Following Tuesday ‘s F1 Commission meeting in London, series owner Liberty Media ‘s plans to increase the number of sprint races found received full support from the teams.
But, when the majority support that was needed was sought, the unanimous support of the teams and the FOM was not enough, because the FIA did not support the plan in its current idea.
In order for the increase in sprint races to be regularized by 2023, what is known as a “simple majority” of 25 votes out of 30 that are distributed between the teams (10), the FIA (10) and the FOM ( 10).
As only the teams and Formula 1 agreed, resistance from the FIA caused the proposal to fail for now.
Various sources indicated that the president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem , who chaired the meeting, told the participants that he was only willing to go ahead with more sprint races if a financial contribution was made to the apex body.
While his stance caused some anger within the room, with talk of “greed”, the FIA later agreed that it would investigate exactly what impact more sprint racing has on its staff before reconsidering the matter.
A statement issued by the FIA after the meeting read: “After the first of three sprint events of the 2022 season proved popular with fans and stakeholders last weekend at the Grand Emilia Romagna Prix, Formula 1 and the teams supported an extension to six sprint events for 2023, with the same format as in 2022.
“While it supports the principle of an increased number of sprint events, the FIA is still assessing the impact of that proposal on its trackside operations and staff, and will provide its findings to the Commission.”
From the words of the FIA it is understood that although they have initially refused to support more sprint weekends, they will reconsider their position if they are guaranteed remuneration or conclude that the impact on their staff is not as great as they thought.
