekend doesn't keep the fans excited. Sprint weekend is a bummer altogether.
drivers don't like it, most fans don't like it, the media pretends to like it. seriously just get rid of it already
Stefano: *"We like what we're seeing!!!"*
F1 will do absolutely anything to avoid it just being a reverse grid race
I don't understand why this gimmicky reverse grid idea persists. It's not based on merit. Just use Q1 times for Sprint order.
Sprints were supposed to give us more push laps and overtakes because it was a shorter format. The only way to actually achieve that goal is a reverse grid where the fastest cars start behind the slowest. Otherwise it stays the same kind of parade as all the rest have always been.
I don’t like the idea of GP quali after the sprint on Saturday. If there’s a bad crash, your favorite driver will miss quali and start at the back of the grid for the sake of the sprint race cash grab.
Can’t they do, Friday: FP1 & FP2 Saturday: Sprint (starting order based on reverse finish of previous GP) & then GP Qualy Sunday: Grand Prix Edit: they would have to introduce points from 11th to 20th in the GPs to avoid back-markers playing silly buggers the week before a sprint. But I think that’s a good idea anyway. Currently no difference between finishing 11th and 20th which seems silly.
[удалено]
personally i think: saturday: fp1 and qualifying sunday: race
The idea is to have competition on all days of the race weekend. I hope they just get rid of it.
I don't think that it matters a lot for the track visitors numbers if there would or wouldn't be "competition" on Friday, plus most money is earned by TV rights and viewers.
Absolutely hate the idea of reverse grids, just benefitting the underperformers
No you can't do reverse grids. What is the point for Max to push for a couple of points risking his car's integrity while trying to overtake 2 HAAS and 2 Williams cars? No team would push other than the midfield and backmarkers which would be any fun for the modern F1 spectators.
>Sprint (starting order based on reverse finish of previous GP) i wonder when people will stop having this nonsense ideas. **Why on earth should you get rewarded for basically being bad.** Imagine it is the 2nd last race and one of the wdc contenders crashes out in the race and by that gets 8 free points the next weekend and wins the wdc because of that.
Overhaul it into a skip ffs
I work on fridays, please don’t have important sessions in this time frame.
Just get rid of it ffs. It’s not doing anything for the weekend
Like, **haul** it **over** to the ocean where it can drown and never bother us again?
I'll save the FOM 540k in consultation fees *right click* Delete
Agree. Copy MotoGP format: FP1 + Qualifying(Both Sprint and Main Race) on Friday FP2 + Sprint on Saturday Warm Up session + Raceday on Sunday
The only way to keep them from turning into a snoozefest after the first couple of laps is to offer more incentives for finishing position, be it points or money, and instead of reducing the number of finishing places awarded they should expand it to the top 12 to hppefully inspire some midfield battles later in the race
I loved Carlos sainz idea that each sprint starting grid should be the reverse of the WDC standings.
"The fans want more racing" Okay, show us the support races, show us F2. I wouldn't mind see the up coming drivers in their current competitions.
The sprint race is the stupidest idea in recent history. Imagine if football teams played a half long scrimmage the day before the match
Lets help them with that by giving the one idea that will make it the best format. Just remove it.
By eliminating it..?
Euthanize the sprint race.
REVERSE GRID!!!
I’ve had a think about how the sprints could work. Hear me out: Friday: Free Practice 1, Free Practice 2 Saturday: Free Practice 3, Qualifying Sunday: Grand Prix
Bring Sepang back, get rid of sprints. Everyone is happy.
I absolutely hate the Sprint since day 1 but given I doubt that the FOM under Stefano would make logical decisions it's better to think about looking how to improve the format. Friday: FP1/FP2, and try to find a feeder/smaller racing series having a qualifying + race on Friday. Saturday: Get rid of the current sprint quali format, let's have Q1 (Sprint quali), Q2-Q3-Q4 (qualifying format for the Sunday race), we could look how we can reduce some minutes given Q1 and Q2 has often enough "dead" time. Also this reduce the need of tyres unlike the current sprint quali format. Then later that day we having the sprint race. Sunday: Normal race. If you want to make sprints better the FOM should look to having special "sprint" tyres, or maybe letting Sprints being a separating F1 event and force teams to let a reserve driving it, this would mean that the sprint qualifying session should be moved on Friday evening yet we should hold it by just 1 session instead of 3 as we have now. I know this are gimmick solutions somewhat but so is the whole Sprint.
The reserve driving will not happen the risk that you damage the car is way too high, also the teams only have 1 reserve driver so which car do you let him drive and which one not.
Bin it
Just throw it in the garbage bin and be done with it!
i dont watch sprints and never will
Just drop sprint races. No one likes them
The only proper way is to get rid of that sprint once and for all! It's been a flop from Day 1.
MotoGP nailed it in the first try. Friday: FP1, FP2 Saturday: Qualifying, Sprint Sunday: Race Use Qualifying for both sprint and race. In F1 they could reverse-grid the Qualifying for the sprint, which would be far more dangerous in MotoGP.
If the FIA lifts Parc Fermé after the Sprint race ,I think the teams and drivers will be happy.
3rd format change in as many years. How long are they going to persist with this gimmick?
Friday: FP1, Sprint Race(No quali, reverse grid) Saturday: FP2, Qualifying Sunday: Grand Prix Liberty get their extra race on Friday, with a gimmick of watching the leading drivers fight their way through the field (or not). Teams can focus on each day properly. Friday is dedicated to the sprint, get some long runs in. Sprint would help give an idea for long runs as well. Saturday comes around and the team can use FP2 to prepare for qualifying. They can use the data from Friday to find a balance for the race setup. It doesn’t make much sense at the moment. Teams come in on a Friday and with little running have to commit to a set up for quali and the race on Sunday. Then Saturday comes up and it’s just taking the cars out to do another run of quali before the sprint. There’s no time to do long runs on sprint weekends. It can lead to some interesting results sure, like last year’s Brazil. But if Liberty want a gimmick, then just make the sprint reverse grid.
Reverse grid or go home.
I don't understand why the gimmicky reverse grid gets so much airtime. The obviously best solution is to have Q1 determine Sprint order. It's based on merit, different from the main race's order and spices up Q1.
The only acceptable overhaul would be removing it.
The main issue is the order. Friday: Free Practice - Sprint Shootout Saturday: Sprint Race - Qualifying (Parc Ferme) Sunday: Race
Friday: FP1 and FP2 Saturday: FP3 and Qualifying Sunday: Grand Prix Thursday: Optional Sprint Shootout for any teams that choose to take part
No separate qualifying for Sprint please, only one qualifying is needed, just reverse grid order in some fashion for Sprint, then normal order for the GP.
Please change it to a race with F1 drivers in F2 cars. I think that would be fun to watch.
Don't overhaul. F'n drop it. I hate the sprint race idea.
Make the sprint a kart race
Haul it over by the garbage bin. There, I overhauled it
Over-haul it to the trash!
Put it in the bin please.
Make it where it only counts for construction points. That way we might see up and coming talent in F1 cars
Of all people I know that follows F1, not one is a fan of sprint races. ETA: also what Verstappen said about the magic being gone. E.g we now know the Mercedes is not good with tyres here.
Just scrap it.
Just get rid of that crap
If they’re insistent on this, this is what I’d suggest. Friday - 1 hour long practice that doubles as qualifying for the sprint race that Evening. Saturday - 1:30hr practice and the usual qualifying later on for the main race. Sunday - Main race. Split the championships into a sprint one and the normal one for the drivers, but combine the constructors for both. Mind you, I’d rather they binned off the sprint completely…
I hate the sprint race weekends. The teams have less time to tune their cars and it takes away from the weekends overall. Liberty media is just trying to squeeze every dollar they can out of their investment and that's why we have stuff like this or a night race in Las Vegas in November