Alex Albon names the one format change he would love to make to Formula 1

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Every driver would like to have some influence on the regulations in Formula 1 whether it’s rules of racing, tyre blankets, or race weekend format.

F1 has traditionally kept the same race format since it began officially in the 1950s, but in 2021 that changed when Sprint races were adopted.

Instead of the usual Friday practice, Saturday qualifying, and Sunday race, this was adapted to include a shortened race on Saturday. F1 now has six of these Sprint races a year, with 2025 set to see them return to China, Miami, Spa, Austin, Brazil, and Qatar.

When asked which rule change he would make to F1 on the latest P1 with Matt any Tommy podcast, Williams driver Alex Albon had an interesting solution to make race weekends more entertaining.

What change would Alex Albon make to F1?

F1 has kept to the same three-day weekend format since it started, but the idea of switching to two weekends was mooted as a potential way to spice up the action.

It would reduce the amount of preparation time needed for the teams and cut the amount of practice time down to just an hour, adding more focus on qualifying and the race.

READ MORE: Williams driver Alex Albon’s life outside F1 from net worth, girlfriend to parents

Albon believes the switch would be beneficial to drivers and could open up the possibility of going to more circuits.

“Two-day race weekends. Why not? I don’t mind going to more tracks, and races, but just make it two-day race weekends,” said Albon.

“Practicing and qualifying on Saturday, race on Sunday. Just get it all going. Two-day race weekend, we don’t need to drag it on. Press conferences, get rid of them. Let’s relax them. Maybe we can do it on a Friday if we really need to, but that’s my rule.”

F1 is not unfamiliar with scheduling changes

The 2024 F1 calendar features three notable changes: the Bahrain, Saudi Arabian, and Las Vegas Grands Prix all take place on a Saturday rather than a Sunday.

In the first two instances, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were held on Saturday due to the holy month of Ramadan starting on 9th March.

This necessitated moving the beginning of the season to Saturday as well, otherwise, the F1 travelling circus would have had one less day to prepare for the back-to-back race.

Las Vegas is held on a Saturday to satisfy reaching its target audience in the US as it takes place at 10pm, while also catering to European fans by enabling them to watch it in the early hours of Sunday.