Sprinting with opinions
Hello folks! It’s nice to have you here.
There’s been a lot of discussion around sprint races and sprint weekends lately. Or rather, it’s been around for a while and I’m just now chosing to share some opinions on it.
First of all, something has been bugging me for a while about sprint races. We have a sprint race and a Grand Prix race. Why are not calling the sprint races the Petit Prix? The drivers get a smaller trophy, the races are shorter... I mean, come on.
But to the actual question: What to do with the sprint races. Personally, I like the extra races, and I don’t really buy into them spoiling the main race as the mid-field is so tight currently. And particularly as we get towards the end of the season the practice sessions are being used more as test sessions for next year's components, so become less representative than usual.
But there are some draw backs. Under the current regs with the cost cap, there’s more racing to be done and potentially patched up from the same money pot. And apparently Max Verstappen dislikes them so all sprints are bad now.
But never fear, I have thought of some alternative options that will save us all…
Suggestion the first:
The sprint races count for the constructors' championship but not the drivers. This removes the potential, and realised, anticlimax of the drivers' championship being decided on a Saturday. I'm going to make some contractual leaps and suggest that teams could tag in their reserve drivers for the Petit Prix. Red Bull get an opportunity to remind us of all their reserves and Max gets to not do sprints.
Suggestion the second:
Addressing the 'boring' aspect in that the sprints can be spoilers for the main race, rearranging the race weekend to have two parc ferme stages could get around poor performance from a poor setup. Yea, I know that's half the challenge for the sprint weekends, but if it's leading to sub-optimal race weekends, then why not change it up. So...
Sprint quali -> parc ferme -> sprint race
Followed by a short/frantic interlude for a chance to reset/re-setup, then
Race quali -> parc ferme -> race
This puts the quali and races in the 'right order,' for a given value of right. The nesting is neat in the current format, in that the sprint race is entirely bracketed by the race quali and the race, but it can be confusing. Even some of the drivers struggle to keep track of qualifying positions on sprint weekends.
Logistically, put all the sprint race stuff on Friday, give the teams time to fix/change the cars before race quali on Saturday, and Grand Prix on Sunday.
Suggestion the third:
To address the cost cap issue, each team runs only one car in the sprint races and must alternate their drivers. Each team must decide at the start of the season which sprint each driver will race at, but they disclose this only to the FIA. Better yet, the info goes to an unmonitored email address/oversized and overengineered physical box, and is checked only at the start of the sprint weekend to make sure the teams haven't changed their minds. This also lets Max away with only doing half the sprint races.
Suggestion the fourth:
Get rid of qualifying and just use the sprint race. Not the quali -> sprint race -> race format used previously. Just FP1 -> sprint race -> race. Admittedly, this doesn't give enough 'excitement' on every day of the race weekend. So how should the grid be determined for the sprint race? A ceremony involving the local national/state animal picking numbers from a vessel appropriate for the animal. But this is really close to mistreatment of animals, so just find some kids and get them to operate a lottery ball machine. Not a random number generator because either Ferrari or Red Bull will find a way to beat it.
Or, dear FIA/F1, take a mix and match approach.
Whatever is or is not done about the sprint races, we have seen some great sprint races this season. I would even venture that the Sao Paolo sprint was more exciting than the main race. The Grand Prix gave us a chaotic start and a fantastic final lap battle between Alonso and Perez, but not a whole lot else. The sprint had overtaking galore.
Anyway, what I’m trying to say here is: I would like more racing, please.
Will Buxton poetry corner
When the race takes you, Anything, Can happen. That's beautiful.
That’s been Formula Curious for this week. What do you reckon should happen with sprint races/petit prix?
Take care, folks.