Teams can claim back some damage costs from sprint race

On Saturday Formula 1 will organise a sprint race for the first time. Not all teams are happy about this, because there is more chance of damage. However, AlphaTauri team manager Graham Watson says that Formula One Management (FOM) can pay a part of the damage.

The sprint race is a 100km race, which at Silverstone equates to 17 laps. Normally, most drivers don't make 17 laps at full speed during a qualifying session, especially the drivers who would be out in Q1. Also, there is actual racing going on and drivers are much closer to each other than in normal qualifying. So the chance of damage is a lot bigger.

But Watson tells us at Formule1.nl that the FOM has given extra room in the budget. He also says that there is an 'accident damage clause'. "There is an agreement that if you have damage from an accident with another car you can make some kind of claim to the FOM."

But he has to admit that there is a limit to how much money the teams can ask for. "Although a kind of maximum amount has been agreed upon. Fortunately the number of real incidents on a yearly basis is not that high, so the risk is not that big", he concludes.