Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz claims F1 stars want to ‘make it interesting’ with Sprint tweak

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Ferrari star Carlos Sainz claims certain Formula 1 drivers have petitioned the sport for changes to the Sprint race format in a move to make the Saturday event ‘interesting’.

The 29-year-old believes the current format of the Sprint is a ‘spoiler’ to the Grand Prix on a Sunday. He notes that the distance of the reduced events matches the length of the opening stint for the Grand Prix. So, Sainz and some of his fellow F1 drivers feel it could be improved.

Formula 1 included six Sprint events in the calendar in 2023 for the Grand Prix in Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Qatar, USA and Sao Paulo. It doubled the number of Sprint events from the 2022 calendar. But not all of the drivers on the grid feel the format delivers the best results.

How does F1’s Sprint race format work in 2023?

Sprint events are effectively a stand-alone race on the Saturday of the Grand Prix weekends. The grid is set through a Sprint Shootout qualifying session held earlier on the Saturday. The format replaced a Friday qualifying setting the grid for both races, the Sprint and Grand Prix.

Points are also awarded in the Sprint that count towards the driver’s and constructor’s titles. But only the top eight drivers score points, decreasing from eight to one. The points system is also one aspect of the Sprint format that Sainz suggests F1 chiefs should look at changing.

Sainz claims that some Formula 1 drivers, including the Ferrari ace, have petitioned F1 chiefs for changes to the Sprint format to improve the race. They feel it would improve the product if F1 canned the Sprint Shootout and set the grid by flipping the order of the championship.

Sainz wants the Sprint grid set with a reverse championship order

The Spaniard further believes that giving points down to P10, like with the Grand Prix, would encourage drivers to attack. Sainz thinks the change would push the drivers at the top of the championship to move through the field and those at the front to defend with all their might.

“I have an idea, I would still do the Sprint weekends a reverse championship order grid,” Sainz told P1 with Matt and Tommy. “Just imagine, let’s say, Max [Verstappen] starting last [and] the Ferraris starting 13th or 14th. The whole grid would be closer to each other.

“And if you put points up until P10, I would be starting P14 saying, ‘I can get to [the] top 10 or top five. Max starting from P20, would believe he can get to the top 10 with the Red Bull. Everyone who starts in P8, they might be the only points they get in the whole year.

“Not this year because everyone is getting points. But in other years, you would be holding onto that P1, P2, P3 for your life. So, the racing you would get that day would be incredible and it doesn’t affect the rest of the weekend.

“You still have the main race that everyone cares about and that everyone wants to win that race. But you have that race on [a] Saturday to talk about something else.

“There’s a few drivers who have asked for it. We’ve said, ‘If you really want a Sprint, we can make it interesting and make the Sprint race something different. Why don’t we try this?’”