Formula 1 will make another attempt to win teams over to its plan for Saturday sprint races, a proposal that has been rejected three times over the past two seasons.
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However, the sport has decided to drop a key and widely criticised element of the original proposal: a grid determined by the reverse order of the drivers’ championship.
“Reverse grid is over,” new Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali told motorsport media, including RaceFans, at a briefing today.
Under the initial plan for Saturday sprint races, the field would have been ordered in reverse championship standings, with the sprint’s finishing positions then setting the starting grid for Sunday’s grand prix. That format faced resistance from teams and failed to secure the necessary votes on three separate occasions — once in 2019 and twice last year.
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Domenicali, who took over from Chase Carey as chairman and CEO of Formula 1 last month, said the sport should remain open to new ideas while avoiding frequent or radical tinkering with formats — a lesson drawn from past changes to qualifying.
“I think that it’s important to think maybe of new ideas of being more attractive or interesting,” he said. “We don’t have to lose the traditional approach of racing.
“What we learned in the period where we were changing qualifying every two days has been something that has burned our fingers. So we need to avoid that. Now I think that the formula is quite stable.”
The former Ferrari team principal confirmed he is open to testing a revised sprint race format without the reverse-grid element.
“What we are looking at for sure is what could be the approach of the so-called sprint race on Saturday. We are thinking if this could be tested already this year.
“There are discussions going on with the teams in the right forum. And I think that maybe this could be the only one thing that could be interesting.”
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