Toto Wolff has slammed the sprint format again, saying there is hardly anything positive to take away from it.
Sprint races were introduced at the British GP this season. The commercial value prompted F1 to announce that they could be a mainstay in the future. The 100-kilometer race will replace the traditional qualifying session as the means of determining the starting order for Sunday.
Qualifying will not go anywhere, but it will be used to determine the starting order for sprints. This will be a major overhaul for the sport, and the Mercedes Team Principal is not a big fan of it.
Wolff slammed the sprint format again, saying that there is next to nothing that is being gained from running them.
“The weekends with the sprint race undoubtedly have an advantage on the commercial front since Friday becomes a more intense day thanks to qualifying, Saturday we have a race and Sunday the Grand Prix,” Wolff said, as quoted by Planet F1.
“But I’m not a big fan of the sprint race as it is now on Saturday, there is little to gain and a lot to risk, because the score is very low and you certainly do not want to find yourself at the bottom of the grid on Sunday.”
Sprinting towards the easy way
Wolff suggested that either the length of the race needs to be changed, or the number of points that are up for grabs needs to be changed.
“Perhaps the system of awarding points, or the length of the race, should be reviewed,” he suggested.
“If in the end what counts is the start, we can only do two laps…”
Sprint races debuted to a mixed reaction from fans. Some hailed it as a worthy alternative to the usual schedules, but many others deemed it pointless and an all-or-nothing series of laps.
The second sprint race which took place at the Italian GP was especially criticised for being run at a track that is hardly favourable for overtaking.
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