Carlos Sainz has offered a “short-term” solution to ensure Formula 1‘s Sprint format gets “a bit more spicy” ahead of the United States Grand Prix.
The sport’s transition towards bite-sized content for newer fans has taken shape in the form of the Sprint Race.
Introduced on the calendar in 2021, this format has since been deployed across six race weekends every year since its second year.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, however, has been relentless in his pursuit to reinvent the DNA of the sport and has suggested further tweaks to the race weekend format, including scrapping practice sessions altogether and the introduction of reverse grid races.
While these changes will take some time to fructify, Sainz has offered an immediate tweak that the sport could employ to rejig the incumbent Sprint Race format.
“For me, it’s more the format change that I think is required for the Sprint, and I think Stefano is open to do that,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
While the 31-year-old arrived at the Circuit of the Americas off the back of two strong results, he wasn’t really looking forward to the curtailed running at Austin.
In fact, Sainz believes that the current Sprint Race format essentially spoils the main Grand Prix on Sunday, owing to how the regulations are currently framed.
“For me right now, the Sprint, I’m not a big fan because it unveils what the first stint of Sunday is gonna be like, because qualifying is the same format almost, and Sunday is almost the first stint of maybe a bit lighter car, but still the same set of tyres,” he explained.
“So yeah, I would rather have different ideas around the Sprint so it doesn’t reveal so much the race pace and the results of something.
When prodded further, he had a “simple idea” that could transform the current landscape of competition.
“One simple idea could be to make sure everyone does the Sprint Race on Soft tyres, which is a high-deg tyre,” he suggested.
“Normally, there are very little tracks we choose the Soft tyre for the first stint of the race.
“That could be a very easy short-term solution, also because we are throwing five sets of tyres in the bin – Soft tyres – always every week, and then we put one lap on them and then we give them back and they go, I don’t know where stores them, but definitely for us it’s only a one-lap tyre at many, many tracks.
“So that could be an easy fix, not enough probably. I think it requires something else, something maybe a bit more spicy, which I think when it comes to getting the Sprint Race a bit more spicy, it should be a good opportunity to maybe experiment with different formats and be open-minded.”
Sainz on board with reverse grid idea
In the past, the thought of entertaining reverse grid races was looked down upon by fans and the drivers alike.
However, Domenicali believes that the perception towards this idea has seen a rapid shift – especially amongst the drivers themselves.
“We’ve discussed it before, but in the coming months we’ll need the courage to push the discussion again because I’ve heard several drivers propose it.
“At first everyone was against it, but at the last meeting many of them said, ‘Why don’t we try?”
Sainz concurred with the Italian; however, he wants the sport to take accountability if this experiment fails.
“I’m not a big fan of reverse grids, but I wouldn’t be completely opposed to trying something different in this case,” he asserted.
“And as I said, not be too critical about it. If it works, great, and it’s better for the format.
“If it doesn’t, don’t be scared to say that it didn’t, acknowledge it didn’t work, and try something different.”
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