Zak Brown believes that mandatory pit stops would add a new dimension to the Sprints.

While the six venues at which Sprints will be held next season have been agreed, the precise format is still under consideration.

As F1 ponders the concept of a stand-alone championship the sport is also looking at ways in which to spice up the events which for the most part have been uninspiring.

With drivers unwilling to risk damaging their cars for the main event, many of the Sprints have been little more than 'rehearsals' for the Grand Prix that follows.

Various ideas are being considered including reversing the grid based on qualifying results and extending the number of positions which count for points.

McLaren boss, Zak Brown however believes that one idea that should be considered is the introduction of mandatory pit stops.

"I don't think they take away from the glamour of the Grand Prix but I do think we need to look at the format," he tells the Track Limits podcast.

"I think he'd say on the whole they haven't been quite as exciting as they can be," he says of Max Verstappen, who has made no secret of his dislike of the Sprint. "So whether that's reverse grids, whether that's mandatory pit stops, whether it's a super, super-soft tyre that goes off halfway through the race, I think we do need to do something to mix up the race."

The American believes that as opposed to the current 100 km Sprint - it's in the name - fans would enjoy a compulsory pit stop for fresh tyres around half distance.

"I think mandatory pit stops would be good," he insists. "And I think if we had super-soft tyres that deliberately went off halfway through and you then had to decide do you change? Do you not change?

"I think that would be a way to kind of condense it into a mini Grand Prix and make it because right now there's no strategy, you just sprint so I think that would be interesting."

Of course, this is just another means of manipulating the action, as if demanding tyres only set to last so many laps on Sunday afternoon wasn't enough.

Ignoring the green agenda that the sport is forever crowing about and the fact that this idea would require even more tyres to be transported around the world, if it didn't improve the Sprint what then... two mandatory stops, refuelling, pit at the end of every second lap or in alphabetical order?

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 31/12/2023 11:49

"Brown's idea of "spicing up" Sprints with refuelling merely highlights the futility of Sprints in the 1st place.

From a racing perspective, "Sprint" races don't really work too well in F1, given the unwillingness of most drivers & teams to "risk it" by going all-out & risking catastrophic (expensive) damage for little reward in points.
The concept works quite well in MotoGP where the Parc Ferme regulations & *relative* ease of rebuilding the bikes minimizes the risk of wrecking chances in the GP. Even there, some riders have been injured in sprints which has ruined their weekends\seasons.

The whole thing is a bit like supermarket bundling offers: you want an F1 race and get a "free" mediocre race thrown in as part of the deal...."

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2. Posted by Superbird70, 29/12/2023 16:08

"Years ago in Montreal they ran Honda Civic races as a warm up to the msin event. If Liberty really wants to do a sprint why don't they supply some spec. cars and let them race. Mecedes, Renault or Stellantis must have some consumer vehicles they would like to showcase. FIAT 500 sprint might be entertaining."

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3. Posted by elsiebc, 29/12/2023 4:34

"@ian_w There's an amusement park I was at a couple years ago where you could use a coin operated water cannon on folks who were taking the log flume ride. Merge that idea with the on track sprinkler system, add a touch of the driver-of-the-day voting system, and you could have fan induced mayhem, maybe even driver targeted.
Heck, why just stop with water. With the standardized ECU's, fans could vote to assist or hinder a particular driver!"

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4. Posted by ian_w, 29/12/2023 2:04

"There's no crying in baseball and there's no stopping (or slowing down) in an F1 Sprint.

At the same time as F1 / Pirelli is working on the Alternative Tyre Allocation in the efforts of promoting greater sustainability by bringing LESS tyres to each race, now we have wacky Zac Brown (any relation to Dr. Emmett Brown from "Back to the Future" ?) advocating for MORE pit stops, which can only imply MORE tyres at each race weekend! And now we move from three to six Sprints per season.

If they really wanted to make the Sprints interesting, then take a page from good ol' Bernie fountain of wacky ideas...

Outfit every Sprint track with an automatic sprinkler system. It would be set to come on at a random time or times, for a random interval at some point between 15 minutes prior to the start to the end of the race. Could be a light wash to a total soaker! Then you'll have some really entertaining races! And then, if you need a tyre stop, OK. Circuit Paul Ricard has had a system installed for years (https://www.circuitpaulricard.com/en/pages/technology-and-innovations/). Plus, the most exciting racing in past few years have come under such varying conditions.

Just as soon as F1 solve the wall of spray coming of the tyres problem !

Personally, I'd love to see them all have a "sprint race" in go-karts!! Most tracks have a go-kart track (or they're cheap to add), most of the drivers have a karting background. Not a great spectacle for most of those in the wrong grandstands, but that would be fun and the rest can watch on the screen as they do for most of the race action anyway."

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5. Posted by kenji, 29/12/2023 0:07

"@KKK...You do realise that teams sign up for a year/season of racing, which includes the six sprints. AFAIK there are no opt out clauses in any contracts entered into. The fact is that I, like so many others, enjoy racing rather than boring FP where there is nil competition and the times are largely meaningless unless you're privy to details of set up, including fuel levels.
Remember that no one is forced to watch the sprints, that is a purely personal choice. Me, i'll take the sprints anyday, considering the alternative. Just as an aside, I thought that Piastri's win last season was a sprint highlight that I wouldn't have wanted to miss. Happy New Year."

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6. Posted by Team Hack, 28/12/2023 18:22

"@SF 158,
"Question: What is it about the word 'Sprint' that suggests stoppages of any kind???
Exactly!
A sprint should be a flat out blast by definition. If it's only 100kms duration (roughly) then just get everyone to use the hardest compound on that particular weekend and get on with it.

@kenji,
That is not a bad idea at all.

If I remember correctly there used to be a separate contest for normally aspirated cars (usually Cosworth) and turbos when turbos were the latest new fangled thing to have and proving much quicker."

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7. Posted by elsiebc, 28/12/2023 16:37

"I thought the sprints were to make the weekend more exciting. Now they're discussing ways to make the sprints exciting.
It's like regulating that passenger cars have 5 wheels so that a set of tires last longer by dividing up the load they each handle. The new 5 wheeled cars are well received by the government regulators, the tire manufacturers, and kenji. But when total mileage does not change significantly the regulators start talking about changing the tires compounds used on the 5 tires. "

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8. Posted by elsiebc, 28/12/2023 16:37

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9. Posted by Apexing, 28/12/2023 14:41

"Zak Brown generating more hot air for his new wind tunnel..."

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10. Posted by KKK, 28/12/2023 13:52

"How about really testing the theory of whether to have/have not a sprint ? Lets make the sprints a no point awarded event and see how many teams enter it ? Answer on a stamp? "NONE" would be the answer"

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11. Posted by kenji, 28/12/2023 10:34

"Seeing as it's a free for all in suggestions for the sprint races how about making it mandatory for all teams to field at least one rookie driver for the race now that the results are independent of th GP main event. That, with a Sprint Team trophy at year end wiould be quite entertaining."

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12. Posted by SF 158, 28/12/2023 1:29

"Question: What is it about the word 'Sprint' that suggests stoppages of any kind???

Why not shorten the races so that drivers don't have to be concerned about fuel - or tire degradation - and just let them all go flat out for once? Not that it would necessarily change the finishing order, but at least they could get on with it instead of playing strategy games."

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13. Posted by KKK, 27/12/2023 20:32

"There is an old saying "too many cooks spoil the broth" in F1 it "too many rules prevent racing""

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14. Posted by Defiant, 27/12/2023 19:44

"@BrightonCorgi, I agree that refuelling should come back, but I don't want it to be mandatory.
I'd just like it to be available, then let the strategists roll the dice on 0stops or 12 for all I care. Also give the suppliers an octane range to work in, then they could go for range or performance and that would add a small variation into the mix.

The tyre situation is equally as frustrating. Just let Pirelli design, construct and supply the things to whatever standard they choose. Then with a bit of luck, another supplier may join in to compete."

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15. Posted by BrightonCorgi, 27/12/2023 15:29

"Let's cut to the chase and bring back refueling. Running on less fuel and refueling is more "green" than a weighed down race on fuel.

Time to bring back the excitement."

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Pit stops would improve Sprints, says Brown

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