SUMMARY
- Lando Norris recently expressed his concerns for the engineers and team staff in light of recent sprint races.
- Red Bull superstar Max Verstappen has done the same in the past.
The F1 world has witnessed many changes in the last few years, with the majority of it aimed to improve the popularity of the sport. One such change that the FIA implemented was the introduction of sprint races. It was introduced in 2021 at the British Grand Prix. Max Verstappen took the win at the time, which has been the case on many occasions in the last few years.
The 2023 sprint race format looked different compared to how it is now. Last year, the sprint race qualifying and the race would be held on Saturdays. The top eight finishers in the race would receive the points. The main Grand Prix would take place on Sundays. Although there are no changes to the main event, the FIA has introduced some major tweaks to sprint qualifying and races.
In the 2024 season, the SQ takes place even before the regular qualifying. Earlier, it was the other way around. Now, drivers will take part in SQ to determine the starting order for the sprint race. This would then result in eight drivers receiving points according to their finishing positions. After that, on Saturday afternoon, just a few hours later, the regular qualifying will take place. As usual, this would be to determine the starting order for the GP race.
Lando Norris expresses concern over F1 sprint races affecting sustainability
Over the years, several drivers have expressed their concerns about the sprint races being exhausting. The latest driver to do so is McLaren’s young star, Lando Norris. He said during the post-race interview in China, “But the main point is just the toll it has on mechanics and engineers. I don’t think it’s too bad for us as drivers, honestly.”
“I don’t think we can be the ones to complain at all. It’s the hundreds of mechanics and engineers that we have here that have to travel so much. It’s not healthy for them – It is not sustainable,” Norris added. This was similar to some of the comments he made during an interview with Racingnews365.com, when he claimed that whether sprints were a good idea was not a question for the drivers, but the engineers and mechanics.
Max Verstappen has also raised questions over sprint races in the past
It is no secret that Max Verstappen isn’t a big fan of the sprint race format. He has mentioned to the media in the past that the FIA should consider getting rid of the sprint idea as a whole considering it resulted in a hectic weekend for all the individuals involved.
He was correct to an extent, as many sprint race events have proven to have a lot more drama than a normal F1 weekend. In addition to that, Verstappen also pointed out at the 2023 Australian GP that there were already quite a few races for teams to worry about, and the sprint races aren’t doing any favors.
When the FIA changed it before the 2024 season, the Red Bull star seemed to be in good spirits. He said that the new format makes more sense, but the sprint races are still not something he looks forward to.
Sprint races were basically introduced to give fans what they want to see; drivers attacking on almost every corner. But that has come at a cost too, with drivers expressing their distaste in the format. This year it has only happened at China, and there are four more sprint races left. It would be interesting to see if the remaining events turn out to be a success, leaving everyone, including the drivers satisfied.
