Max Verstappen has warned F1 that continuing in the sport ‘will not be worth it’ if further changes are made to its DNA.
The reigning Formula 1 champion has long decried the sprint since its introduction in 2021, and which this season increases from three events to six.
The first of those will be run at the fourth round of the campaign in Azerbaijan after the forthcoming spring break that follows the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The suggestion is that as a tweak to the format for the weekend, and to eradicate the almost pointless second practice session that takes place on Saturday, there will be an additional qualifying session.
It is understood that will take the form of a one-lap shoot-out, as F1 ran in the early 2000s, and as a result of the already shipped tyre allocation for the weekend.
Verstappen, however, is far from impressed with the proposals he has heard.
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“I’m not a fan of it at all,” said the Red Bull driver.
“When we’re going to do all that kind of stuff, the weekend becomes even more intense and we’re already doing so many races, so I don’t think that is the right way to go at it.”
Recognising F1’s need to “basically have every day exciting”, Verstappen offered his own suggestion.
“Maybe it’s better to just reduce the weekend, only race on Saturday and Sunday and make those two days exciting,” remarked the 25-year-old.
“We’re heading into seasons where you have at one point 24, 25 races, and if we then start adding even more stuff, it’s not worth it for me anyway. I’m not enjoying that.”
Verstappen makes “insane” proposal
Again bemoaning the sprint, he said: “For me, a sprint race is all about surviving, it’s not about racing.
“When you have a quick car, there’s nothing to risk, so I prefer to just keep my car alive and make sure that you have a good race car for Sunday.
“And even if you change the format, I don’t find it’s the DNA of Formula 1 to do these kinds of sprint races.
“F1 is about getting the most out of it in qualifying and then having an amazing Sunday – good, long, race distances.
“That’s the DNA of the sport, and I don’t understand, or I don’t know why we should change that, because I think the action has been good.”
Despite dominating last season since the introduction of new aerodynamic regulations, and with Red Bull scoring one-twos in the first two races of this campaign, Verstappen then highlighted the holy grail of F1 as a further solution.
“And how do you get even more action? It’s about getting the cars closer, getting more teams able to fight for the win,” he said.
“I think, naturally, the show will be great. If we have six, seven teams fighting for a win, that will be insane.
“Then you really don’t need to change anything.”
Verstappen starts the race at Melbourne’s Albert Park from pole position ahead of Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. Lights out are at 3pm AEDT (6am BST).
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