The pros and cons of the F1 Sprint race and what would we change?
Max Verstappen has just won Formula 1s first ever sprint race. 17 laps and 30 minutes of flat-out racing eventually saw the Dutchman win after overtaking Lewis Hamilton off the line. It was certainly different but was the sprint race a success? I'm going to look at a few of the pros and cons from our first ever f1 sprint and look at what could be changed for the future.
The negatives
We'll get the negatives out of the way first. With any changes, F1 make it's going to have teething issues and criticism was inevitable. My biggest gripe with it was that for three laps it was all action, but after that, I felt it fell flat. The eventual race winner Verstappen got in front early and never looked in danger after lap four or five. Now that could have been Hamilton in that situation and I think the outcome would've been the same, Hamilton would have driven comfortably to the win. It just felt like it was an extra 17 laps, it was missing some variation but I'll come onto what I'd change later.
The likes of Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg have already made this point and I'm about to join them. The winner of the sprint race should not be awarded a pole position award. The Pole position award should be reserved for the fastest driver around a single lap. In a race there are so many other factors that can affect the results, Hamilton could have had a tire blowout, Verstappen could have had an engine failure and it would of cost them pole position and it wouldn't be representative of the fastest man across a single lap. First second and third got 3.2 and one point respectively but I'll be honest what's the point. It's just a token gesture, if you are going to give out points give them out to the top eight or top ten or don't bother.
And finally, for cons, I've already mentioned it but it felt like it needed something extra, it needed a bit of spice a little bit of flare. It just felt like an extra 17 laps for the sake of 17 more laps. It was just a race before the big race tomorrow. It needs more incentive.
The positives
Now I may have sounded pretty down but there are plenty of pros and I did actually really enjoy it. It was flat out racing for 17 laps, I know I've said it got a bit samey after four or five but it was as fast as the drivers could go pretty much for half an hour, not many complicated strategies, no pit stops just pure speed and that made it interesting. And for newcomers to the sport that would probably make it a lot easier to follow because it was just racing. If Formula 1 can find a way to make the racing better I think it has serious potential.
It also felt like it had real jeopardy and Sergio Perez's crash was a great example. If you wanted to get a good result, you couldn't hold back, you had to give it your all for 17 laps. Perez was trying to fight his way into a better position he got in trouble and it cost him massively, he now starts miles down the grid and faces a challenge to even score points. This will only benefit from a few tweaks because it'll be flat out racing with jeopardy, which is entertaining, not flat out racing, with jeopardy where it's lacking an X-Factor. And finally, it made the weekend worth it, each day had value. Friday can often get forgotten about because it is full of boring testing. By putting quali on Friday it gave it a purpose, and extended the weekend, as a result, it meant the teams had less testing time and they had to get things right quick. It made it far more unpredictable.
What would we change?
Now what would I change? First of all, I'd flip the grid. Keep quali on Friday, that can decide Sunday's lineup but reverse the top ten, or even all 20 for the sprint race. Let's see other drivers mixing it up in the points. That is if you keep the points I would but give one to ten to the top ten finishers, otherwise, they just have no meaning and I've already said this in a previous video, put a sprint race midweek under the floodlights, it would be so cool in my opinion.
