Christian Horner has recently opened up on the sprint race to be held in Baku. As Azerbaijan is set to host the first sprint race of the 2023 F1 season, the Red Bull team principal asked for improvement if there’s any tweak in the format.
As per multiple reports, the upcoming sprint race in Baku is expected to come with a twist. Talking about this, Horner stated that if there are any, first they need to see if they work.
Excited for the season’s first Sprint Race at the Baku City Circuit?
No? 🤨Did you know Valtteri Bottas reached a record-breaking 3️⃣6️⃣6️⃣km/h (unofficially 378km/h) on Baku City Circuit’s main straight in qualifying for the 2016 European Grand Prix?
Excited now?#AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/ga0knHX0AN
— Baku City Circuit (@BakuCityCircuit) February 9, 2023
Talking to Fox Australia, the Red Bull honcho stated that the Sprint race will be in a slightly different format. But he emphasized if they bring about any change, the FIA and F1 need to do it quickly.
Formula 1 is set to host six sprint races this season. With three new sprint races already, a new qualification might give the drivers and teams an extra bit of headache in the race weekend. Not many have liked this idea, one among them is Max Verstappen.
What changes are expected in Sprint race weekend?
As per reports, the sprint race weekends will have a different format. They will be different than normal race weekends.
Normally, a race weekend consists of Free Practices on Friday, Qualification on Saturday, and a Race on Sunday. However, the sprint race weekend will see an additional qualification on Saturday.
🚨 | F1 is discussing a new Sprint format:
FRI -> Practice, Qualifying [for main race]
SAT -> Qualifying [for the sprint], Sprint
SUN -> Main Race
Friday qualifying would have Q1, Q2 and Q3… Saturday could be one-shot qualifying.
— formularacers (@formularacers_) March 31, 2023
On Friday, there will be Free Practices and Qualifications for the Race. On Saturday there will be Qualification for the Sprint and then the Sprint race. And then on Sunday, there will be the Main Race.
Max Verstappen unhappy about new sprint proposal
Max Verstappen has recently opened up on the proposed format change in the sprint race weekend. The Dutchman as his words showed wasn’t happy with the way changes are brought in.
Furthermore, he also shared that he might quit the sport if the governing body brings in more and more changes one after another. Talking about this, Verstappen said, “I naturally hope that there won’t be too many changes otherwise I won’t be around for too long.”
The Red Bull driver also added that he is not a fan of these additions at all. He also feels there is no need to make the race weekend even more hectic than it already is.
