EXCLUSIVE: F1 bosses press ahead with plans to shake up Grand Prix weekends despite widespread opposition from the likes of Max Verstappen, who has threatened to QUIT in case of planned changes
- The bosses have drawn up plans to make the race weekend more exciting.
- Moving moves to reduce the number of practice sessions despite opposition
- World champion Max Verstappen had previously threatened to quit the sport.
Formula One bosses are going ahead with plans to revolutionize the format of Grand Prix weekends, despite accusations that they put entertainment before sport.
Sportsmail understands that the ideas were discussed in Melbourne on Sunday morning and received general approval from the team managers. The matter will now move to the next F1 Commission meeting on April 25.
The backing of eight of the 10 teams, plus the FIA and Formula One Group, the owners of the sport, who are leading the charge to spice things up, will be needed for Baku to adopt the new calendar five days later.
It can be reported that the proposals, still under discussion, involve holding a practice session on Friday, followed by qualifying for the Grand Prix. Saturday would be ‘sprint day’ with qualifying, comprising shorter than current sessions, held before the sprint, a one-third Grand Prix to be held in the afternoon.
The result of the sprint would not determine the starting order for the grand prix itself, which remains as is, unchanged, on Sunday.
Plans are underway to shake up the Grand Prix weekend and more excitement is sought
The FIA bosses going ahead with the moves hope to have them ready for Baku by the end of the month.
The news comes despite public opposition from the likes of Max Verstappen, who has raised the possibility of quitting the sport altogether.
The FIA will draft the new regulations in Geneva over the next few weeks before presenting them to the F1 Commission.
A senior FIA official told Sportsmail there will be a reduction in practice sessions, in order to provide more entertainment for fans during the race weekend outside of Grand Prix parameters.
“We think it can be done in time for Baku because we have a break from racing for most of April which gives us a bit more breathing room,” they said.
The revamped format will only apply where sprint races are already scheduled to be staged. For now.
The call for a ‘Netflixization’ of the fee was voiced again in the press and online after Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix, in which race director Niels Wittich waved three red flags, prompting stalled restarts, the second of which resulted in four cars. crashing in the initial pair of corners.
Race director Niels Wittich waved three red flags on Sunday, prompting stalled restarts.
Certainly there has been an increasing willingness in the last three or four years to deploy red flags, rather than clear the track during a safety car phase. It has made for a livelier spectacle, and arguably not fundamentally reduced sports fairness while increasing the entertainment quotient.
Ironically, former race director Michael Masi chose not to show red in Abu Dhabi in 2021, when Lewis Hamilton lost his eighth world title to Max Verstappen. Had he done so, the last lap incident controversy might have been avoided. But probably not, each course of action has drawbacks and potentially favors one participant or another.
Several drivers, led by Sunday’s race winner Verstappen, spoke out against the red flag trend, as did the Dutchman against proposals to change the weekend program at the next round in Azerbaijan, where a sprint race will already take place.
He said Formula One Group’s plans to shed much of practice to make room for more competitive action goes against the DNA of the sport. He also raised the possibility, however remote, of resigning if they are implemented.