Verstappen Warns F1 Against Increasing Number Of Sprint Races 'Let's Not Overdo It'
F1
The triple World Champion Max Verstappen discussed the revised Sprint format after the first Sprint weekend of the 2024 season at Shanghai International Circuit.
Red Bull Racing with Max Verstappen had a reason to celebrate twice during the Chinese Grand Prix as the Dutchman won both the Sprint race on Saturday and the race on Sunday.
Speaking to the media after the race, the 26-year-old was asked what to share his thoughts about the revised format of the sprint weeks.
Going into the 2024 season, the order of the sessions in the Sprint weekend changed. Before, it was FP1>Qualifying>Sprint Shootout>Sprint Race>Grand Prix Race.
The current format is FP1>Sprint Shootout>Sprint Race>Qualifying>Grand Prix Race. Moreover, the teams are now allowed to change their setups during the weekend, whereas they weren't. Verstappen said:
"The Sprint format was better, I think. A bit more straightforward, I would say. But yeah, let's not overdo it as well, you know, because we are already doing 24 races a year, six of these Sprint events as well."
While the triple World Champion looked like he enjoyed the Sprint weekend, he made sure to emphasize that he doesn't want more of them.
Multiple F1 drivers share this opinion with him. Even Lewis Hamilton, who supports Sprint weekends and experiments with different formats, previously asserted that six is enough.
The ones who suffer the most from the intense schedule are, at the end of the day, probably mechanics. However, they don't have as loud voices, so F1 drivers make sure to speak up for them. Verstappen added:
"I get it. I guess it sells better and better numbers on TV, but it's also more stress on the mechanics and everything, to get everything every time tiptop, so yeah, we take it, I mean you have to deal with it, but let's not think that now we need 12 of those because it will take its toll on people as well."
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