According to McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl, there is every indication that, as expected, only three sprint races will be held in the 2022 Formula One season instead of six
A decision is expected to be made on Monday on whether the 2022 Formula One season will feature six F1 sprints, as originally planned, or just three after all. McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl revealed this on the sidelines of the presentation of the MCL36 in Woking on Friday.
“We will have further discussions in the FOM committee on Monday and then hopefully we will finally know what the plans are for this year. My guess is that at the moment it’s more along the lines of three sprint races,” says Seidl.
This confirms what has been rumoured for months, namely that the increase to six sprint races (replacing the classic Saturday qualifying) is unlikely to materialise.
The three top teams, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull, had recently protested against this, because they wanted to push through an increase in the budget cap of more than two million US dollars per event in return for additional sprints. But the other teams reject this.
Seidl assumes “that there will be no sprint race in one of the first races”. But no matter what the commission decides on Monday: “This does not cause us any additional headaches. It’s not difficult to adjust to.”