Standalone Sprints that would have no bearing on Grand Prix grids are still being considered by F1 bosses, as drivers remain unconvinced by the current format.

Since the concept was first introduced, the Sprint has divided drivers and fans alike. As far as the drivers are concerned, one of the main drawbacks is the fact that an incident in the Sprint can heavily impact the Grand Prix, be it damage to the car or suffering an issue which leads to demotion to the back of Sunday's grid.

Consequently, drivers have been pushing for the Sprint to be a standalone event, meaning that the finishing positions do not impact the starting grid on Sunday.

As it stands, due to the fears a negative Sprint might have on the Grand Prix, drivers are not pushing hard - certainly as hard as F1 bosses would like - while the teams, eyeing the budget cap, even though allowances for damage have been put in place - instruct their drivers to play it safe.

World champion Max Verstappen has never been a fan of the concept, and having voiced his concerns in Mexico, took the opportunity today to reiterate his belief that the Sprint, certainly in its current format, is not working.

"Honestly, I'm just not a big fan of it because I feel like we don't really race," the Dutchman told reporters. "There are a few points that you get, but you also know that you can't really risk it because the main race is where you really get the points.

"You don't do a pitstop, you just put on the tyre which will last the distance, right?"

"With these cars, probably the racing is a little bit better," he admitted. "But overall, you don't really see a lot of overtaking unless there is a car out of position. So then, yeah, it's not really that fun for me.

With six Sprints planned for next season, the FIA is understood to be considering a format whereby the Sprint is a standalone event, with a separate qualifying session to decide Sunday's grid.

"I know that we will have six next year," said Verstappen. "But, I mean, maybe we can come up with things to discuss if we want it in a different way to maybe make it a bit more exciting, at least for me. We'll see."

"Max has a good point that the risks that you want to take in the sprint are less because it decides the position for Sunday," agreed Kevin Magnussen. "So I think maybe a good tweak could be to separate that, so you can go for it."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by KKK, 11/11/2022 20:14

"Why nit just dump the whole idea? Drivers won't push yi win the sprint, who cares who wins the sprint? It's the GP that counts. Drivers don't want it, teams don't want it and most of all the fans don't want it. It's all fir the show Nd the extra tv advertising revenue. Just get rid oc the sprints."

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2. Posted by Burton, 11/11/2022 18:03

"You get the impression that if these idiots somehow inherited the Coca-Cola empire, instead of thanking sweet baby Zeus for the good fortune, they wouldn't rest until they changed Coke into lemonade."

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3. Posted by alvarezh3, 11/11/2022 14:09

"@rambler:

Interesting proposal, I suggest testing your idea against the sprint to see which most of the spectators like the best.

OTOH, the sprint must allocate points also, otherwise there would be no incentive to actually race.

Lastly, the sprint race distance could be longer, maybe half a normal GP and allocate 1/2 the points. The race distance being used now is about 1/3 of the normal GP. At half the distance we get about a 45 minute race which should still be considered a "sprint" race."

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4. Posted by rambler, 11/11/2022 5:14

"Why not ditch the sprint (please ditch the sprint) and award points for the qualifying? Simple! No boring 20 minute parade, same level of risk to cars, budget cap and drivers as now and something to really push for if you are low on points."

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5. Posted by alvarezh3, 10/11/2022 21:02

"A sprint race that has no bearing on the main race? I am all for that!"

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F1 still pondering standalone Sprints

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