F1 boss Stefano Domenicali is a big fan of the sprint format, so much so that he wants more than six race weekends with a sprint format on the F1 calendar next year.
Since the introduction of the sprint format, there has been alternating criticism and praise, but after several tinkering with the format, a good consensus seems to have been found for this year. As far as the fans on the circuit are concerned, there is much more to experience and a race weekend with a sprint format is also interesting on a commercial level.
It is not surprising that F1 boss Stefano Domenicali wants to further expand the number of race weekends with a sprint format, despite the criticism from many drivers that the F1 calendar is already extremely stressful, especially for the teams’ staff.
Why not?” Stefano Domenicali replied when asked by ‘Sky Sports’ whether he was considering proposing to add more race weekends with a sprint format to the F1 calendar. There is currently a sprint format during six of the twenty-four race weekends.
“I would say it’s great. It ensures that there is excitement every day of the race weekend. It’s something we’ll discuss in the future. Let us see how the sprint weekends go this year in the way we have determined them for this year, but it is certainly a topic of discussion.”
Domenicali also pointed out the contrast with the race weekend in Japan, where there was hardly any action on the track during the second practice session due to the rain, something that would never happen during a race weekend with a sprint format.
“That wasn’t good for the people who came to see us, who wanted to see the drivers,” Domenicali said. “I’m sure the teams will understand this. We have to find a solution for this.”