Do we really need DRS? ... and other Imola F1 talking points
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 เม.ย. 2022
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The grand prix weekend at Imola was really interesting in a lot of ways, even if the race itself maybe could have been more exciting. We have lots to talk about, including Sprint debates, DRS quandries and how Verstappen might beat Leclerc.
#F1 #ImolaGP #Formula1
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I'm fairly certain "overwhelming success" isn't determined by a survey of the fan's enjoyment of the sprint but by viewer numbers being higher compared to regular qualifying
I wonder if it this statistic co pères quali and sprint in sprint weekend or overall. Because if it is comparing within sprint weekend it is obvious there will be less people watching quali because it si Friday evening and they probably hang out after job /school
I’m pretty sure you’d compare numbers between sprint and FP3. Obviously sprint wins. Literally nobody watches 3 practice sessions.
You’re dead right. When I told my fellow American friends there were two race they woke up for both. They have never woken up for quali. I have but they never have.
@@idkjustchangingmyname7343 I think that's because there's the feeling that sprint quali has more jeopardy since it is a race.
Vs quali which you can catch the highlights and get the gist. And it's fairly predictable how teams behave in quali.
Vs sprint which is a race in itself.
It seems more valuable to a viewer who primarily comes to watch the races and not the other sessions.
@@quigglyz I do.
The entire season will be me gleefully cheering on Bottas and Magnussen. Those two are so exciting to watch. Alonso too, but his car is failing him.
I know right, even if the top 6-7 drivers are almost always Red Bull, Ferrari, mclaren and Mercedes, it’s so good to see those two doing awesome as underdogs
Thanks to Merc these past few years I have pretty much only been interested in the mid-field racing anyway, but yeah good to see those two getting their revenge, and hopefully Alonso's bad luck dries up so we can see what that car can really do before the rate of progress at the front leaves Alpine behind as the season goes on.
It has been awesome watching how some drivers thrive or dive in different teams. Bottas and Kmag are two great examples of the right culture mattering. Look at Ricciardo and you can see the team is already preferencing a driver. Danny is not thriving as a result. Not a fan of Zac Brown.
Its really sad how Alpine's qualifying pace is excellent but their race pace is awful.
The sprint has one massive problem.
Quali, something most fans really want to see, is on Friday afternoon. You know what most people are doing Friday afternoon? Working.
I’m assuming you mean that it pushes quali to a Friday afternoon
@@awesomefacematt Yes, I already fixed it :)
@Angus Crawley but then that defeats the purpose. they want to have one exciting event on every day.
@@Niyati99 I think only the most hardcore fans agree to this. I'm a pretty hardcore fan but still I would prefer it he weekend would be just two days with one Fp and qauli on Saturday and a race on Sunday. Trying to watch all of the F1 is very time consuming nowadays especially with 22 races this year.
You can simply ignore all news feeds and watch it relive once you get home. Very much the same experience. Also, it mostly about Q3 anyway and that's just 15 minutes or so.
The main problem I have with sprint races is that they dilute the excitement of the actual race. I'm going to be less excited for a GP if I've seen a race on the same circuit the day before. With the massive number of races this year, being a dedicated fan is exhausting.
Yeah, and there is nothing really different about them. It'd be nice if they had a major difference like maybe swapping the drivers around in their cars but not counting the points towards the championship, maybe giving the reserve drivers a chance to race, or how about racing a reversed track layout?
Just something other than a shorter version of what will happen the next day without tyre changes (ironically making it less of a sprint as they try to eek the tyres out more).
Did it dilute the main race last weekend? It certainty didn't for me.
@@GloomGaiGar yes
It also dilutes the race by making the 2nd half of it a procession as all of the overtaking has already happened
So as a dedicated fan, you want to see less racing? Do I have that right?
I'm happy for Valtteri. The dude seemed just miserable at Merc. Being the head of a midfield team (not to mention Alfa Romeo's concept seems to have a thing or two going for it) is doing wonders for his confidence and he seems to having a much better time in the sport now
I was cheering for him hardcore when he got on Lewis’ tail at Imola 😂. Too bad he couldn’t get close enough to stick it to Lewis, but man, how good would it feel for him to pass Lewis for position on track! If he does eventually I hope we get a shot of the post-race banter between them lol.
@@lsemaldokhar4154 Bottas was fighting with Russell at the end, not Hamilton
anyone will have a better time than driving alongside HAM lmao
@@elperenza was it? Lol My bad. Either way, chasing down the guy that replaced you or the guy you always played second fiddle to, gotta feel great for him. I know I enjoyed it.
The overall environment too according to Valtteri. Alfa feels more like a "team" for him.
I personally love the longer warm up times on outlaps with new tires. Really helps mix things up and reminds me of some of the action in F2 without tire blankets.
So, while I'll almost never complain about more racing, I have 2 concerns with the sprint races.
First, it currently lacks a reason to exist, as it's effectively Q4.
Second, it makes no sense in an F1 world that's trying to shrink budgets. More racing means more wear and tear on more parts, so more replacements.
While I don't have an answer for the latter, I do have an idea for the former. Fundamentally, F1 could just embrace the sprint race as a fun bit of extra racing. Leave quali on Friday, and have that set the Sunday grid. For the sprint race, run a reverse grid based on the prior race's result (or championship standings?) and run half distance for half points.
Dunno, as I'm just a fan, but it's something to try to give sprint races an identity.
I love the idea of reverse grid maybe reverse the qualifying order
In most cases, I could take or leave the sprint races. But this weekend, I actually hated it. I was excited to see K-Mag up in the second row(!) with Fernando right behind him and how that might work out during the race, but that was all erased by the sprint. Not to mention Zhou's crash that kept him from having a chance to compete for any points (not saying he definitely would have scored points, but if he's in the same car as Bottas he has a shot).
Would they have been in those places without the rain on Friday?
@@sIightIybored Maybe not! But that's the fun of a rainy quali, isn't it?
@@danaborris345 Yeah but his point is, if this was a normal weekend Qualy would have been where the sprint race was. Which means we'd likely not get the grid we did get in qualy this weekend
You get the (obvious) point though. When the grid is mixed up due to weather or a red flag or just an amazing performance in a bad car any chance the underdog would have had in the past is erased by the sprint and DRS which just organizes the car by race pace, 2 by 2.
Personally I would separate the sprint results from the grand prix starting grid. So whatever happens during the sprint, the starting grid for Sundays race is unchanged and se t by quali as normal. Then the sprint grid could either be from championship order (maybe reversed) or some other method such as taking the Q1 results or ordering them by number of P1s, P2s P3s etc.
Yup, it would encourage more aggressive racing in the sprint, as there would be much less risk if you spin or crash.
yeah! i agree with the sprint grid being in reversed championship order, and maybe having more points difference in the top 3 of the sprint
This.
Make sprint all reward and no risk. The grid for Sunday will still be set anyway.
So what would sprint determine? I don't get what you're trying to say. Are you saying there should be a "separate" championship for sprints?
@@Arch-Tau same championship, extra points.
What I like about the sprint weekends is that there's less practice. One hour to prepare, and a dive straight into quali. But the sprint itself? I don't think it's necessary. It's good that F1 tried out the format, but I think they have to accept that it's not what the sport needs and abandon it.
As I commented on my own, the reduced amount of practice could be achieved by just reducing the amount of practice sessions. Why we need the sprint to do this?
@@AlexThePlatypus I should've clarified this better: this is something to take away from the sprint experiment. We've learned something valuable, less practice is exciting. It can (and should imo) be implemented to the regular race weekends, but the sprint is, as I said, not necessary.
@@namenamename390 Well I think that is was me who was a bit unclear :P Got your original point from the initial comment and agreed to it completely.
The most civil discussion on the internet ever
@@AlexThePlatypus One of the stated goals of the sprint is giving more value for the fan who goes to the track, by making all 3 days meaningful, and selling more Friday and Saturday tickets in the process. I agree less practice creates a bigger potential for excitement, but it remains the issue of what to do with the time that was taken away from those practices. Personally I’d prefer if the sprint had no impact on Sunday race
I'm not a fan of sprints. They can be fine and bring some more laps of excitement, but more laps also minimises the consequences mistakes in qualifying. Like what Sainz and Perez did this weekend, and perhaps more obviously what Hamilton did in Brazil. So sprints probably make unlikely race results and rogue podiums and such more unlikely.
As someone who really wants to like the sprints, this one in Imola showed me exactly what you mean. It felt like quali all year (with new cars) had some fun shake ups and placements you don't expect, and the sprint sort of just shuffled them back into their expected places. Seeing how those mismatches play out is way more interesting over a full race distance where strategy and management matter.
@@detCap Since the introduction of the sprint format I had a disagreement on the distance of it, I think It should not be longer than 10 laps, as it too long and it usualy would settle very quickly, but too short for strategy to become a player, like that you can still get part of the crazy shake ups, we'll see how the rest of the sprint weekends go with these new cars.
I'm still kind of trying to keep my mind open about the sprints, but I am more leaning towards not quite liking them. For me, quali is the excitement, the thing that I look forward to on Saturday. The sprint just feels too short and the lack of strategy the drivers being mostly quite tame is just not it for me. I also, perhaps unpopularly, didn't like the sprint in Brazil. I would have loved to see Lewis charge through the field over race distance and see just how far up he can get, rather than having the chance to make some places on Saturday and finish the job on Sunday. It was still a great achievement, no doubt, but it made it kind of 'meh' to me.
Yeah I agree with you on the Brasil sprint. I really don't know how anyone could say they enjoyed that more than what would have happened if he had to start the actual race from the back and do the entire job in one go.
Unfortunately DRS has taken out any significant meaning the term charging through the field as DRS on a circuit like Brazill as it all but guarentees a pass will happen. The omly time it won't is when the car is terrible under braking like this years Mercedes with its proposing in the braking area.
Sprint format is a 400 km race with a 22 hour red flag in the middle. And from this year, with partial points given after the first stint. This is what it all boils down to.
Yes the sprint was fun this weekend, but as a result the race was boooooring. The finishing order of the sprint should not dictate the start order of the GP, and then it would be really good. This way its a hard no from me.
I feel so so so so so happy for Valterri. It's like he's earned a chance to just be happy. He's so good and he deserves a team around him that appreciates that. :)
I actually really enjoy sprints. Having one every so often is just good fun and being that these are the top drivers in the world and we expect them to change to the dynamics of the GP (weather, track position, tire condition, etc) expecting them to adapt to a weekend with minimal and a sprint is not to much to ask.
To echo a point I read elsewhere, my new issue with the Sprints is that it makes some weekends MORE valuable than others.
Max got 34 points (SprintWin+RaceWin+FLap) for this weekend compared to the previous 3 where the most that was available to any one driver was 25 (win+FLap)
it means that bad or good weekends can have more dramatic swings on these weekends...
Wait how did you get 34 points? Do sprints give 8 points for a win now?
@@AlexeyBeganov yes, sprint gives 8 to winner and gives points upto 8th place.
should be 26, right?(25 for win as far as I remember)
@@arnabmitra301 that's an awful system. Wish they kept the one from last year
@@AlexeyBeganov not really driving that much distance for a measly 3 points is not worth it. Points increase is good making sprint races a bit more worth from teams perspective. But I find major problems of sprint elsewhere
Valterri overtaking downhill in the wet on Rivazza 1 was the highlight of the race! Incredibly daring and skillful!
do what F2 and F3 do: reverse the top of the grid for the Sprint.
right now we have still the same issue as last year: the Grand Prix is 25% longer, starts on Saturday, gets red-flagged for 23 hours, and then continues on Sunday with a standing start. Except now there are more points for it, so the rich get richer.
I am not in favour of the reverse grid. But yeah rich get richer or its a perfect weekend for an engine penalty
If F1 want more races in the calendar, they need to make the weekends even shorter. Lack of practice generally makes the rest of the on track action more exciting so how about for a normal weekend...
Saturday: FP1 + Qualy
Sunday: Race
And if we are to continue with the sprints, make them reverse grid based on championship order or something similar. The current format just makes the race longer and doesn't really add a whole lot to the weekend imo. I also think if the sprint is reverse grid, it should probably turn into a stand alone event otherwise the teams will never agree to it, and even I think it is a bit artificial doing a reverse grid. So then for a sprint race weekend, I think the format should be...
Friday: FP1 (30 mins) + Sprint (reverse grid)
Saturday: FP2 + Qualy
Sunday: Race
Parc Ferme should only come into effect after qualy in both scenarios so it still allows for a useful practice session even on sprint weekends. The current FP2 during sprints is a bit redundant due to parc ferme.
That's my 2 cents.
I mean, if that's what you want, watch Formula E. Practice in the morning, qualifying just after lunch, and the race a couple hours after that. Plus the cars can race even closer than these new F1 cars.
I would argue that one advantage of the sprint is that it makes three days of the weekend Importamt, thereby allowing for a higher chance of mixed weather conditions which, in my opinion, generally produce more interesting sessions
Man, you're able to synthesize what I was thinking all along in such an eloquent manner, I love these post race analysis videos! Love the sassy "can't wait!" at the end as well haha.
Having FP2 after qualifying has already been done, and thus when parc ferme is already in effect also seemed a bit pointless. The whole point of practice sessions should be for drivers to test the cars and make any necessary alterations/setup changes before qualifying
I like sprint weekends because we get a meaningful session on all 3 days. I would change some things but this one positive outweighs all negatives.
I quite like the Sprint format. Without FP3 and with Quali on friday, the teams are time-restricted to prep the car and it gives a chance for midfield teams to duke it out more frequently due to better prepared cars for some. Plus we get around 20 laps of 'Balls to the wall' driving, usually on Softs.
Here's an off-the wall idea I just had: scrap the idea of the sprint setting the grid for the race. Instead, the higher-placed driver from each team in qualifying races in the sprint, which a) starts in reverse qualification order and b) only pays out points to the CONSTRUCTORS' championship. This way there's still an incentive for the teams to participate in the sprint, the drivers can get more racy because results don't carry over to Sunday (plus they have an incentive to beat their teammate on Friday), and the reverse grid order should lead to some more spicy on-track action.
This is...nice, but in terms of viewer numbers there might not be as many people watching
Counterpoint to the Sprint stealing action from the Grand Prix: yes, someone out if order for the start of the Sprint will make their way through the pack during the Sprint, but also there is the possibility that someone will be out of position *because* of the Sprint and will therefore start the Grand Prix from the back, as we've seen a few times.
I do like the sprints, it gives us something to watch 3 days in a row, which my family enjoy even if not everyone does.
As someone who doesn't get to watch all the races live with work its great, two races in one weekend is always a positive
I took the trip down to Imola to watch the GP from the stands, and for a specator live at the track, a sprint week is so much better than a normal one. You get way more race and excitement for your money. I'm defiantly a fan of the format! keep it coming
Very interesting and informative video! I enjoyed watching it, thanks for sharing :)
Although I agree with all your points about against sprints, I still like sprints for several reasons:
1. 30 minutes race is still much more interesting than 60 minutes of practice. By far.
2. Less practice before parc ferme could bring more excitement in general. Less practice data makes them have to gamble more. The balance between race or quali setup has a larger effect.
3. A more condensed race for the sprint is also interesting. The middle of a full race usually not that interesting anyway. Sprint essentially cut out that middle part but not exactly ofc
If they are so keen on keeping Sprint then make it a separate event without affecting the main race itself, on select tracks like Monza and Interlagos. The grid for Sprint should be determined from the practice sessions. I think it's neat having a sprint race on Saturday morning instead of FP3.
I was thinking along similar lines actually, replace FP3 with a sprint race. I wasn't sure how to set up the grid though, if the sprint race is supposed to be an exhibition match worth points as it is, I thought adding some RNG to the grid might not be too bad, but if the two championship contenders were at first and last that isn't that crazy, so I thought maybe a reverse grid based on the last race's finishing order might be cool way to try out the reverse grid! Plenty of overtaking action as the top teams push from the rear to try to gain as many positions as possible, while also potentially giving some wildcards like stroll, zhou or even latifi a small chance at grabbing some points for themselves based purely of defensive driving. With the top drivers in the back there should be action throughout the whole field as well. All without affecting the race for sunday!
Love your analysis as always... But this time it feels like we saw different weekends. Anyway keep up the good videos, your content is for sure enjoyable!
I really like the sprint. Like Drew from Shift+F1 said, think of it like the first 20 laps of the race with a red flag in the middle. I like the limited practises before qualifying, I like that qualifying still exists, and I like that there are just heaps of extra laps of racing over a weekend.
Sprint is interesting from the point of view that the cars are light and the tyres new so they can be more racy.
During the race the actual racing was better with DRS off as they had to come up with something different, Russell's move on Kmag for example at the chicane.
Ditch DRS, ditch at least 100kg from the car and around 20% smaller
I think the sprint is fine, for me it’s one reason that lets me think that: I can watch 2 races on one weekend, a short one on Saturday, a long one on Sunday. More racing is nice. May not be the best reason but it’s A reason :)
I loved the sprint race.
Weather is a bonus .
Keep it going F1.
The sprint paid points and made it worth it for drivers to fight hard for point paying positions.
I like the Sprints, novelty is good, more racing to get excited about. Three days of F1 instead of two.
I think the only thing the sprint does for me is it gives me more to watch on a weekend. I know we miss a practice, but we get the "big" events on all 3 weekend days.
It's simple, quali sets the grid for sprint and main race. Reverse the top 10 for the sprint and give half points. Quali setting both grids would stop sandbagging for the reverse grid race, as it would hurt the main race which is worth more points.
My guess on overwhelming success : Much more viewers compared to usual free practice. You can even see the difference of viewers in YT F1 highlights. Just compare FP viewers and sprint viewers.
Love sprints. It’s like having 2 races in one weekend. Any chance to see racing is awesome. Could be a bit longer though.
This channel is so dope. Kudos guys
I LOVE SPRINT WEEKENDS. Extra race instead of practice, yes please.
I absolutely love the sprints. They are my favorite weekends to look forward to. I do wish they would put them on tracks where passing is a bit more prevalent though.
Hey ChainBear, just commenting to say I'm really liking this 'weekend overview' kind of thing! Really won't mind this becoming an (almost) race-weekly thing (is race-weekly a word?).
My problem with "sprint weekends" for example is that i watch F1 with a friend that is working at the time quali takes place and im usually also busy, and i think thats the problem for a lot of people in the world, my solution was to put FP1 and FP2 on fridays, and move both quali and sprint to Saturday, Quali would be as early as its reasonable to do so and Sprint also as late as possible to give the teams time to maybe fix a car that got damaged in quali, the curfue on Saturdays should be eliminated or relaxed so the teams can make said repairs and as a final point, the sprint race itself should be a tiny bit longer imo, not limited to 100km but to w/e length in laps they decide for each circuit
The sprint weekend changes the strategy on the teams if they are going to risk with upgrades, as there is only 1 practice session for good modifications. Practice 2 is parc fermé and only flap changes are allowed...
So this may mix the grid if they didn't setup properly. Having less time to setup, makes teams wonder on what they should spend the practice to work with.
I went away wanting more laps of the Imola sprint. Let's say another 5 laps might have tossed the order around a bit with more possibilities of tire changes etc.
Sprint Race is great for the fans at the track as the atmosphere is in race mode twice and Friday is a little more spicy.
I love sprint race weekends! If it's not raining during qualifying, I see the sprint as another possibility to mix up the grid instead of the fastest cars always ending up in the front for the race, because it's also a race with the following inconsistencies that brings with it.
I would love to see a non-points “All Star Race” where they throw some of the HOFers in and put all the gimmicks they can in, NASCAR style
A video on what that could look like would be a great one
I think the LeClerc chase on Perez really proved how much fun and exciting a one overtake area circuit can be. When the pressure is on to stay within overtaking distance over an entire lap without having another opportunity, you get heavy risk taking and sometimes (like this time) it resulted in a mistake which shook up a lot and allowed Norris a podium and took both Ferraris out of podium. Very exciting stuff.
Maybe we can move sprint to Friday and replace FP2. Starting order would be the finish order of the previous race.
This would mix up the order a bit more since some cars to suited to certain tracks than others and also if you crashed out last race, you would start at the back. Also it would make the quali and race same as before.
what i think they should do
Friday: Fp1 and Fp2
Saturday: Qualy (in the morning), Sprint (reverse qualy grid, points for top 10)
Sunday: Race (qualy order)
That defeats the purpose of introducing the Sprint - to bring action every day of the weekend
And you’re gonna have to inflate the points quite a bit for the sprint to be of true value if you want the GP to follow quali order, which may be a bad idea because sprint weekends will be way more valuable than normal ones
Along with the valid points raised in this video, I simply find a bit cheeky that F1 expects us to base our Friday afternoon, Saturday afternoon, *and* Sunday afternoon around watching their sport, especially considering how long the season is. It’s over-saturation and it will kick in as more and more sprint races are added
F1TV: watch when you can/want.
I’m very happy for Bottas this year, the new regs seem to be helping him by letting him follow better without ruining his tyres. He’s maximized the Alfa so far, and I’m certain he’ll continue to do so.
Your explanation on the breakdown of the sprint "success" for this race is spot on. I thought it was exacerbated by weather conditions on Friday. But neutralized the race on Sunday. But if quli was on Saturday it would have likely been similar starting grid as the sprint gave us due to Saturdays conditions.
I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of Bottas; when he was driving for Mercedes, I thought he was too cautious to ever really challenge Hamilton (even when they had similar pace). He's said himself that Lewis Hamilton is hard to beat because 'even on his bad days, there's still a high bar of skill to clear to beat Lewis.' Obviously, Valteri was a fantastic team player who put the team's direction and interests above his own, but I'm very glad to see him thrive where he's showing what he can do in decent machinery when he's not playing the position of a secondary focus.
1. This season has been a blast for me and my son to watch. The new cars have absolutely delivered.
2. As someone that watches the highlights of the fp's, and then all of quali and the race. The sprint are a nice change of pace once in a while. Having them be more then a third of the races though would be too often imo.
3. The max/Charles battle is epic.
What I've learned from Imola GP is that the Honda drivetrain's reliability relies on track temperature. We can see that on the first three tracks where there was no rain, It has issues on the reliability (Bahrain (Verstappen, Perez, and Gasly's engine broke), Jeddah (Tsunoda didn't start), And Australia (Verstappen's engine broke)). But when there's rain on the track like on Imola, Honda's drivetrain had no issues since all the Honda powered car finished. So this let me think that track temperature might be the reason why Honda drivetrain sometimes fail.
First race they literally said the increased temperatures were causing unexpected difficulties with the fuel pump (Which is actually a part the teams have to buy from a third party, not something they make themselves). Other than that I think the Alpha Tauri problem is different, because they've packaged the car differently and have been struggling somewhat in general.
Thank you for pointing out my biggest issue with the sprint, the "unshuffling" of the Quali. I was screaming about it in Brazil and I was rather annoyed last weekend too
I was at Imola this weekend and having been to a race a year since 2013 the Friday qualifying and Saturday sprint drew no more fan to the track than a normal weekend, as far as I could tell. Friday was still quiet and Saterday just a bit busier.
I don't know. For me, the sprint and the actual GP feel like the same thing, but with an intermission. And a chance for those that crash out of the sprint to rebuild their cars and get back in the race. I don't really mind one way or the other, but I do like the reduced practice going into quali, which makes things a bit more interesting.
I, as a generation "drive to survive" F1-Fan, personally like the sprint races. I think it's nice to see the cars at full throttle with less concern about tires, pit stops etc in contrast to the actual race. For me personally it feels like sprint is all about the car and the driver while the actual race is also a lot about tactics and i like that it is twofold like that.
I enjoyed both the sprint and the race, I guess what I wish would change is for the sprint to be more of an all out dash, maybe even having a special tyre just for sprint to really let the cars "sprint' it you will so it's not just a shorter race. I also agree that trying out the reverse top 10 for the sprint race could be interesting.
The race suffered from one big issue, in my opinion, that being teams being incredibly conservative and hesitant; mostly understandably so. There was a forecast for rain the entire race, so all the teams were waiting for that, after that it was waiting for a SC, after that it was waiting to see who'd try the slicks. In short, there was a lot of waiting. Of course it didn't help that IMOLA is tight and the weather conditions meant the track was not drying quickly, thus making teams even more hesitant to go onto slicks. I understand you can't just throw caution to the wind but after lap 30 the grid was settled and not much changed.
But I agree, this is better than the last seasons and we should acknowledge that, we've seen trains instead of 30 second gaps everywhere. There has been some proper racing and on track action with overall enjoyable races. But the practice between Sprint and the race does feel like a complete waste of time, other than in changing conditions.
Two suggestions to spice up the sprints
1. Make the race of a length such that the medium compound is well on its way out by the chequered flag
2. Allow pitstops but don't make them mandatory and instruct Pirelli to bring a super soft tyre that is only allowed to be used during FP2 and the sprint race)
Doing this might see some teams pitting with 5 laps to go and having a go at a LeClerc style charge through the grid on super softs
Your definitely right in saying this sprint was enhanced by events. I'd suggest the sprint weekends run with quali Friday which sets the grid for the full race Sunday and the Sprint be a reverse championship grid with the 8 points available. Obviously this would only work after a few races with points on the board but it keeps the race tied only to quali and ensures the sprint will always have an interesting order with the fastest at the back.
I loved this sprint. It really makes the weekend feel "full", the practices are dull compared to actual running.
Nice video :)
I was a fan of the sprint race before they first had one. Who doesn't like more racing, right? Provides action on each day of the weekend! But now, after having a few, I'm not so keen on them.
Firstly, as you spoke of, if there's a mix-up of the grid in quali, the sprint pretty much undoes that. I would rather see that action play out and interact with strategies executed during the race than in the sprint. Also, the racing overall seems to be of a lower caliber than the main event. So it may add to the quantity of racing, but it doesn't add to the quality of it.
Secondly, I feel having practice -> quali -> practice -> sprint -> practice -> race is a roller coaster of tension. I appreciate the rising action that we get from practice -> quali -> race. I can't describe why I like the conventional format more, but it just feels more satisfactory.
Overall I don't think the sprints were a terrible idea, but I feel they don't really fit formula 1. Formula 1 races feel like THE event of the weekend and everything else should be feeding into that, not taking away from it.
Since you asked these are my thoughts on the sprint race:
It's uninteresting as it is, but their goal is (or should be IMO) to do it with a reverse grid for points only and the qualifying still sets the grid for the main race. I don't think this option would have been accepted at first and they started this "sprint qualifying" bullshit as a way to introduce the concept without people getting too mad about it.
But I would love a top heavy points system in the sprint race. A point structure where first gets like 12 points, second 10, 3rd 8 and then a big jump down, like 4th takes 3 points, 5th 2 points and 6th 1. This way the top cars (if you do reverse grid in the top 10), will all start out of the points, with at least 3 positions between the closest of them (4th in qualifying, starting 7th in the sprint) being 4 positions from the big points. The midfield cars also have an insane opportunity to score big points, so the fights in this midfield can be epic, with a lot at stake for everyone in the top 10. While those outside the top 10 have a lot less interest in the sprint (hard to start at 11th and have to fight to 6th to get a point when the top cars are literally starting ahead of you), they also don't get punished too hard for failing to be outside the top 10. The 10th qualifier will start at pole, yes, but unless they manage to hold on to a podium (which is no small feat considering the quality of the cars behind), they won't get that much of an advantage over the cars he just outqualified. Maybe give the bottom 10 a free choice of tyre, while the top 10 needs to run the sprint on their fastest tyre on Q2, something that gives some strategic options for cars unlikely to be in the top 10 in qualifying on pace alone. But that's secondary to the main action in the top 10.
I don't mind the sprint, especially not on a rainy weekend (not that they'll vary it based on the weather, of course). I think where they're coming from is it gets more people to watch more sessions, and to be honest, that's true. I live in the US and often just check the results from a practice session while I'm cooking breakfast. I might take a minute and watch it on a slow day, but I don't usually watch every Friday session. I do on Sprint weeks though. Like, I wake up early for them and everything. And the numbers seem to support that i'm not the only one. The sprints are fun for me in part because of the additional jeopardy, and I think that the 2022 regs can make it less painful on the race to have a sprint- the cars are much more able to catch up and race each other now. If anything, part of the reason I enjoy them is they force the teams to come in with a subpar setup and it creates a weekend where the driver makes all the difference.
Don’t forget Tsunoda making multiple overtakes on the inside of Turn 6. The closer following is certainly adding more chances when utilized properly.
One other thought, the appeal of the standard weekend with a qualifying then a race it is means cars have to set up for an equivalent sprint and a marathon. The sprint race doesn't feel like it adds diversity to that. Maybe the sprint needs to be on a different track layout so that teams have an extra element to balance on setup? Or could the sprint race always be done on artificially wet tracks? Or with mario kart weapons?
Very much agree with you on every point regarding the sprint.
One thing I must also point out, however, is how it's very likely qualifying went as poorly as it did with all the red flags because of the lack of practice time. These are new cars, with different handling models, having their first rainy weekend of the season... and yet, they only had 1 free practice before arguably the one session where they are pushing the absolute hardest AKA qualifying.
It's a point I don't really see anyone bringing up, but it honestly bothered me so much while watching the mess that qualifying session became. In my opinion, the sprint format MAY be more successful in terms of audience retention, but it's one of the most anti-sporting decisions they've ever made.
The points for the sprint race I believe is spot on!! It does encourage more of a fight and I think if a championship battle is as tight as last year it a sprint race can really shake things up! See it even this year ferrari can very well lose the constructors if they have a few bad sprint races... I think that the sprints should be a totally separate race weekend tho at different tracks. Maybe even used as trial races for tracks that f1 might want to race at!
I agree that the current sprint format is underwhelming, but only because I see it as a half measure but hopefully a step in the right direction toward the format I'd like to see the weekend arrive at:
1) Qually as-is, but award championship points from 1st all the way down to 19th to ensure every place is fought for.
2) Reverse grid sprint race that sets the grid for the GP (no points)
3) GP with championship points awarded from 1st down to 19th to ensure every place is fought for.
As you stated, "a mixed up grid here" (reversing grid sprint), "seeds fun racing here" (the GP), so why not "seed"(all but guarantee) this every weekend?! All you'd have to do is find the ideal sprint length each weekend to ensure that the fastest cars are AT LEAST battling for/have a chance at the GP win.
Why not have a sprint on Friday, with fp1 before with a grid set by the finishing position of Fp1? I think this would both introduce more action for circuit fans and preserve the close links of race and quali that we are used to. Practice would be limited like in the sprint, increasing unpredictablilty. Furthermore, it could also make a cresendo as the 30min race of Friday goes to 1 hour quali on Saturday and the race on sunday
Parc ferme would be set at quali like usual
I heard someone propose to focus the sprints, if they have to stay around, in maybe spring or so. Make it a recognizable period in the year, a separate championship maybe, who knows even with reversed grids on tracks where overtaking is difficult. The cycling Spring Classics are always well known and loved and in a recognizable period. They also fared really well since they all shook up their format (route) in order to allow multiple riders to win. I guess F1 could benefit from sprints more when the end result really can be quite wild, though not just a real lottery.
I like the sprint. As much as it has the potential to unshuffle a chaotic order from qualifying, it also has the potential to throw cars elsewhere if strange things happen in the sprint. In Imola we had qualifying in wet conditions and the sprint in dry conditions, but if qualifying is in the dry and sprint has rain the sprint has the potential to shuffle things up. A mistake like Leclerc had in the actual GP would be more devastating in a sprint race where gaps between cars are smaller and there is less time to make up for it. Zhou for instance lost out quite a bit in the sprint and had to start from the pit lane in the GP. He was much further back as a result than the pace of his car really justified.
Two fixes I would like are 1) use the Q1 results to set the grid and still have the sprint set the gp grid and give points. 2) Forget setting the GP grid, reverse the top 10, and maybe add 1 point for the highest 20-16 qualifier and highest 15-11 qualifier.
You're forgetting that the Sprint is also giving points (maybe not enough), of which the small teams might benefit from by going for Sprint-specific routes (like Haas tried with the medium tyre), and also increases the risk of collisions and DNF who could send a front row car to the back of the grid for the Sunday. Just imagine if Sainz was beached during the Sprint, not in the race. It was the smallest of errors from Ricc but had huge consequences. Or if Max collided with Leclerc during that last lap overtake for P1 during the sprint. Knowing Max, we all know he won't have a risk/benefit chart in his mind when he sees a gap in front of him. I think the Sprint will add to the strategic part of the weekend more than the actual wheel to wheel action once the format it's settled and absorbed by the teams, but it's a good thing for me, tho it would needs several tweaks going into the direction of making 2 shorter full consecutive races instead a of sprint and a full race, splitting the point haul and total laps, this would create more action in the long run
You once proposed to take the Sprint grid from the Q1 results and the GP grid from the full quali results.
That's the solutions in my opinion since the issue is the Sprint influencing the race proper.
I may have an idea to resolve some of the problems.
The sprint order is determined by the friday quali, the top 10 is reversed. The sprint is still 30 min and less points are given.
The race is 1h30, so more points and the grid is again determined by the friday quali, no reverse grid.
Like that, there will be a lot of overtakes in sprint but a messy quali will still have an impact for the GP.
Just FYI @chainbear the audio levelling for the sponsored part at the end is quite low compared to the rest of the video.
The problem with the sprint is that you basically know what will happen in the race. It also makes the true qualifying seems less popular to race organizers since it gets pushed back to a working day of the week.
If we're going to keep sprints we should move quali back to Saturday just before the sprint and restrict practice to Friday
Quali followed immediately by the sprint in the same day would certainly deliver action and excitement
I've loved the sprints since the first one. Just makes every day of the weekend feel meaningful. Regardless of if the race was exciting or not, it made it feel important as opposed to just mindless practice
However, I do think that crashes in the sprint need to be addressed in the budget because then it would allow the teams to take more risks. Say allow spare cars so they can still race on the Sunday
Sprint Races basically the first stint of a race that lasts two days. It both adds to the action, but also creates where if you have a pace advantage you have an extra 15-20 laps to exploit it. This is what happened with Lewis in Brazil and also why the order gets shuffled back to the raw race pace of the car.
I really like the sprints. The more racing laps over the weekend is always better. Every GP should have a Sprint!!! More racing is always better in my point of view.
I’m going to watch both anyway, So I just see it as an extra race start which is always interesting.
P.S While Leclerc is maybe more calculated I do think he will push back harder against Max. Especially in situations where previously Lewis, Vettel etc might prefer to live to fight another lap, Leclerc has shown he isn’t afraid to touch wheels and Max knows that too. He can’t really pressure Leclerc too much into backing off cause there will be more resistance from Leclerc
I think the sprint should give points in the old top-8 manner. Something they can play with, though, is the strategy- mandate a certain compound that's only usable for the sprint race (eg, if C2-4 are being used for the race, teams can use either C1 or C5 for the sprint). No pit stop requirements, but it'll bring out some more fun racing. Downside is that it'll cost the teams more to do that, though I don't think it'll have that drastic an impact for three races. Six, on the other hand,...
For your DRS comment, I think it can be made like the overtake button for Indy- everyone gets N seconds of the wing open, use it as you see fit, and when you're out of time the wing shuts. That'll make some "sub-optimal" passing zones more viable without impacting the normal DRS areas, and it'll really mix up strategy. Need a really hot lap to get a pit gap? DRS all the way, eat the loss on the back end. Need to block to keep the championship lead? Turn yours on halfway down the straight to conserve time and get just enough speed to defend.
I haven't minded the sprints so far, as the race start is usually the most exciting, and you get 2 of them on a sprint weekend. However, I definitely wouldn't want them often as they do dilute the main race excitement a little.
Perhaps they could be a little shorter, as the excitement wears off after a few laps and it just becomes another dull first stint of a race.
Also possibly having it not affect the main starting grid would help, so then drivers could take more risks and go all out in the sprint without having to think about consequences for the actual GP.
Another thing I think might help is differentiating them from the GP more, perhaps by running a different layout of track (like with the Bahrain short track in 2020). This might be impractical but I still think the sprint would be a lot more intriguing and worth including in the weekend if it had a unique element.
tl;dr at bottom of comment, got carried away.
personally, if we are going to keep the sprint, one of two things need to happen. either we reverse the top ten on saturday, therefore a mixed up grid is preserved for sunday if we get one, allowing the race to keep some intrigue, and if there is no mixed up grid, then we get to see fastest cars thoroughly in the midfield. however, i think the better option is to scrap the sprint race, and replace it with an australian v8 supercars style top ten shootout. they do it at mount panorama (among other tracks), where each driver in the top ten from qualifying on friday go out in reverse order and get one fast lap to set their time, which is then used to set the new top ten. full commitment, balls to the wall, ten laps from ten incredibly talented drivers. imagine doing it on a weekend last year, george russell getting just as much a chance to nab a pole as lewis or max. for me, it seems like the best option for "sprint" weekends (obviously the name may need to change), because we could throw it at more tracks, like monaco, where qualifying Is The Weekend, or Spa, seeing drivers absolutely bomb it through the belgian forest, rather than the tracks where we need overtaking to make sprint weekends enjoyable to the minority of fans who even enjoy it.
tl;dr, if we have to change the weekend format, make fom watch any v8 supercars top ten shootout from bathurst in the last five years, and tell them we want that at monaco, rather than a 30 minute race
Sprint weekends are fine, but I would stretch FP1 to 90 minutes - I'm guessing most team would not mind a little bit of extra time to get things right for qualifying.
In my ideal world, F1 would get rid of the Q session (or turn it into an extra FP), have a sprint race on Saturdays with reverse grid order based on championship standings, and the finishing order would determine the starting grid positions for the main race. For the first race of the season, the positions on the grid would be drawn randomly. Point system for sprint and full race would remain the same. This would eliminate the positive feedback loops and make the races as well as the championship more competitive. But this would probably be considered anathema, so more realistically, I'd love to see F1 use the same format as F2 and F3: Q session, Sprint race with reversed top half of the grid, Feature race with Q order. Best of both worlds.
Chain Bear for Formula One managing director & motor sports and technical director. You have my vote!
I loved this sprint. Made for an exciting Saturday! 6 next years sounds like quite a lot though
Not a big fan of the sprint. It's either pretty boring after a normal quali and just moves the action from the race to the sprint after a mixed quali.
One of the reasons people seem to like the sprint weekend is the unpredictability of the racing due to the reduced practice sessions. But this could be achieved with normal quali by just binning one of the practice sessions. Or by making the weekend just two days. One practice session and quali on Saturday and race on Sunday. When we have this many races in a season the shorter weekends doesn't seem a bad thing.
TLDR: Sprints bad, and shortened weekend could be the best solution if change is needed. (Which it necessery isn't)
I think one way to re-do DRS is they can use it at any time, BUT, only get XX seconds per lap (resetting each lap), or per race. Once it's gone, it's gone.