F1 Sprint Race Opinions

[Big Kev]

So what did we think of the sprint race format then?

I'm a bit mixed. Yes it was good to see a 'race' instead of a practice session but I felt it devalued qualifying and wasn't as exciting as it could have been. With the exception of Brazil, after 2-3 laps not much happened. Once again with the fastest at the front and the slowest at the back you didn't get a lot of change from the start.

What would I do instead?
I'd make the sprint race a stand alone championship. That way the F1 qually is still F1 qually and the sprint doesn't interfere with the full championship.
Set the grid by pulling drivers names out of a hat. That would really mix the grid up and give us lots of overtaking and defending. Can a Haas at the front hang on, can a Ferrari at the back get on the podium?
Have points all the way down from first to last with a slight weighting towards a top 10 finish and at least 2 points between each place to make it worth going for a move.
Soft tyres, no pit stops, flat out all the way.

Friday
Practice 1
F1 qually (do it Friday with only 1 practice session to minimise setup time and potentially mix the grid up a bit)

Saturday
Practice 2
Sprint Race

Sunday
Race

[nutty]

Im on the fence with it, I think everyone agrees the fact its only the first few laps that make it interesting is the downside.
But the weekend format is way better, I rarely watch practice. With the spring weekend ill watch a lot more, so to me its basically free F1.

I like your idea, but F1 is the kinda place that wont do something that radical

[norbs]

I like your idea, but F1 is the kinda place that wont do something that radical

I feel like we would have said that about sprint races when Bernie was in charge. It seems like Liberty is happy to try things. I put it down to the success of Drive to Survive.

[KNAPPO]

I feel it was always a band aid solution prior to the new car rules.

I want to give the new spec car a chance to prove itself to achieve the goals it set out BEFORE we throw sprint races back into the mix. Same with DRS, ide like to see it go now and run this car to see if it works as its designed to. They could even keep DRS in the design and just not use it for the first few rounds before deciding if its something that's still needed.

As for the 2021 sprint race(s). I wasn't a huge fan. It felt like they could be just 5 laps and then that made me feel like 'what's the point'. You get the usual influx of positional movement that a usual GP provides but none of the long game strategy that keeps me watching.

[DarrenM]

I'm still not a fan. I think it's silly that they end up spending as much time qualifying as racing, and that the top 10 end up having to do 4 qualifying sessions.

I think it would work better if they just do a 15 min Q1 to set the grid then straight into the sprint race. Whole thing could be done within the usual 1 hour and puts the emphasis in terms of time and effort back in favour of the actual race.

But with the separate session they get to show more ads and license more content so I doubt that will happen.

[Duke]

Also not a fan, for many reasons;
- it was a knee jerk reaction to something that wasn't broken
- don't like that it counts toward championship points, should just be a race to set grid positions for the race on Sun
- it had way too much of an influence on the championship this year (refer last point) & likely will in future if left as is
- takes the shine off the traditional pole position which should be the fastest driver over 1 lap in a Qual session
- different formats on different weekends at randomly selected tracks is a pet-peeve, I hate it in Supercars as well

Speaking of Supercars, I'd like F1 do a top 5, 6 or 10 car shoot-out over 1 lap on their own, rather than a sprint-race.
It could also help with the current Qual format of slowing to find the perfect gap. For me it is not only a safety issue but just crap viewing, watching F1 machines trundling around at 5km/hr.

So a weekend format something like;
Fri
Practice 1 of 60-75 mins
Qual as it is now, Q3 sets the Shoot-out particiapants
Sat
Practice 2 of 60-75 mins
Shoot-out in reverse order of Q3 (slowest goes first to fastest goes last)
Sun
Race

[nutty]

In some ways I agree about wrecking the traditional pole ect..
I also like the top 10 shootout idea

But I also think the challenge is the race doesn't matter enough, the tracks they had it at this year overtaking isnt much of a problem, so basically theres no reason to full send vs waiting for the Sunday if your outside the top 3.. if they pushed half points to the top 10, I think it would be different

[Scottie]

Yeah Scottie hasn't been fond of it...

I hope they keep it separate to the GP, have a sprint race champ, and the original quali results stand for the GP.
Once it's separate from the GP sphere, I'd be happy for them to try some reverse grid thing with the sprint...
If they have faith in the new car's following abilities, and most drivers have reverse grid experience from F2, then it'd be the T20 of GP racing while maintaining the historic Grand Prix achievements for the championship.

[Exar Kun]

Good for keeping interest over all three days but otherwise not a fan here either. Either do something like reverse grid (small points or separate championship) and it doesn't set the grid or just drop it altogether.

A top 10 shoot out would certainly be worth a shot if they just want to spice up qually.