Ranked: Every F1 2025 driver by their career decisions made so far<\/a><\/p>\nSainz was originally asked how he felt about the addition of Sprint events in 2026, which will see locations like Singapore, Zandvoort, and Montreal add a sprint to their weekend offerings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a good example of maybe not the right ones,\u201d he told media, including PlanetF1.com, about the additions, \u201cbut at the same time, you never know. You might get a wet race in Canada or a shower in Singapore, and it turns out to be the best sprint in history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, he turned his attention to the current structure of the Sprint event as it stands.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it\u2019s more the format change that I think is required for the sprint, and I think Stefano [Domenicali, CEO of the Formula One Group] is open to do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, right now, the sprint, I\u2019m not a big fan, because it unveils what the first stint of Sunday is gonna be like. Because qualifying is the same format almost, and Sunday is almost the first stint, no? Maybe with a bit lighter car, but still the same set of tyres.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would rather have different ideas around the sprint so it doesn\u2019t reveal so much the race pace and the results of Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Put on the spot to propose some solutions of his own, Sainz came ready with suggestions.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne simple idea could be to make sure everyone does the sprint race on soft tyres, which is a high deg tyre,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally, very little tracks we choose the soft tyre for the first stint of the race. That could be a very easy, short-term solution, also because we are throwing five sets of tyes in the bin, soft tyres, almost every week. And we put one lap on them in quali, and then we give them back, and they go \u2014 I don\u2019t know where Pirelli stores them. But definitely for us, it\u2019s only a one-lap tyre in many, many tracks.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that could be an easy fix. Not enough, probably. I think it requires something else, something maybe a bit more spicy, which I think when it comes to getting the sprint race a bit more spicy, should be a good opportunity too maybe experiment with different formats and be open-minded.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it works, great; if it doesn\u2019t, change it again, like we did in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n
When someone asked if he\u2019d enjoy seeing the implementation of a reverse grid, however, the Spanish driver was hesitant.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not a big fan of reverse grids, but I wouldn\u2019t be completely opposed to trying something different in this case.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also think a sprint quali could be different, maybe with something of a super pole in SQ3.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust keep adding something different to the weekend. Keep trying different things, maybe \u2014 and as I said, not be too critical about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it works, great, and it\u2019s better for the format. If it doesn\u2019t, don\u2019t be scared to say, \u2018put it in the bin\u2019 and acknowledge it didn\u2019t work and try something different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Formula 1 first introduced Sprint races during the 2021 season, when three events on the calendar saw the addition of a brief race ahead of the main action. Since then, more venues have seen the addition of a Sprint race, and the weekend format has been tweaked in terms of the scheduling in order to maximize the spectacle for fans and to ensure drivers feel equipped to handle the stresses.<\/p>\n
Speaking to media before the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Domenicali expressed a desire to continue evolving the offerings of a race weekend, saying, \u201cWe need to discuss the formats for the next few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone wants more Sprint races instead of Friday free practice, from the promoters to the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
MotoGP, which was acquired by Formula 1\u2019s owner Liberty Media, utilizes the sprint format at each weekend; Domenicali acknowledged that following suit would be \u201ca big step,\u201d but that F1\u2019s primary goal is to continue evolving its offerings in line with evolving fan demographics and expectations.<\/p>\n
As Sainz points out, though, driver experience is also critical; after all, they\u2019re the men getting behind the wheel with less practice than in the past. Tweaks that improve the driver experience are likely to improve the fan experience as well.<\/p>\n
Read next:\u00a0Oscar Piastri issues \u2018quite clear\u2019 verdict on Lando Norris clash<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Williams driver Carlos Sainz has pinpointed one critical problem with Formula 1\u2019s Sprint race weekends as they currently…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219955,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,4971,817,813,816,818,44,17165,85,66002,819],"class_list":["post-219954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-carlos-sainz","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-home-page","tag-news","tag-popular","tag-sports","tag-united-states-grand-prix","tag-williams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219954","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=219954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}