Prost 'would leave the sport' if F1 resorted to reverse grids

F1 legend and Alpine advisor Alain Prost says he would rather leave the sport rather than endure the desolate spectacle of reverse grids in Formula 1.

After Silverstone and Monza, Grand Prix racing will conclude its sprint race trial in November at Interlagos, after which the sport will undertake a full assessment of the novel format's pros and cons.

In the interim however, a number of suggestions have been tabled to boost the Saturday afternoon 100 km event, with the idea of a reverse grid rearing once again its ugly head.

But not everyone is opposed to the controversial approach, with Ferrari remaining open to an idea that they believe can boost the show for the fans.

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"I think having a mini-race on Saturday with the inversed grid compared to the championship, I think whatever idea can be interesting," said Scuderia boss Mattia Binotto.

"I think that for the show and the spectacle, it can be of interest."

"I am pretty sure that there will be other discussions or ideas to come up through the F1 commission with F1, FIA and all the other team principals. So I'm fully open minded."

Prost however is adamant that introducing reverse grids would be very bad for the sport as it would undermine the notion of merit that must prevail in F1, an opinion shared by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. 

"I think it’s good that Formula 1 is trying some things, but you have to understand why you want to do this," said the four-time world champion on his Prost in the Paddock podcast.

"You have to ask yourself why. Formula 1 must remain traditional. We have to understand the best car and the best driver win because they are the best. That’s the whole idea of Formula 1.

"I hate the idea of a reverse starting order. I hate it. If they introduce the reversed grid in Formula 1, I would leave the sport.

"I think that’s the worst thing you can do for Formula 1. I would rather see a team dominate because they did the best work than a reversed grid.

"But I am very traditionalist. They also experimented with points for pole position at the time, which I was not happy about."

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