Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali says F1 sprints are just the beginning and there could be a whole host of other formats to spice up the show in the future
Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali is far from finished with his ideas for spicing up the show in Grand Prix racing. While some purists are already dismissive of the introduction of F1 sprints on Saturdays, which began in 2021 and will be expanded in the future, the Italian has much more revolutionary ideas in mind.
For example, bonus points for the fastest drivers in free practice sessions, as he explains in an interview with ‘Corriere della Sera’: “On a normal race weekend, when first and second free practice are run on Friday, there should be extra points […] in each session.”
Also conceivable: Whenever there is no sprint, a single time trial could be held on Friday, or a qualifying session “for a shorter race on Saturday instead of the third free practice session, with the mechanism of a crashed grid. “
Say: The fastest in practice would then start last in the Saturday race. The idea of races in the “reverse grid” format has been around for a long time and was also considered in connection with the F1 sprints.
But so far the resistance of team bosses like Toto Wolff, who do not want to let the most important motorsport series in the world degenerate into a lottery, has been too great.
Domenicali can only understand this to a certain extent and calls on the players involved to be more open-minded: “We put lots of ideas on the table. Many say no to it, but we’ve already seen a few times that random starting line-ups make for really exciting races with lots of overtaking manoeuvres. “
