McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown has hatched a plan to inject some excitement into Formula 1's Sprint races, which got a bit of a bad rap from the fans this season.
The Sprint’s current format, with its lackluster results and uncanny ability to predict the outcome of the main event, has left fans yearning for a bit more unpredictability.
The F1 Commission, recognizing the need for change, has given the green light to further modifications ahead of the 2024 season which will once again include six Sprint events.
One proposed change would see Sprint qualifying return to its original Friday slot, followed by the Sprint race on Saturday, giving fans a double dose of short-lived racing action.
Another radical suggestion, put forward by Red Bull's Christian Horner, involves reversing part of the grid based on Sprint qualifying results.
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While the concept would certainly add an element of surprise to the race, it remains to be seen if fans would embrace such a chaotic twist.
Reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen has been openly critical of the Sprint event, regardless of its format, insisting that at he doesn't get the same satisfaction from winning a Sprint race as he does from winning a traditional Grand Prix on Sunday.
Brown sympathizes with Verstappen, but the American believes that the Sprint races can be made more exciting with a few tweaks.
His latest proposal? Mandatory pit stops that would add an extra layer of strategy and excitement to the short, sharp bursts of action.
“I don’t think they take away from the glamour of the Grand Prix but I do think we need to - which we are doing - look at the format,” Brown told the Track Limits podcast.
“I think he’d [Verstappen] say on the whole they haven’t been quite as exciting as they can be.
“So whether that’s reverse grids, whether that’s mandatory pit stops, whether it’s a super super soft tyre that goes off halfway through the race, I think we do need to do something to mix up the race.”
Instead of running Saturday afternoon’s 100 km mad dash on a single set of tyres from start to finish, Brown reckons that a mid-race stop would inject a dose of jeopardy.
“I think mandatory pit stops would be good,” Brown commented. “And I think if we had super soft tyres that deliberately went off halfway through and you then had to decide do you change? Do you not change?
“I think that would be a way to kind of condense [it into a] mini grand prix and make it because right now there’s no strategy. Sprint race, you just sprint so I think that would be interesting.”
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