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Ecclestone: 'Sprint races don't give a true picture of who is the best driver'

Ecclestone: 'Sprint races don't give a true picture of who is the best driver'

06-05-2021 11:23 Last update: 13:00

GPblog.com

On Saturday, July 17 the first sprint race in Formula 1 will take place. With this concept, they hope to make Formula 1 more interesting for the fans. The opinions are divided, but former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone doesn't like it at all.

Complete nonsense

The British Grand Prix has the honour of having the first sprint race. How does it work? The result of Friday's qualifying determines the starting grid for Saturday's sprint race. The result of the sprint race determines the starting grid for the Grand Prix on Sunday. The top three of the sprint race also get points, respectively three, two and one.

Ecclestone was still initially supportive of the idea of sprint racing, but not in this form. "The way they have decided it now is complete nonsense," Ecclestone told Sport1.

No true image

The 90-year old Ecclestone thinks this could widen the gap between the top and the midfield and that not so much the skill of the drivers, but rather the performance of the cars will determine success. "If the winner of the sprint race also gets points and is also in the first starting position, at the end of the season that does not give a true picture of who is really the best driver," Ecclestone said.

Ecclestone would have preferred a more extreme form of sprint racing. "My original idea was to give the winner of a sprint race maybe ten points, but have him start the race from tenth place. If he had then moved up to, say, third place in the race, his real ability would have been on display better."