Saturday sprint races

[BTCC frog]

Do you want Saturday Sprint Races or not?

https://www.racefans.net/2021/02/04/...races-in-2021/

[Tourer]

Sceptical about the idea but to me it's not a yes/no proposition without more detail on exactly how they intend to do it, what length, what work allowed after the sprint race & before the GP, tyres - how many, once compound or choice, how much fuel etc etc

[Adam43]

I see the benefits, but I’m cool with Q and nothing more. And actually I want less races not more.

Now if we could have half the race weekends I might be more up for it, but I don’t think that is the idea.

[Skam85]

I'm not sure of how popular this opinion is, but I enjoyed the one-shot qualifying of the mid-2000s.

[chillibowl]

I did as well.

As mentioned, for sure need to know more details about the rules etc but overall, i like the idea of different formats for different GP weekends.

[BTCC frog]

The main reason I don’t want it is because it ruins the tradition of Formula 1. There can only be one race per weekend, and every race is preceded by a qualifying session. Otherwise, it ruins all the statistics and history books. If this happened in Formula e, I wouldn’t mind, because there have only been six seasons of it. But you just can’t break a seventy-year old tradition unless there is a problem with it, which there isn’t.

And of course, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[S griffin]

The 1959 German GP was run in two heats, as were various non championship races. A sprint race could be fine, but only if it wasn't run as a championship event. I'm gonna abstain on voting on this one for now

[steve_r]

No. Qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday works well for me. There are other ways of mixing things up, but I would be going off topic.

[Theunser]

So this is basically suppose to make F1 exciting. But is it meant to be exciting? I don't think so. The best driver with the best equipment wins. This is a sport. The best wins. If it is exciting, it's exciting, if its not, its not.
A sprint race is just extra miles and extra money thrown out.
The results would be the same.

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by BTCC frog

The main reason I don’t want it is because it ruins the tradition of Formula 1. There can only be one race per weekend, and every race is preceded by a qualifying session. Otherwise, it ruins all the statistics and history books. If this happened in Formula e, I wouldn’t mind, because there have only been six seasons of it. But you just can’t break a seventy-year old tradition unless there is a problem with it, which there isn’t.

And of course, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

We used to have non-championship races many decades ago, and that hasn’t affected the history books.

Unless there’s a reverse-grid element, I can’t see what this will add. It will just be a shorter Grand Prix with nothing riding on it.

[crmalcolm]

Changing the format of a sport to ensure long lasting appeal is not unique to motorsport. Many high profile sports around the world have changed, or are looking seriously at ways they might change.
Within each of these sporting communities, there are tradionalists who think nothing should ever be changed about their sport, and there are others who clamour for change.
Is a Saturday sprint race the right thing - I'm not sure.
What is certain is that every sport, if it wants to remain appealing in the future, has to look at how it must continue to adapt to the global appetite.

What is certain is that it easy to put forward the arguments for and against, without the context of seeing it in practice. Surely what 2020 has taught us is that trying something different can give some welcome benefits.

IIRC, many said that having back-to-back races at the same track would be a bad thing. Many also said that the Bahrain outer track would be a snooze-fest. Both easy arguments to make without evidence.

At the moment, we are talking hypothetical. Why not have a couple of sprint races during the season and see what they bring?

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by Theunser

So this is basically suppose to make F1 exciting. But is it meant to be exciting? I don't think so. The best driver with the best equipment wins. This is a sport. The best wins. If it is exciting, it's exciting, if its not, its not.
A sprint race is just extra miles and extra money thrown out.
The results would be the same.

Exactly. For me F1 should have rules that encourage close racing. The problem is for too long F1 has tried to force close racing with gimmicks like DRS or two compounds per race. Keep it simple and easy to understand and people will come. Even if the racing isn’t great, the spectacle should be good

[chillibowl]

I feel like we have been here before.

[crmalcolm]

https://twitter.com/thejamesbeckett/...616614409?s=19

[E.B]

And all this talk of extra races etc helps meet the mandate to reduce costs how?
Asking for a friend.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by E.B

And all this talk of extra races etc helps meet the mandate to reduce costs how?
Asking for a friend.

More races on the same weekend isn’t really a cost increase (relatively) and the cost per race becomes much better!

[V8 Fireworks]

Originally Posted by E.B

And all this talk of extra races etc helps meet the mandate to reduce costs how?
Asking for a friend.

Less practice and more racing would make little difference to costs. The mileage would be the same.

[2 litre Touring Car Star]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

At the moment, we are talking hypothetical. Why not have a couple of sprint races during the season and see what they bring?

Because it's cheap.

[Born Racer]

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...r7Xk60S5g.html

In the above article, Stefano Domenicali doesn't elucidate the sprint race format or intention really, other than implying it's to make it more 'attractive or interesting'.

I will therefore also abstain on the voting for now while awaiting further details. Of course, it raises questions:

- is it also going to require teams to 'show their hand' in terms of pace in free practice in order to qualify well for the sprint race, or how will the sprint race grid be decided?

- Will its focus be on giving a grid position for the Grand Prix and providing some entertainment along the way? That being so, how short does it need to be to ensure exciting battles resolved in a short timeframe, with drivers knowing they have limited time to get their moves done?

- How can it be ensured that the Grand Prix remains the star attraction? Does a sprint race risk shifting attention to that instead of the main event and changing viewer habits towards shorter races? (not something I'm keen on).

Furthermore, personally, I love qualifying. I love the pure nature of aspiring for the perfect lap and watching them on full chat.

I wouldn't necessarily be against it, and even seeing it trialled this year, but I would like it to be fleshed out more first before I can comment much.

[B0U170NS]

I'd definitely like to see it tried out although no championship points given out. Starting positions based on championship position but reversed would be interesting but if that's too far then determine positions from one of the practice sessions.

[chunterer]

All for another race on a weekend!

Preferably in addition, not instead of qualifying.

If it's going to be for juniors/reserve drivers then it wouldn't affect qualy at all.

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by chunterer

All for another race on a weekend!

Preferably in addition, not instead of qualifying.

If it's going to be for juniors/reserve drivers then it wouldn't affect qualy at all.

I can't dispute the logic or passion - we all love racing, so why shouldn't we want more? I can't help but feel it detracts from the Grand Prix, though, or does it become a part of the Grand Prix?

I can certainly defend it on the grounds of it being racing, and secondly on the fact they're all gathered there anyway (rather than having more race weekends), but with the sense that we have sometimes reached saturation point with more than 20 races, would this not maintain or add to that feeling?

[S griffin]

We do all love racing, that’s correct, but we get enough of that on a Sunday. There has been talk of sprint races deciding the grid in the past, but nothing has come of it. Frankly I think things are fine the way they are race weekend wise

It could work and it would be intriguing, however I don’t think it’s needed that much. Really we have too many GPs anyway. Let’s hope for a great season ahead and hope things get better, as there are plenty of other things F1 could improve on, so I’d rather on making the racing simpler and better than this sprint race idea

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

I can't dispute the logic or passion - we all love racing, so why shouldn't we want more? I can't help but feel it detracts from the Grand Prix, though, or does it become a part of the Grand Prix?

I can certainly defend it on the grounds of it being racing, and secondly on the fact they're all gathered there anyway (rather than having more race weekends), but with the sense that we have sometimes reached saturation point with more than 20 races, would this not maintain or add to that feeling?

If it gives young or reserve drivers a chance (or dare I say it, superstar motorsport celebs from other disciplines) then it is probably a feature and a benefit.

[BTCC frog]

Originally Posted by chunterer

If it gives young or reserve drivers a chance (or dare I say it, superstar motorsport celebs from other disciplines) then it is probably a feature and a benefit.

Then it would basically be a support race, which I think would be a good addition. My objection is if it was part of the Grand Prix (like a second race), and the drivers were given championship points. If it was a support race, for junior drivers, I would be for it.