{"id":167411,"date":"2025-09-25T05:10:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T05:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/167411\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T05:10:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T05:10:08","slug":"f1-drivers-deliver-mixed-verdict-on-mooted-sprint-race-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/167411\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 drivers deliver mixed verdict on mooted Sprint Race plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oscar Piastri, Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly have delivered their verdict on Formula 1 <\/a>CEO Stefano Domenicali\u2019s mooted re-jigging of the race weekend format.<\/p>\n

Since Liberty Media\u2019s acquisition of F1\u2019s commercial rights, the sport has seen a sharp influx of new fans and a shift in the demographic. <\/p>\n

Reacting to the sport\u2019s rising popularity, Domenicali had suggested tweaking the race weekend format further to accomodate the \u2018shorter attention span\u2019 of the younger fans. <\/p>\n

The Italian revealed that he was considering adding more Sprint Races on to the calendar<\/a>, culling free practice sessions, and the much maligned reverse-grid idea. <\/p>\n

In the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend<\/a>, the trio of Piastri, Hulkenberg and Gasly were asked for their opinions on the potential switch that could be adopted on F1 Sprint weekends.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I\u2019m personally a fan of Sprint races. I don\u2019t mind them,\u201d Hulkenberg had told media including Motorsport Week. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it depends a bit on the selection of which tracks \u2014 some are more suited than others.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo find the right balance is not easy. We also need our practice time, and we look for perfection and ultimate performance. So there\u2019s definitely a balance to be had, but always open for change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Piastri was a little more tentative about his views on adding additional Sprint events to the calendar. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0think adding more Sprints is not necessarily a bad idea. I don\u2019t think we need or want it to be every weekend,\u201d asserted the Australian. <\/p>\n

The incumbent F1 calendar currently hosts six Sprint weekends. Moving forward, Gasly is happy to stick to the format currently employed by the sport. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be happy to leave it as it is,\u201d said the Frenchman.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll experience it, and maybe I\u2019ll change my mind in the future. But for now, I\u2019m more towards the current format.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ThreeThree drivers \u2013 Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg and Oscar Piastri \u2013 have given their thoughts on the F1 Sprint debate<\/p>\n

Drivers give strong stance on F1 Sprint reverse-grid suggestion<\/p>\n

The idea of enlisting reverse-grid races has been floating around the paddock for some time now. And everytime, it has been met with immense skepticism from drivers, paddock insiders and fans alike. <\/p>\n

This time is no different with Hulkenberg urging the upper echelons of the sport\u2019s management to strive to keep the DNA of F1 intact. <\/p>\n

\u201cReverse grid stuff\u2026 honestly, I don\u2019t know,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a bit mixed feelings \u2014 and how they would want to do that. It\u2019s a challenge F1 faces. The sport is popular, obviously you always want to enhance and improve the entertainment side, but you also need to cover and keep a balance with the performance side. For us as a sport, we\u2019re looking for ultimate performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd to find the right balance is not easy. We also need our practice time, and we look for perfection and ultimate performance. So there\u2019s definitely a balance to be had, but always open for change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gasly joked he wouldn\u2019t mind reverse-grid races given Alpine\u2019s competitiveness this season. However, he ended up concurring with his midfield rival. <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I would not mind the reverse grid for this year,\u201d he quipped. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I think \u2013 first we\u2019ve got to look at the performance in the coming year, and then I\u2019ll have a more precise answer. But I fully agree with Nico.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to keep some DNA of the sport. The formats we have at the moment \u2014 in my opinion \u2014 are very good. From a driver\u2019s point of view, you have three sessions, you\u2019re able to work on the car.<\/p>\n

\u201cEngineering-wise, it\u2019s good \u2014 session to session \u2014 to optimise and perfect the car for quali. And then you have one main race, which is the main event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Piastri, who currently leads the drivers\u2019 championship, was also not inclined to give his consideration to the idea of entertaining reverse-grid races in the future dubbing it a \u201cbad\u201d idea. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think reverse grids\u2026. It might sound obvious from where I\u2019m sat, but it\u2019s a bad idea,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think also just from a purely sporting and competitive side of things\u2026 I think the last thing we want as a sport is things being decided \u2014 or critical results happening \u2014 because of reverse grid races and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE \u2014 Carlos Sainz joins Alain Prost in unique F1 record after Azerbaijan GP podium<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oscar Piastri, Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly have delivered their verdict on Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali\u2019s mooted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,109826,817,109827,109828,806,805,803,804,25985,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-167411","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-domenicali","11":"tag-f1","12":"tag-gasly","13":"tag-hulkenberg","14":"tag-motor","15":"tag-motor-sports","16":"tag-motosport","17":"tag-motosports","18":"tag-piastri","19":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}