05/03/2021
NEWS STORY
Ever the purist, Aston Martin driver, Sebastian Vettel admits that he is against the idea of sprint races.
In the past, the German has made no secret of his desire to return to the good old days, be it environmentally unfriendly V10s and V12s or circuits no longer considered "safe".
Therefore it comes as no surprise to learn that at a time some are softening their attitude towards F1's plan to introduce sprint races to decide Sunday's grid, the four-time world champion is against the proposal.
"I don't like it," he admitted. "Why would you have a pre-final to a final? What's the point of that? I don't understand it," he added.
"If there is a race on Saturday then I will have to take part because I still want to drive on Sunday but in my point of view it makes no sense."
Of course, the proposal is part of the sport's plan - under Liberty Media's ownership - to spice things up, especially after failing to convince with its plan for reverse grids.
Vettel believes that the drive for such gimmicks is indicative of a bigger issue facing the sport.
"You have the grand prix and it has always been around 300 kilometres and the main challenge of the weekend,” said the German. "I think if you have to introduce something like this, then there is something else that you need to fix other than the format, or another race, or another two minutes, or a Q4 or Q5, or whatever it is.
"Maybe it's shifting or taking the focus away from the real problem," he added. "It's more of a patch rather than a fix.”
At last month's meeting of the F1 Commission it was announced that a working group was to be set up to investigate the proposal.
"We've seen a proposal, which I think most teams were in favour of examining," said Aston Martin technical director, Andrew Green, "but the devil is in the detail. And the detail hasn't been thrashed out yet.
"There are lots of discussion points and areas that need looking at," he admitted, "the changing of the car between events, how much are you allowed to change?
"And more importantly, what happens to the power unit allocation? The engines have been designed and signed off for a certain type of season and then to go away from that from a power unit perspective is going to be quite a challenge."
Red Bull drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have admitted apprehension at the plan, while Daniel Ricciardo fears the sprint race could dilute the worth of the main event.
However, Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff appears to be one of those warming to the idea.
"Sprint races are an interesting format in my opinion," said the Austrian this week, "and an experiment which I believe we need to do.
"I've seen in other racing series, like DTM, that the audience almost doubled with having a Saturday and Sunday race," he added, "and that obviously can be monetised.
"I think if we were to do this without some interference to create a fake show, then there is merit to try it. I'm not sure we will like the outcome, because qualifying as we have it today is a real qualifying and a sprint race always bears the risk of damage which can be costly and a huge impact on Sunday's grid and the ability to perform.
"For sure it is going to create controversy too, but giving it a try for three races in 2021 in the right framework, we will be up for it."
However, Wolff is adamant that it will only work if the grid for the sprint race is decided by a 'traditional' qualifying session as opposed to a lottery-style system based on reversing the grid based on the world championship order, a move his team blocked last year.
"Reverse grids have no place in any sport that is based on measuring and competing in the true sense of sport," he insisted. "We are entertainment, but the moment we slide into show and Hollywood, you will lose a lot of credibility as a sport overall.
"Not every decision that increases the entertainment factor is right for Formula 1," he admitted. "It always needs to be balanced between the DNA of true sport, best man and machine wins, and what the fans would like to see."