Wolff disgruntled: 'There need to be big changes'

A lot of people are not fans of the current sprint format. Neither is Toto Wolff. The sprint format is up for discussion and speaking to PlanetF1.com, among others, he speaks out about his frustrations surrounding such weekends and what needs to be changed about it.

Formula 1 has six sprint races scheduled for 2024. China and Miami are scheduled for the first time, with Austria, Brazil, Austin and Qatar returning. This will be the fourth year of using the sprint format. Although there is still a lot of dissatisfaction about it.

The criticism is that the current sprint format creates too much predictability for the main race on Sunday. This is partly because the parc fermé rules are already imposed after the only free practice on Friday. As a result, the teams cannot change anything after the sprint race, and this largely predicts the race. Furthermore, there is too little difference between qualifying for the sprint race and the main race.

Busy adjusting

The F1 committee has been busy adjusting the format for some time. For instance, they have been in talks with the teams' team bosses, and they have been briefed with an analysis by the Sports Advisory Committee. If the format is agreed, then the changes can be made final.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says he is positive that there are going to be changes to the sprint format, although he still prefers a 'normal' race weekend. "Sprint weekends in general, I’m not the biggest fan because I think it dilutes the value of the Grand Prix," he said.

Wolff, however, can see that there are also people who do like the sprint format. "Maybe I’m too purist. Maybe I’m too old school," the Austrian shared honestly.

Big changes

According to the Mercedes team boss, Formula 1 needs to come up with bigger changes to the sprint format. It should lean more on the desire for entertainment instead of already predicting the rest of the weekend. Here, he mentions a reversed grid as an option for sprint qualifying and even a separate sprint championship is discussed.

Wolff responded to this with the following: "Six times a year, we’re doing something that is really stupid, and everybody knows to differentiate that. I can get my head around a reverse grid Sprint race because at least we are really declaring ‘that’s the stupid race’. So the data shows that there is an interest for the Sprint race weekend. So, for me to kind of get my head around, make it really stupid, without distorting the main championship."