29/04/2023
NEWS STORY
Following a particularly frustrating afternoon, Max Verstappen has called on F1 bosses to drop the Sprint format.
A self-confessed "purist" the two-time world champion has made no secret of his dislike of the Sprint, recently admitting that should they continue he would have to reconsider his future in the sport.
At the end of today's Sprint, following a first lap clash with George Russell which holed his car, dented his pride and subsequently caused him to resort to name calling, the Dutchman repeated his dislike of the format.
"Just scrap the whole thing," he said. "I think it's important to go back to what we have, and make sure that every team can fight for a win, that's what we have to try and aim for and [not] try to implement all this kind of artificial excitement.
"I would say I got bored through today's qualifying to be honest," he admitted. "I like to have one particular qualifying, where you just put everything in it, and that was yesterday, which I of course enjoy, and then they have to do it again today. I'm like, 'my God, another qualifying?' I just don't really enjoy that.
"It's hectic," he added. "I think it's just... it's not proper racing, it's more like gambling. I think I will have more success in Vegas if I go to the casino.
"I like racing, I'm a pure racer and I think this is more for the show. Of course it's important to have entertainment, but I think if all the cars are closer you'd create anyway better entertainment than trying to do it like this.
"It feels like, you're like a football match and it's 3-0 up for one team and then suddenly you just say 'oh let's reset it to 0-0 and go again'. I find that a bit unnecessary, these kinds of things."
While Charles Leclerc remains a fan of the Sprint, he admits that they should not become the norm.
"I don't hate this format," he said. "I think it's a better format than last year's sprint format. I prefer this one, I wouldn't want this to be the standard format in the future.
"I think it's fine if we have three, four races like that in a year," he added. "I think it puts a lot more pressure on the drivers because basically there's only one session where you can do a mistake which is FP1. After that, every laps you do are really important. And you also have a lot less preparation so the preparation for the race beforehand at the simulator is extremely important.
"Things I would like to change maybe is the role of the new soft in SQ3. I think, to be able, at least, to use a used soft, it's a shame, I think to not see Lando drive this morning, because he didn't have a set off tyres. I think there are some things... and the timing also, there are a few things that can be changed to improve those weekends."
"We don't want this to become a standard weekend," agreed Sergio Perez. "I think what we have in a normal weekend makes it really exciting and better for fans and this is what we've grown up with, and it's how it should stay. But I'm happy if we have three, four races like this, with the sprint format, and just making sure we correct small details like the timing, like the usage of the tyre. I think it looked really bad to have, I think, two cars without tyres in Q3. Just to make sure that we correct for that. And then you just have a few races like this in the year, maximum."
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