Steiner Gives Verdict On Sprint Race Weekends: 'Answer Should Be Quite Obvious'

Thursday, 04 January 2024 at 18:00

Guenther Steiner recently joined numerous drivers and team principals who have already shared their opinions on Sprint weekends, as he suggested they are a better option.

Formula One has had six sprint weekends in the 2023 calendar. During these weekends, two of the three practice sessions were replaced by a Sprint Shootout and Sprint race.

Sprint weekends are relatively new in the sport of F1. They were invented with the goal of providing more action for the fans, and on some occasions, they did, but on some, they didn't.

Sprint weekends became one of the main topics of discussion during the most recent season as many have criticized the new format, but many have suggested it is an excellent idea that only needs to be tweaked.

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One month ago, it was announced that F1 will have six Sprint weekends in the 2024 calendar, so they are definitely here to stay. However, we might expect a few changes. FIA president Ben Sulayem hinted he is working on an improvement to the current format.

Asked in a recent interview if sprint races should be removed from F1, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner told The Athletic: "No. Maybe it needs to be tweaked a little bit, but I think it’s quite interesting."

"From a standpoint for us, I think we need to spice it up somehow a little bit maybe to make it more relevant to what we are doing because I think it’s better to race than to be in free practice because now we are used to sprint racing."

The 58-year-old suggested it is a lot more interesting to have the Sprint Shootout (qualifying for the sprint race) and the sprint race rather than two more practice sessions. He added:

"What is more interesting? Three free practice sessions or another qualifying session to race? I think the answer should be quite obvious. It’s a race and the qualifying session. So I think we need to tweak that a little bit."