Formula 1, season 2021: Close agreement for sprint races in F1, Vettel against, Wolff favorable

Three extra races will subsequently be added to the report schedule of 23 Grands Prix, with out actually being added to the depend. The Guardian revealed on March 11 that Silverstone would host one of many races, thereby revealing the phrases of the association. Born in 2015, the sprint racing mission took six years to be applied, after a chilly first reception and the concern of confusion with the Sunday race, an issue highlighted by the 1996 world champion, Damon Hill , on the time.

F1 bears the extra prices

The major impediment to the deal was the extra prices for the groups, a problem publicly raised by Christian Horner, Red Bull's crew principal from Bahrain. This parameter has subsequently been adjusted internally in current days. Good information: competing in the three sprint races may have no influence on budgets, so to talk after all. This will clearly price so much, however Formula 1, very profitable in digital and product advertising and marketing, will assume.

F1 pays a sum of round $ 500,000 to every crew and permit the budgets to be raised, blocked at $ 145 million this 12 months following the signing of the harmony agreements. Big beneficiaries of the agreements, the small groups feared {that a} lifting of the funds ceilings can be used in a roundabout approach. Mistrust is the order of the day.

What are sprint races?

What are sprints? These will likely be shortened races the size of which will likely be equal to 1 third of a traditional race.

• The official title will likely be “sprint qualifying”. The title has been modified in order to not influence the drive of attraction of the principle GP.
• Friday's Free Practice 2 will substitute Saturday's qualifying session.
• The sprint race will final round half an hour or just a little longer (as much as 45 minutes) and its rating will decide the beginning grid for the Sunday GP

• Points will likely be awarded, however the scale is just not but identified.
• The podium ceremony will likely be organized on the Sunday after the Grand Prix.
• Silverstone, Monza and Interlagos are the chosen GPs, except modified. The Canadian GP was a part of a primary itemizing.

Vettel towards this format, Wolff favorable

Driven by Stefano Domenicali, the chief director of F1, and Ross Brawn, supervisor of motorsports of Liberty media, the proprietor and promoter of F1, the brand new format divides. Obviously, the reception was not triumphant from Bahrain the place a giant assembly was held on the topic.

If Christian Horner solely thought concerning the funds, his counterpart at Mercedes, Toto Wolff, had been extra lenient and particularly curious to see this novelty. “It is an interesting format in my opinion and a full-scale test to do. You must try“, he defined to Motorsport in early March.”We always have to find a balance between the DNA of the sport and the DNA the fans want to see. I have seen this format elsewhere, especially in DTM, and the audiences had doubled“For his half, Domenicali had additionally spoken to the general public to justify his new child.”It will bring them new content. “

Sebastian Vettel had shot him the thought throughout pre-season testing. “I don't know what the thinking behind this project is. I do not like it. Why do a pre-final before a final? What is the meaning of all this? I do not understand. From my point of view it doesn't make sense“, he defined to Autosport in early March.

Montoya thinks that is the way forward for F1

“You will begin to understand that people's attention spans are diminishing and you cannot expect them to sit and watch a race on TV for two hours, ” he analyzed. “People like us who love the sport we do. But the younger generations are going to have a hard time. It seems to me that Formula 1 is about sprint racing, and that is the way to go.. “