Formula 1 lived its first weekend with the sprint format of the 2022 season, where Max Verstappen dominated from start to finish to achieve the second Grand Chelem of his career. For this reason, the drivers and teams changed their way of approaching the races on Saturday and Sunday, since this year more points are distributed.
The change in scoring means that it is now the top eight finishers in the short test who add eight to one units in reverse to how they reach the finish line, instead of just giving points to the fastest three, as happened in 2021.
Despite delivering a greater booty, there were no big differences compared to last year, and the sprint race was somewhat watered down were it not for the comebacks by Carlos Sainz and Sergio Pérez, which opens the debate that Formula 1 put on the table increase to 6 this kind of big prizes in the future.
Series director Ross Brawn explained that the plan was to increase the number of sprint weekends, and that it would be something to discuss at the F1 Commission meeting in London on Tuesday.
The Great Circus has found great support, and it is that the most successful team in history has positioned itself in favor of this type of race. After the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the head of Ferrari, Mattia Binotto , explained that those from Maranello would like to see more of these tests.
“That is one of the points that we will discuss next Tuesday in London during the Formula 1 Commission meeting. It is on the agenda, so there is an intention to increase the number of sprint races to six,” said the Italian. .
“As Ferrari, we are in favor, I have to say, because we believe in general that it will give good opportunities in the future, and it will improve the show, as well as the income,” Binotto said on the subject. “So I think it’s right to support him.”
“Regarding the costs, I think it has been discussed, we know that, in terms of budget allocation or income, it may be worth it. On the format, I think it is a different matter, but we are in favor of increasing it to six races and, later, we can investigate about the programming”, explained Binotto.
Ferrari achieved good results in these sprint races in 2021, with a third place that allowed him to add a point to Sainz in Brazil, in addition to the 7 units that Leclerc achieved with second place in Imola, so they know how to face these tests.
The Italian team manager defended the team’s point of view by saying that they already knew how it worked: “As we have said in the past, we now have some experience with the current sprint race format. Can we do better?” .
“I think there are a few more ideas on the table, but that will be discussed next Tuesday, and we’ll see what comes out,” the Ferrari boss said.
