Verstappen and Wolff Stand Firm: F1's Future Should Be Conservative
Oct.27 - Two big Formula 1 rivals are united in their disdain for proposals aimed to spice up the controversial 'sprint race' weekend format for 2024.
US GP organisers in Austin reported that they did not notice the intended popularity of the extra qualifying session and short race in terms of ticket sales.
Max Verstappen is a particular critic of the sprint format.
"That (short) race doesn't mean anything to me," said the Dutchman in Mexico.
"When I cross the line I think ok, tomorrow is the real race. They can do whatever they want, but I don't find it interesting."
Indeed, because of the negative feedback about the current sprint race format, Formula 1 intends to make quite significant tweaks to it for 2024.
One of the most radical ideas is that a new, separate sprint race championship be created, encouraging drivers to take Saturday's racing more seriously.
But two more proposals are also drastic - reverse grids based on the order of the world championship, and even $1 million in prize money for each sprint winner.
Verstappen doesn't like the idea of any of them.
"Why do rules have to be invented again and again to make it more exciting?" the triple world champion said in Mexico. "If you have good races, you don't need that. Leave it as it is.
"In football, the rules have been the same for 100 years," the Red Bull driver added. "I think our product works if you make sure the cars are competitive and the rules stay the same for a long time. Then the field automatically comes closer together.
"If more teams can fight for victory, that will be exciting enough."
And while Red Bull and Mercedes often clash both on and off the track, on this occasion the latter's team boss Toto Wolff fully agrees with Verstappen.
"I am conservative in motorsport," said the Mercedes boss. "I would rather there be no sprint races than play around with it."
Wolff said he is particularly opposed to the idea of reverse grids.
"We'd be moving even more towards the junior formulas where the sport follows the entertainment, where really the entertainment should follow the sport."
Nevertheless, Wolff said the teams should get together with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali "to think about what is best".
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It has all gone steadily downhill since Bernie's demise.
There was no one to take over from Bernie, like Bernie, but he was old school, and the world isnt old school anymore (and yes I am old so Im entitled to say, for the worse) Only joking , it is what it is.......
Don't be defensive, Shrop'. 'New school' thinking and the move toward a racing follows entertainment (ala BASHCAR) position is making F1 just another draw for our entertainment dollars. Believe it or not, kids, old school can be a good thing. Interesting comment by VER re the rules for football being stable for over a century. BTW, football is the most popular sport in the world.
Max and Toto are spot on!
The Sprint is not sport, its commercial avarice at the expense of the sport.
Don't change it, scrap it!
#ScrapTheSprint
They are correct. Adjusting the rules to attempt to make a more exciting show for the audience is better suited to Wrestling than automotive competition. Consistency in the regulations creates closer racing especially in present day F1 where, due to lack of testing, it takes years instead of months to recover from a bad development decision. Close racing generates the excitement that the audience wants to see and pay's to see.
Too many people with their fingers in the pie! Domenicali, Bin Ladin and Liberty all wanting to have their say and control what happens. It's become too autocratic.
At least when Bernie was ring master everyone knew what was going on and the race was first priority. The buffoons trying to run the show now have lost the plot. They seem to forget it's a motor race, not a side show to expose the so-called "celebrities" and unknown "entertainers"!
Smokey, glad to hear that I'm not the only viewer who has no idea who are these people they parade in front o the camera.
The whole sprint race fiasco is a load of bo####ks!! Scrap it immediately it is a pointless waste of money and not F1!
Hasn't the Fia got a new Ceo , I think called Natalie?
Formula One, under the grand orchestration of Liberty Media, is slowly becoming Americanised. Soon midway through the race, we shall pause for a halftime show, followed by a spirited competition to discover who can conjure the most extravagantly absurd commercial known to mankind.
As if that weren't ludicrous enough, we have to brace for the spectacle of these "so-called" celebrities, who, alongside their peculiar entourages, gallivant up and down the grid. But let us extend a smidgeon of understanding their way, for it was only but a moment ago that they believed fast cars were designed solely for drive-by shenanigans. Or worse yet, that they once luxuriated in the rear seats before being unceremoniously deposited at some seedy corner by their dubious chauffeur. Oh, what a glorious circus Formula One has become!
Apologies to ROR and our other intelligent American friends.
No apology necessary, Spyguy. We here in the chosen land are bit over the top. Has to do with being rulers of the world.
Want to increase the popularity and the gate of F1 not only on Saturday but Sunday? First get rid of all the Political Correctness and social issue embracement. Next bring back the Grid Girls and lastly keep the cameras on the track and the pits and out of the stands. I dont care about looking at a 5 year old wearing a hammy shirt. Do these things and the popularity and gate increase by 30% easy.
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