Half the F1 calendar could become sprint races, says Haas team boss Guenther Steiner
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Director of Pirelli F1 Mario Isola (left) and Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner during a press conference at the Australian Grand Prix on March 31.
PHOTO: AFP
LONDON – Half the Formula One calendar could be turned into sprint weekends if changes to the format are given the go-ahead and prove a hit in Baku next week, according to Haas team boss Guenther Steiner.
The sport is due to vote next week on changing the sprint format from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, so that the Saturday 100km race stands alone with its own qualifying replacing final practice.
MotoGP has already turned its whole calendar into two-race weekends, with a sprint on Saturday and the main event on Sunday.
F1 has scheduled six sprints this season, up from three in 2022.
“I don’t know if we will do it every race weekend. Maybe do a few more or maybe do half of the calendar. But the F1 promoter will know what to do,” Steiner said in an interview through team sponsor MoneyGram.
“At the moment there is more demand for races (than slots available) so how can you get more races in, more competition, more racing if we cannot do more than 24 events? So just make the event double count.”
This season has a record 23 races but 2024 is expected to see the return of China after a four-year absence due to Covid-19.
Steiner also said there would still be a need for some race weekends with three practice sessions and just a Sunday grand prix, but the current Saturday sprint format needed changing.
“The FP3 (third practice) session on Saturday morning became almost worthless because nobody was watching it,” he said.
“The teams couldn’t do any changes on the car except trying the tyre out for the race so there was no real interest.
“So I think that is a good addition to the weekend to put a sprint qualifying in. You have to see how it works with the fans, how the numbers come back and then decide what to do as the next step.
“But at the moment I support very much the sprint qualifying.”
Separately, Daniel Ricciardo has largely been in the shadows as Red Bull’s reserve driver this season, but the Australian is set to drive laps at the iconic Nordschleife circuit in September.
Driving a Red Bull show car as part of a festival ahead of the 12 Hours of Nurburgring, he will be taking part in the first official F1 demonstration laps since 2013.
Ricciardo has not been a regular in the race day paddock this campaign, as he is slated to make appearances only at select Grand Prix events and potentially get behind the wheel for a tyre test.
Whether the 33-year-old returns to the grid in 2024 remains to be seen. REUTERS