A top Formula 1 boss has again defended the divisive Sprint format disliked so much by Max Verstappen as the sport prepares for double the number of short-form races this year.
A Sprint weekend sees qualifying moved to Friday from its usual slot on a Saturday, which is replaced by what is essentially a shorter version of a race. The main Grand Prix still takes place on the Sunday as usual.
Some people like it because it provides more competitive action to watch than the average race weekend. But it is not universally popular, with many critics complaining that those shorter races are often little more than a procession because teams don't want to risk too much for fewer points.
F1's chief technical officer Pat Symonds has given his view on the subject as the sport prepares for six Sprints in 2023, compared to three in each of the last two seasons. "There are those who like it and there are those who dislike it, but to me, what we do is we have competition," he explained.
"What I like about a competition is when it's not predictable. Oxford were playing Arsenal in the FA Cup the other week and they were holding them 0-0 to half time and that sort of thing is great. With a normal grand prix weekend, Friday does not provide any competition and therefore, what's the attraction of it?
"We're here to compete. In addition, the teams are so good with their simulation these days, having all the time on Friday, they've got two hours of running to fine-tune the car, make sure that everything's good, and what that leads to is predictability.
"What the sprint does is it allows us to have a competition on every day – because on Friday we've got qualifying, on Saturday we've got a sprint race and on Sunday, we've got a grand prix. In my view, it does it without the sideshow taking away from the main event and I think that's important because a grand prix is what it's all about.
"And by reducing the amount of time the teams have got to hone their cars, by putting in another error-generator in the Sprint race, we have the chance to have a little bit of a more mixed up race. Those are the races that the people like."
Making his feelings about the Sprints clear, Verstappen recently told reporters : "For me, that's not really a race, because you go into the main race and you know there are way more points available anyway, you just risk a bit more there," later adding that he thinks the changed weekend format "is not that fun".
